Why wait? Alex Rodriguez swung at the first pitch he saw from Justin Verlander last night–a fastball on the outside part of the plate–and popped it over the wall in right field. Hit number 3,000 was a home run.
It was a sweet moment and Rodriguez seemed to soak it in. Got big hugs from C. C. Sabathia and Brian McCann and Joe Girardi, pats, slaps, and daps from the rest of his team. Pointed and blew kisses to his daughters, Natasha and Elia, sitting in the stands behind the Yankee dugout.
A quick look at the articles around the web this morning and I see most of them hone-in on what this moment could have been–should have been–if only Rodriguez hadn’t botched it all up. Stain, shame, tarnished, asterisk, you’ve heard it all before.
John Flaherty was less than sanguine on the YES broadcast last night, noting that none of the Tigers applauded as Rodriguez rounded the bases. It was a fair observation but incomplete as the replays didn’t show if any of the Tigers clapped or saluted while Rodriguez was hugged by his teammates and cheered by the crowd. When Sabathia hugged Rodriguez, they turned, smiled and pointed to someone on the other side of the field, presumably in the Tigers dugout. Perhaps the Tigers didn’t cheer–this was no lovefest like the one Jeter got the day he hit 3,000–but it was misleading of Flaherty and YES to suggest the Tigers apathy and not give a full account of their actions–Miguel Cabrera, for one, gave Rodriguez a hug after the game.
Rodriguez told reporters after the game, “The thing that I’ll take away from a day like today is, after the last out is made, Miguel Cabrera comes over and gives me a hug,” Rodriguez said. “Twenty years from now, that’s really what I’ll take away — the fans’ reaction, sharing it with my teammates and seeing their reaction.
“Everything about this year has been a surprise. I’ve never enjoyed the game as much as I have this year.”
This gray area is of Rodriguez’s making and some of us don’t like to have the innocence of the prize-in-the-crackerjack moment sullied by anything as sticky as reality. But Rodriguez has always been a challenge, even before 2009, hasn’t he?’
Leave it to Ken Davidoff to make sense:
You don’t view this as a redemption tale? Good. Me neither. A-Rod had nothing from which to redeem himself; he served his year’s suspension in 2014 and returned as a player with the same rights as all of the others. For me, it’s a tale of perseverance — the guy just won’t go away, even with two surgically repaired hips and his extensive rap sheet — and of comeuppance for the blinders-wearing moralists who thought, just with the force of their consternation, they could will A-Rod into oblivion.
You’re expending energy trying to determine whether A-Rod is using something right now? Ay yi yi.
You’re searching for a level of truth that is virtually unobtainable — if not necessarily about A-Rod, than it is about the player population in general. What a shame to lose sleep wondering who uses illegal PEDs and who doesn’t. The drug tests, to repeat a line, are IQ tests. The same goes for baseball’s investigative department, which capitalized on the stupidity of A-Rod and his fellow Biogenesis guys to rely on the unreliable Anthony Bosch for their stuff.
A-Rod is great for the game because he gets people to care, one way or the other. The game needs its villains just as badly as its protagonists, and in this age of social media, can we really hope to find a worthy successor to this guy?
Anyhow, never mind the angst–or the professional putz who caught the ball and won’t fork it over–it was a lovely moment. Even better, was Adam Warren, who pitched 8 innings (the longest outing of his career), held the Tigers to a couple of runs, and got home runs from Didi Gregorious and Brett Gardner as the Yanks beat the Tigers, 7-2.
[Photo Credit: Bill Kostroun; Frank Franklin II/AP]
Can we talk about why Drew still has a place in the lineup?
That's what you want to talk about? You should send Dimelo an email.
Alex is welcome in my house anyday. Period
AGAIN, my sense of humor or my cynicism, to the extent there are such things, have been lost in translation. I read baseball. Don't watch it. Don't go, though I have Marlin tickets for July 2 (a gift).
Not a fan of records, though I used to go to the HofF, but don't because of their failure to recognize a certain labor leader.
I am so tired of this A-Rod stuff and unforgiving about how he hurt the team that I just want the conversations back on track, which means to me, talking about the game from 9 or more positions, including the managers and the fielding and hitting coaches.
[3] Rodriguez and Belth.
I guess I'm a Yankee fan. The Mick was my boyhood hero before I knew he lived on tape, Greenies and aspirin by the bottle. I never like Alex as a player but admired his talents with Seattle and Texas. He was like Bonds a HOFer beforehand, but he got caught because he was both stupid and had an ego which told him he was bigger than the game and the rules didn't apply to him. So I thought that this season was a test to see how quickly the Yankees could get rid of him. Instead he's been a solid contributor and (outwardly) a good teammate. Here's hoping he helps them get to the playoffs and stays healthy and clean.
Another Mantle fan here. Following his exploits really enhanced my young years. The fact that he drank too much and at times was a horse's ass is sad especially for those who were close to him. I just remember the joy in seeing him beat out a bunt or hit a long home run. Alex, on the other hand, messed with the game he loves. His joy in playing now is a wonder and really fun to watch. Records, dollar issues and who got the ball are of no interest at least to me. A pennant race, a walk off win and the sound of a New York baseball summer of which he is a part gets and keeps my attention. The legacy and other issues are for talk shows and sportswriters on deadline.
Great write-up, Alex, thanks. I'm sorry I missed it. (Ken Davidoff's stuff was good too, thanks for passing it along.)
I root for A-Rod pretty hard. Sure, he did this to himself, but so did Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, and those are two of my favorite Yankees. The redemption story gets me, but there's something more with Alex. Like Mr. Belth mentions, he's never been comfortable in his own skin.
For me, nothing sums him up more than his own reaction when he hits a home run. Reggie stood and gazed in wonder, continuously impressed by his own accomplishment, but A-Rod looks immediately to others, turning his head as he breaks into his home run trot to get his teammates' approval. He's Sally Field with a baseball bat -- "You like me! You really like me!" There's something endearing in that, the baddest motherfucker in the game (surely he once was that, back when he was hitting fifty homers a year) always wondering if he was good enough or popular enough. So this season has been fun. It's as if he finally gets it (or is finally listening to someone who gets it.) I believe him when he says he realizes what a gift this season has been and talks about all he wants to do is help the Yankees win. He has looked into the abyss -- probably more than one abyss, actually. There are the demons in his soul that took him down to the PED crossroads, as well as the certainty of his own mortality. No one, probably not even Alex himself, would've been surprised if he had never gotten an at bat this year, and it's clear that he knows it.
So while his contract is an abomination and his PED past will haunt him always, he's still worth our time. He's still worth rooting for. The YES employees seem to be going out of their way to hang on to all that other stuff, but his teammates should be the true barometer. They clearly like him, and that's good enough for me.