New York Baseball Fans, Part One.
Posted by Tino Evangelou on July 30, 2007
The most exciting thing to happen to me today? Nearly slipping in the bathroom coming out of the shower and smashing my head open. With nobody else home. That would’ve been lovely.
Anyway, now that I got the obligatory “things going on in my life” part out of the way, I wanted to go off on the New York baseball fan and the stereotype that they’re more “enlightened” than fans of most other teams. I still like to believe that’s true, if only because I’m a baseball elitist from New York who loves his OPS and VORP, but I’m starting to seriously wonder whether that’s the case.
Yesterday while having lunch at a local diner I was sitting across the aisle from a gentleman who was having a discussion from the waiter about the Yankees game. A-Rod grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the 4th inning of yesterday’s game against the Orioles, a game the Yankees eventually won easily 10-6. Keeping in mind the Yankees were already ahead and on the second out of the double play, Derek Jeter was actually safe at home plate, this was what the man said to the waiter:
“A-Rod….always does that. Bases loaded, clutch situations, men on base, he just doesn’t get the job done…great player, yeah, but he never gets it done in a big spot.”
As I usually am when people say things that make absolutely no sense, I was completely floored when I heard this. If you know anything about baseball absolutely everything about that statement is completely false. Wrong! Incorrect! Erroneous! I almost wanted to yell at the man across the aisle if he had actually watched his beloved Yankees this season, because I can’t fathom how anyone who watches baseball could make that statement. It’s completely beyond inexplicable how somebody who calls themselves a fan of the New York Yankees could possibly complain about Alex Rodriguez. This is a quick rundown of what A-Rod has done compared to the rest of his Yankee teammates in 2007:
Home Runs: A-Rod 35, Matsui 19, Posada 11
RBI: A-Rod 103, Matsui 71, Abreu 61
Slugging Percentage: A-Rod .641, Posada .516, Matsui .510
OPS: A-Rod 1.053, Posada .929, Matsui .873
By whatever measure you want to use, Alex Rodriguez has been far and away the most productive hitter in the Yankees lineup. And for those “clutch” stats that everyone gets so wound up about? He has a 1.028 OPS with runners in scoring position. He has a 1.146 OPS in “close and late” situations, as ridiculous a split as that is. Captain Clutch Derek Jeter is pulling a .964 and .835 in those categories respectively. Alex Rodriguez is 4 for 9 with the bases loaded this season with 2 home runs and 15 runs batted in. Alex Rodriguez has as many walk-off grand slams as anyone in the history of baseball. Alex Rodriguez has several walk-off home runs this season. Alex Rodriguez is objectively and without question the best player on the New York Yankees and the only reason the Yankees aren’t an afterthought in the American League playoff race. Alex Rodriguez won the American League MVP in 2005, should win it again this season, and in his two “off years” hit a combined 71 home runs. He is the clutch-est, best-est player on the team this year by a wide margin, and yet there are Yankees fans that can’t get the moronic perception out of their heads that he’s a failure.
As you all know, I make fun of Alex Rodriguez. A lot. I also hate the New York Yankees. A lot. Yet, I felt compelled to write a post defending him from the complete stupidity of some of his own fans. What the hell is wrong with this picture? I should be breaking down the Mets’ acquisition of Luis Castillo, yet I’m writing a rant about how good a player on the New York Yankees is because I was so completely thrown for a loop by this guy at the diner yesterday. I can’t believe it.
You know what? I don’t care. I can’t wait for him to leave the Yankees, so next year somebody like Mr. Dumb Baseball Fan From The Diner can wax poetic about Melky Cabrera and Shelly Duncan and whatever non-Alex Rodriguez third baseman replaces him while his team is 15 games behind the Red Sox and A-Rod is still bashing everyone’s brains in for the Angels or Cubs. Until then, though, I’ll have to hear some Yankees fans constantly bitch and moan about how terrible Alex Rodriguez is.
Oh, but don’t worry, because Yankees fans aren’t the only people I’m going to go off on. That’s because I’ve saved up plenty of vitriol for my next post, which is going to take aim at a good number of my fellow New York Mets fans. Rest assured when I say that I’m saving the best (or maybe the worst) for last.
