The Enigma Called A-Rod

As the Yankees finish off a depressingly successful regular season for those of us who take excitement in Bronx underachievement, one question looms above the rest: is this the postseason 275 million-dollar-man Alex Rodriguez finally going to decide to get a meaningful hit?



A-Rod's postseason failures are well-documented, but in case you've just become a fan of baseball after a soul-searching monastic trek through the Himalayas, here are his sobering numbers: a .279 batting average, and a meager 7 HR's and 17 RBIs in 39 postseason games. Not completely terrible you say, right? Did I mention he's making 27.5 million dollars a year to strike out 38 times against just 17 walks in the playoffs? There's the 2006 ALDS against the Tigers, when he was so inept (.071 BA, .143 OPS) that Joe Torre treated him with the disdain of a used tissue, dropping him to an embarrassing eighth in the batting order. His previous year's first-round flop against the Angels (.133 BA, five K's in five games) served as a dreary portent of things to come. But forget a detailed breakdown. For anyone who actually watched A-Rod's postseason at-bats over his 10 years in the playoffs, they'd surely wonder what Torre was doing giving an overwhelmed rookie a chance to get his feet wet during such crucial games. (Wait, that was A-Rod up there passively taking three straight strikes and trudging back to the dugout?) It wasn't so much Rodriguez's hits (or lack thereof); it was the timing of them. Runners on 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs, with the Yankees down by 1 in the 8th? Yankees fans begged for the return of mediocre utility men Ricky Ledee or Chad Curtis...anyone but A-Rod. But with the bases loaded and the Yankees up by six in the 4th, Rodriguez is the man to happily smash a double to the left-center field gap. Not to bury the guy too much here, but there's no sense hiding from it; to borrow the most overused cliché currently floating around: "it is what it is." But we're not here to throw A-Rod under the bus. Conversely, we're merely intrigued by his big-game failures and seek an answer as to why Rodriguez chooses to hibernate in October.

Possible Reason #1: Derek Envy

Ask any hardcore Yankees fan to compare the Yankees two most tabloided (yes I made that word up) players, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, and they'll likely offer a succinct, yet telling answer. Rodriguez: superstar. Jeter: legend. For while A-Rod has had his share of postseason hiccups and shortcomings, Jeter is to the playoffs as Mozart is to classical composition. (Not a music fan? Ok, they're both exceptionally skilled at their craft.) Taking it one step further, Mozart had the Requiem. Jeter had these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-gunrn3nj0. To be fair, let's give A-Rod his due. His most memorable postseason moment: Game 6, 2004 ALCS: the infamous glove slap that left a shocked Bronson Arroyo, the Red Sox, and everyone watching across the world completely incredulous at what they just saw.


Possible Reason #2: Not Everyone is Born for the Moment

There's a reason guys like Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson and Lou Gehrig fall under the "Legend" category among Yankees postseason heroes. Any one of those players had the uncanny ability to singlehandedly change the outcome of a game at any time during their careers. We all know about the magic of Jeter and those a little younger have heard about the bombs that led to Jackson's name being used interchangeably with October. But, few probably realize Lou Gehrig had a career .361 batting average in the playoffs, with a .477 on-base percentage, and slugged a ridiculous .731. In 34 career playoffs games, the Iron Horse had 35 RBI, and put together a 1.208 OPS. Comparing A-Rod to Yankee immortals like those is almost unfair. (Note: the "almost" sneaks in there when you again take into account Rodriguez's exorbitant salary and expect just a bit more for over $14,000 per hour.)


Possible Reason #3: A-Rod's Struggles Are Blown Out of Proportion by an Overzealous Media

Bet you weren't expecting this post to take a sharp turn in this direction, huh? Well, frankly, neither was I, until I started digging up some postseason numbers for other Yankee icons. The great Mickey Mantle hit just .257 in his playoff career (although admittedly his .535 slugging percentage does greatly outweigh A-Rod's .483.) Joltin' Joe Dimaggio hit a very A-Rod-like .271, with just eight homeruns in 51 games for his playoff career. Roger Maris hit .217 with an on-base percentage under .300 in 41 playoff games. And for all the props and "clutch" tags attached to Bernie Williams, he only hit .275 in his postseason career. So how come none of those guys came under the criticism that Rodriguez does every October? Well, first and foremost, as mentioned several times previously, his salary doesn't do him any favors (although I don't see him requesting a meeting with GM Brian Cashman any time soon and demanding a pay cut.) Another reason is that these are the New. York. Yankees. Winning is mandatory and capturing World Series titles is merely an expected part of the process. And the Yankees not winning a ring in almost a decade? Well, somebody's gotta take the fall for that. And the out-for-blood New York media has decided that somebody goes by the name of Alex Rodriguez.

The Bottom Line:

A-Rod's postseason miseries will continue, as he'll hit a mediocre .265 with no homeruns and two RBIs, and the Yankees will fall in seven games to the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS.