Baseball Musings: The-Rod

June 28, 2006

The-Rod

Alex Rodriguez comes through for the Yankees in extra-innings. Down 3-2 after a Giles home run in the top of the 12th, Giambi walks with one out and Alex goes deep to left to win the game. That's all he needs to change the minds of New Yorkers, a big home run like that. A-Rod drove in 3 of the 4 Yankees runs today.

Posted by David Pinto at 05:09 PM | Games | TrackBack (0)

Comments

ah, but arod of course isnt clutch. the yankee fans will say yea but arod u gotta do that in the playoffs. but if jeter hit the same hr theyd yell captain clutch! captain clutch!

yet arod is batting .350 when runners in scoring postion 2 outs and .306 with runners in scoring postion..

but arod isnt clutch huh?give me a break man

Posted by: ryan at June 28, 2006 05:42 PM

Big Papi would have driven in all four of the Yankee runs, and he would have hit a grand slam, not a measly two-run walk-off. And he would have done it in the fourteenth, not the twelfth inning. And, Ryan, it would have been in the playoffs, too. Game seven of the ALCS. Maybe game eight.

Posted by: Jamie at June 28, 2006 05:45 PM

Whoa, he hit a homerun off a guy with an .887 OPS against and who gives up a home run every 4 innings!

His RISP numbers aren't too much better than the last few years, but how are his Close and Late numbers?

Anyway, I'm sure the Chokers are proud of yet another win sponsored by human growth hormone.

Posted by: Steve Brady at June 28, 2006 05:57 PM

Ha, arod finally wakes up and hits a meaningful home run and now he is a hero? Hey he is still the same arod and will go back to his old ways in the next game. Now big Papi, that is a hero!

Posted by: emains at June 28, 2006 06:31 PM

man, i will brawl with anyone that says arod isnt clutch and or that jeter is. steve, u ask for his close and late numbers because you dont want to admit hes batting an ungodly 350 with runners in scoring postion and 2 outs. but you can be darn sure that if he was batinng 210 with RISP and 2 outs youd go "see! arod's not clutch".
jeter is in a place now where no matter what he does, hes clutch. hes only clutch when he succeeds and its not fair. o and by the way.. jeter hit into more outs last year than anyone in the SPORT when the tying or winning run on base in scoring postion. let that marinate for a few seconds

Posted by: ryan at June 28, 2006 06:32 PM

ungodly

Fine, I concede the point. A-Rod is nothing like a god B)

I'll also admit I have no idea what a good definition of "clutch" is, but it's not RISP. Hitting a 3-run home run when you're team's up 20-0 is not clutch.

Close and Late is at least defined to pick out some more meaningful PAs. Though it's still an open question whether performance there is meaningful. But for backwards-looking purposes, the fact remains that before today, A-Rod has been terrible this year C&L.

When did I mention Jeter? Did I come across as a Chokers fan somehow?

Posted by: Steve Brady at June 28, 2006 07:08 PM

Hey Brady... how about a 2-run homer when you're behind a run in extra innings? Is that clutch enough for you?

Larry

Posted by: Larry Macdonald at June 28, 2006 07:16 PM

The Chokers. Heh, that's pretty good. Not quite as creative as "Yankees suck" or "MF Yankees" but still.

I'm sure the Yankees only choked in 2004 because of all the "clutch" performances from Ortiz, Manny, etc. It wouldn't make sense for those guys to waste time getting any big hits in the first 3 games when only the last 4 were elimination games. That would be like hitting a homer in the first inning-what good is that? Obviously, hitting is like turning on and off a faucet, which is what's so great about the Ortiz-types of the world turning it on at the right times and off at others.

Posted by: JeremyM at June 28, 2006 07:27 PM

steve,
my main point is this..

if the yankees are down 6 and arod hits a homerun the fans say "way to do it when it doesnt count arod"

but if jeter hits the same homerun they say "way to get us back in it captain clutch"

we go round and round with "clutch" stats something that may or may not truley exsist. bottom line is that jeter hit into more outs than any in baseball last year when the tieing or winning run was on base in scoring postion..
that clutch enough for ya

Posted by: ryan at June 28, 2006 07:32 PM

Hey Brady... how about a 2-run homer when you're behind a run in extra innings? Is that clutch enough for you?

Of course. That doesn't mean the hitter is clutch.

Though again, see my point above about the particular pitcher he was facing. In fact, my quote at the start of that half-inning was "Sosa against the heart of the order? This is gonna be a disaster."

if the yankees are down 6 and arod hits a homerun the fans say "way to do it when it doesnt count arod"

but if jeter hits the same homerun they say "way to get us back in it captain clutch"

Dude, I hate them both B) If you're searching for rationality among Yankee fans, I've got nothing for you.

Posted by: Steve Brady at June 28, 2006 07:50 PM

And rational thought includes painting an entire fanbase with one brush?

Posted by: JeremyM at June 28, 2006 10:49 PM

To bring this back to rational baseball: does anyone question how savvy it was for Jorge Sosa/Bobby Cox to pitch a middle-in fastball to a hitter like A-Rod on a 3-1 count when the guys behind him are Crosby, Phillips, and Cairo and there was already 1 out? Kudos to A-Rod for making them pay in the worst way -- he did actually have to hit the ball -- but I just don't understand, when they had a chance to win that game, why they let Sosa throw that meatball.

Posted by: MP at June 28, 2006 11:32 PM

Steve: As a rational Yankee fan, I would argue with you but that would just waste my time.

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak at June 29, 2006 12:20 AM

There's no disputing what he did today. One hopes his
mental abilities can progress along with his physical talents which were always there. The stat close and late exists for a reason & applies in post season & all star games as well, where pressure is even greater.

Posted by: susan mullen at June 29, 2006 01:13 AM

>> Anyway, I'm sure the Chokers are proud of yet another win sponsored by human growth hormone. >>

Nice, classy. But what else should I expect from the fanbase who felt compelled to slam the Yankees' third baseman the entire offseason in the wake of an 86-year curse-breaking championship.

Loser.

Posted by: Pete at June 29, 2006 12:03 PM

NY fans are f'n nuts. it's all chance. if a player is great in a certain situation, he's going to be bad in another situation and balance it all out. it just so happens that this season, Arod is bad in close and late situations, but tears it up with RISP.

and i'm sorry, but i'd rather a guy with a .350 ba with RISP than a guy that hits .400 in C&L, which, by the way, a .400 hitter in C&L situations doesn't necessarily mean he's driving in runs/scoring runs/or helping his team win.

Posted by: Boomer at June 29, 2006 03:25 PM

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