Chuck HRandom Two Cents--MLB Edition
May 29th 2009 14:37
The next time I feel like I want to snap on someone who tells me that Alex Rodriguez isn’t a deserving, legitimate, perennial MVP candidate or that he never gets a clutch hit--blah…blah…blah-- I promise, I won’t snap, I’ll just point out the numbers to you in black and white. Quite honestly it’s an argument I’m sick of making. I don’t care what you think about the guy as a person. I don’t care if you think his lips are too purple or his tan is too orange or if you just flat out can’t stand the fact that he was with Madonna and practiced a little Kabbababbadoodoo or whatever it’s called. The fact is, this is the best all around player of this generation. Albert Pujols is knocking on the door though, of that there is no question. I’ll give you that.
An MVP is not strictly just your personal numbers, it’s also what your presence in an everyday lineup does for the guys hitting around you. Ask Big Tex, Mark Teixeira, if he thinks A-Rod is a valuable presence. Look at these numbers-- before Rodriguez came back to the Yankees on May 8, Teixeira was hitting .195 with 5 HR and 15 RBI. Since A-Rod’s return to the lineup Teixeira’s numbers now look like this on the year--.275 with 15 HR and 39 RBI going into yesterday. Think that’s value?? And consider that A-Rod himself is only hitting .258 right now, although the power numbers are there with his 7 HR already. The average will only get better as we move along.
A-Rod is a lifetime .305 hitter with 560 HR’s, but somehow in so many people’s minds, especially around Boston, he’s not MVP material and he’s never, ever in his life gotten a clutch hit. Yet at 24 years old when he was with Seattle, he led that team in a great American League Championship Series against the powerhouse Yankees. A-Rod hit .409 with 2 HR and 5 RBI plus a couple of doubles as well against a team that was stacked with pitching and he shined under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium in that series. His career postseason numbers are .279-7-17 in 149 postseason at bats. Not quite as bad as you thought, right? Rodriguez now has 8 walkoff homeruns in his career. Five of them have come with the Yankees.. Last time I checked, walkoff homeruns are pretty clutch right? Considering that the record for most walkoff HR in history is 12 and it is held by Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Frank Robinson and Babe Ruth. Some pretty good company if you ask me!
What a job by the LA Dodgers so far without Mannywood in the lineup. Juan Pierre has been a huge spark plug filling in for Ramirez and the young kids on that team like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier continue to develop mixed in with veterans like Casey Blake and O-Dog Hudson who are having very nice starts thus far. Keep an eye on this Chad Billingsly kid who is off to a great start. He and Randy Wolf have been a great presence at the top of that rotation and with the emergence of 21 year old Clayton Kershaw behind them, they just might be there all year until Manny finally gets back to help. Solid middle relief and a dominant closer in Jonathan Broxton I believe will keep them where they need to be as they bide their time until Manny flushes his system out and gets himself a tighter fitting sports bra and returns to the lineup. Watch those Dodger hitters sometime, you can tell that Joe Torre and Don Mattingly have implemented that “work the count” philosophy that they always had in NY. Nice young team mixed with some decent veterans.
Chuck Hanf
Two Cents From Beantown @ Sportramble.com
(Thanks to Nick Sixers and Code20Photog for the A-Rod, Manny pics)
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Comment by Anonymous
Now back to business and comments on your article..
Have you watched A-Rod in the postseason with the Yankees when his knees are knocking? He's so nervous that he's not gonna get a hit and get booed, that he buckles under the pressure. Once October arrives and he's playing in the post season, you'll see the same choking dog that we've seen in all his post seasons with the Yankees. It doesn't matter what he's done with Seattle, it's a what have you done for me lately in the playoffs kind of world. Great points with your stats, but like I said, wait until the post season and he'll keep on doing his choking.
Comment by Chuck H
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Comment by Anonymous
Tommy just told me your site is taking off! Congrats. I hope you make it big! But sucking up to ARod is not gonna get you there quickly! Ha HA!!
Comment by Chuck H
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Comment by Sean Brennan
And I'd take anyone over ARod in the postseason. Dude, have you watched him in the post season as a Yankee?? Or are you blind? You still haven't brought his Yankee post season numbers to the table and I would guess they are wretched. Forget about his Seattle numbers. They don't have anything to do with his postseason performance as a Yankee. In fact, those numbers inflate his postseason average and make it look better than it really is.. I'll say I'm wrong when ARod wins a ring. It's all about the rings and not the stats.
Oh and how did ARod do getting his team to the postsseason last yr and all those yrs in Texas?? Pretty good huh?
I hate to break the news to you, but he may not go to the hall of fame because people will question his stats after his steroid embarrassment unless he tears it up over the next decade as a Yankee and maybe gets a hit for once in the postseason. And do you live in Boston or New York? LOL..
I admit that I will never respect ARod until he shows that he can get it done in the post season and win a world series. That's how all athletes should be judged. Ask Tom Brady. He's got some rings to show for it.
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Comment by Sean Brennan
Anyway, I looked up his post season numbers as a Yankee and since 2004 (when he joined the Yankees), he has 23 hits in 94 at bats for between a .230-.240 batting average. That includes 1 hit in 14 at bats in his last postseason of 2007. That's not MVP type numbers and he has to hit for the Yankees to have any chance to win the World Series.
Comment by Chuck H
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So Dan Marino is a sh*t QB because he never won a ring? Most guys don't win rings Sean. It's a fact. A-Rod in Texas??? What? Did they even have a pitcher take the hill in Texas or did they just put pitching machines on the mound pumping out 70 mph heaters?? Ridiculous. No pitching= No championships. .You know better than that. If you read my article, most of it was about how A-Rod is a legit MVP candidate in the regular season and how he's made Teixeira come alive and now the Yankees are rolling.. I mention his postseason numbers briefly. The article is about how I'm sick of people saying he's not a legit MVP candidate and how I'm sick of people saying that a guy who has 8 walkoff home runs in his career.. 4 short of the MLB record, doesn't ever get a clutch hit. He hasn't been as good in the postseason for various reasons Sean, but for you to say "take away his Seattle stats," when he was facing Yankee pitching that was better than what he faced against Boston, is ridiculous. Take it away? It's part of his resume. I got news for you, you dont' just go dominate every year in the postseason as a hitter Sean. You flat out don't. Like I said, he had the one putrid series agains Detroit when he hit .098 and that was what killed him the most. So why don't we just take that one away instead of when he was with Seattle?
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Comment by Sean Brennan
And I love how you are such an excuse maker for Arod. "He didn't have any pitching so he couldn't win." That's hysterical. The pitching has nothing to do with his actual job which is to get a hit when he's in the batters box when the pressure's on. And he hasn't been able to do it since game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. It's gotta be the pressure of playing in NY or something. And we may not get that answer this yr for two reasons. Number one is will his hip hold up? He needs the same surgery that Lowell had once the season ends so he may get hurt again. And will the Yankees make the postseason? We don't know the answers to any of those questions so we'll just have to sit back and wait until September/October.
In summary, I agree with your point that he's a great regular season player and I question how legit his numbers really are since he was on the juice just like I now question Manny's numbers. I'm being objective and not a homer here. If you go back to ARod's numbers since game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, they are most likely really bad. Add in the 1-14 against the Indians in 2007 and it pulls it down even more. ARod reminds me of the L.A. Angels vs the Red Sox in the postseason. A choke until he can get over the hump. There is hope Chuck. In fact, Peyton Manning had this same wrap until he exorcised the demon which was the Patriots and went on to finally win the superbowl. Hang in there, it may happen someday but I wouldn't bet your house on it.
If you're going to make this argument legit, you need to factor in that he's been a choker in the postseason since game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. The facts are the facts. We're going to have to agree to disagree on this topic I guess.
On a serious note, if he had signed here before the 2004 season, do you think the Sox would have still won the WS that yr? It's an interesting question to ponder.
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