Oh A-Rod....

The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez squandered a big opportunity in Game 2 against the Detroit Tiger-kitties. A big opportunity to win the game? Not so much. More of an opportunity to get into the good graces of the New York fans.. in the first inning.

I am not a Yankees fan (as evidenced by my previous post) but I have felt pretty bad for Alex Rodriguez this year. The fans have been brutal towards him for not coming through in "the clutch." Here's a player who may be one of the best, statistically, of all time getting killed for the perception that he doesn't come through in big situations. However, he is hitting over .300 with runners in scoring position and has a .939 OPS with runners in scoring position (OPS is on base % + slugging %). So the reality is that he does well with people in scoring position. His average jups up 10 points when runners are in scoring position and there are 2 outs and his OPS goes up by 31 points.

In hitting in baseball, you fail a lot more than you succeed. A .300 average (where you get 3 hits for every 10 at bats) is doing pretty well. Still that means you fails 7 times out of 10. If I could fail 7 times out of 10 and still be considered successful - I would be the top guy in my company.

So for some reason - A-Rod's failures are magnified by the media in New York. They just don't like him. So when A-Rod struck out with the bases loaded in the first inning in Game 2, the media was all over it. I heard it on ESPN radio from the moment I got into my car to drive home from work to on my way to work this morning. Forget that the line-up was 1-8 in the first four innings with runners in scoring position. Forget that, in the same city, Carlos Delgado for the Mets failed (grounded out) in a bases loaded situation while they were playing the Dodgers and the game was still very close (2-0 Mets). It's all about A-Rod and his 1st inning failure.

First inning. The FIRST FREAKING INNING! I can't remember a time when a first inning strike out got so much attention. And the radio heads play like they are either debating whether or not the fans' treatment of him is unfair - but the fact they are bringing it up gives it more weight than it should have. He really is getting treated unfairly - however; He's doing the best he can. All he can do is shower after the game, shrug off his failure, get dressed in his Armani suit, ride home in his limo, drink champagne while getting a massage, then go out and find 4 hot super-models to help ease his pain...

--tz