Chipper does A-Rod no favors
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Chipper Jones of the Braves, when asked about Barry Bonds on Wednesday, said any accomplished player would face questions about steroids use because of the era in which they play. That includes Alex Rodriguez.
“I think it will follow him,” Jones said. “There’s going to be the questions because his name’s been brought up. If I had to pose a guess on A-Rod, I would say no. But I don’t know. He’s going to have to answer the questions.”
That seems like a reasonable thing to say. Any athlete is any sport is not above suspicion in this era of performance enhancement.
But somehow it became “A’ROID SHOCKER” on the back of one paper and “CHIPPER’S A-BOMB” in the other. I’m sure it’ll be a story again tomorrow.
Am I missing something? Jones didn’t accuse Rodriguez of taking steroids. He said only that he will have to answer questions because of what Bonds did. Of course he will. So will Jones and any other player. That’s shocking and a bomb?
I cannot tell you categorically that Rodriguez has never used PEDs. But I can tell you this: I’ve never witnessed a baseball player who works harder at being good. I used to get to Legends Field around 7:45 a.m. most mornings in spring training and A-Rod was always on a back field taking grounders. Not sometimes. Always.
During the season, we’re allowed in the clubhouse 3.5 hours before the game and he is always there, either having finished working out or on his way. He also lifts weights after games. The Yankee coaches marvel at this work ethic and hold him up as an example to their younger players.
Alex was heavier last season, especially in his upper body, and it cost him on the field. He has dropped at least 15 pounds this season and has more range and quickness at third base and much quicker bat speed.
Along with the working out, he radically changed his diet. It’s to the point where he brings his own food to the stadium and calls ahead to restaurants to find out what’s on their menus.
There’s no reason to feel badly for a guy with that kind of talent and a contract that will change the lives of his great, great grandkids. But in this case, Rodriguez is being treated unfairly.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 4:36 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Great Post, Pete. Thanks !
It was just a matter of time till someone opened there mouths, I mean come on, so when Albert gets near 500 homeruns are the same things gonna be said about him to?
Talent alone is not enough to make it as far as A-Rod has, in any endeavor. You need to work hard and work smart. Sounds like A-Rod is doing that, I hope he is a Yankee for a long time. Speaking of that, Peter is there any news about an extension for A-Rod?
Chipper: Jealousy is a tough seed to swallow.
And if I were A-Rod, I’d NEVER do another interview or grant another quote to ANYONE working at the rag that printed the story with the headline “A’ROID SHOCKER”
The ’suspicion’ will follow EVERYONE of this era whether they deserve it or not and that includes ARod, unfortunately.
So what’s next??
Joba Chamberlain looked good the other night, do the writers start writing he’s been juicing because he was too good for a 21 year old??
Players can’t win right now. If you’re good, everybody is out to find out why. I can only imagine what Babe Ruth would have gone through in today’s society.
Arod being unfairly treated by the media? Where have we heard that before. Especially from the Daily News (Lupica, Bondy, and Madden) who kill the Yankees at will. You can barely pick up the paper and not have one of them throw roses at the mets and yet kill the yankees every time they try to improve the team. Bias in the Media? No chance right?
Good Post Pete. Bad Post (NY).
I kind of figured it was a bunch of word twisting and found no need to read the story. Thanks for confirming this so I didn’t have to waste my time…
*Roger Clemens and Joe Torre have been suspended for their actions Tuesday night in Toronto when after the benches were warned Clemens drilled Alex Rios in the back and was ejected by plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Clemens has been suspended for five games and Torre for one.
does 5 games mean 5 starts or 5 games Pete ? ^^^
Unfortunately, its stuff like this that makes many of today’s players HATE the media.
Everybody is guarded and the trust is gone between many players and the media.
Derek Jeter may give the most vanilla interviews in the history of Yankee baseball. However, he does it for a reason. To avoid ANY controversy.
Its a shame but, its never going to change. Especially, when you have headlines like we saw in the Post today, or the Daily News STILL on “Arod detail”. They had reporters trailing him again in Toronto for three days.
The losers are the fans and the good beat writers like Pete. They get the short end of the stick.
Tigers lost
Again ARod in the headlines?? he makes sure everyday to be the hot topic.
5 games=1 start.
It really is sad the way some of the New York media treat Arod. I would not blame him one bit for wanting to opt out and to be left alone…
SJ44
August 9th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
5 games=1 start.
SJ44, and Clemens CAN appeal, then drop the appeal in time NOT to miss a start as posted earlier,,,,right ?
Is ARod steroid free? What about Jose Conseco who’s coming out this fall with a new book with stuff on ARod?
Nice post Pete. It was an absurd article. Especially because Larry ‘Chipper’ Jones has had so many suspect injuries over the years, a la Big Mac and Giambi.
Chipper did not say Arod did drugs he said he would be tainted because of the times..
Arod is clean till proven differently…..
Yes, he can appeal and drop appeal anytime before hearing.
He can appeal it but, he won’t win.
Perhaps, they shave a day off it. If they work around off days, he may not even miss a start.
No big deal to me. Roger did what he had to do. I’m glad he drilled Rios and I’m glad he drilled where he did. The missed start may even help at this point in the year.
The Blue Jays threw at Arod for two days. They were more consumed with that than winning the series. It shows what a loser organization they have become.
Clemens retailiates, he gets suspended. Damon and Duncan go in hard at second, the Blue Jays whine about it. That’s cracks me up.
I guess they think they can take their shots and nobody is supposed to do anything about it.
They didn’t even have the guts to do it in NY. They waited until they got home. They aren’t only classless, they are gutless.
Next time the Yankees play them, they need to stick one in Matt Stairs’ ear, then we will see if he has anything else to say.
They are a whining bunch. Not enough of them can get nailed to suit me.
Chipper did include himself when he was talking about it. He said everyone’s numbers will be questioned, even his, because he plays in the Steroid Era. I don’t think it has anything to do with jealousy or anything. I think Chipper answered a questions and the tabloids went crazy.
Chipper’s right, too. Anyone who put up numbers in this era is going to get a second or third look. That’s the grave that’s been dug for them, fair or not.
agreed SJ. yanks need to retaliate, but this time, before any warnings are handed out. Let toronto get pissed afterwards this time.
love SJ’s bluejays posts. no surprise there.
Good posts Pete. And while I get what Chipper is saying him being a seasoned veteran I think he should have said no comment especially considering who he was saying this to.
Unless his appeal is successful, Roger will miss a start. The suspension is for 5 games, not 5 days. The off days won’t make any difference if it is 5 games.
Baiscally his start will be delayed by a day. They need some one, other than the five starters, to start that missed game by Roger.
Pete, after the Met game today Chipper thought his comments were taking out of context and would not talk to the NY media.
If he serves around an off day one pitcher can be pushed up on normal rest.Then Clemens can go the day before his suspension and the day after.Hence no missed start.
I can’t believe Towers and Gibbons weren’t supsended…especially after MLB warned them, but then Toronto went after A-Rod TWICE in the next series. I guess it’s fine because they didn’t hit right after MLB’s warning??? What kind of bullsh!t logic is that?
You would think MLB might look to protect the best player in the game…but I guess not when you have a bunch of imcompetent morons like Selig running the joint.
Plus they fined A-Rod????? For what…getting hit???? What a bunch of unbelievalbe BS.
I agree with Kevin.
Baseball leaders have no backbone.
I am Ok suspending Roger, given the rules.
They should have suspended Towers who started it all and then the way he acted during the brawl.
Pete – thanks for that great post. I remember reading somewhere that the year Alex was drafted, he played in some summer league (I think Johnny mentioned playing there with him a while back). One of the coaches or scouts mentioned that Alex was entirely different from the rest of the players in his seriousness. The guys would be having pizza and beer and Alex would have steamed vegetables and brown rice. He treats his body like a temple. There is no way he took steroids.
Chipper’s comments were stupid, but I think the media did blow them out of proportion a bit. He didn’t really say anything, but had to know what he was implying. Jealous much, oh Chipper?
you can tellsj44 definitley grew up in a time when kids got hit and batters got drilled.
today’s young fans, who never played sandlot baseball without adult supervision when justice was handed out by one’s peers, don’t seem quite understand the fine art of retaliation.
torre has his own understandable personal reasons why it’s a no go with retaliation for him, but having clemens there making his own decisions has to make other teams think twice about drilling jeter, arod, etc.
it’s actually a deterant ,and less yankees will be hit.
as a side note, it’s very easy to not be hit by a pitch even when the pitcher is determined to go after the hitter. it’s easy to dodge even the fastest fastball. the problem is trying to hit and get out of the way ..
hitters have stances now that are so unbalanced into the ball and towards the plate that they have no prayer of getting out of the way of a purpose pitch.
a pitcher who has the ability to go up and in with precision opens up the whole outside of the plate for off speed pitches. it’s not about hitting people. it’s about getting control of one side of the plate. hopefully clemens passes this art on to chamberlain and hughes.
Chipper also said this:
“But it’s unfortunate for the game that there is such a cloud hanging over it. Hopefully, everything will come out and Barry will be cleared and we can all say that Barry is the true home run champ and that there is no asterisk, there’s nothing tainted,”
“There’s nothing any of us ballplayers would want more, to be honest with you. Because I’m playing in the steroid era. Everything that I do is going to be judged. It’s the same with a lot of good ballplayers that have put up a lot of good numbers in this era that did it the right way.”
So basically what he is saying is that in today’s era, the steriod cloud will be looming over the accomplishments of all players regardless of whether they are clean or not. Sounds like a pretty accurate assessment to me.
A-Rod is the true definition of what a great ballplayer is these days. It really pisses me off when Jose Canseco or Chipper Jones (albeit, exaggerated by the media) bring his name up in negativity. A-Rod steroids? C’mon.
does A-Rod compare to this?
No.
http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....yBonds.jpg
(was supposed to be attached to my above post under “this”)
“(was supposed to be attached to my above post under “thisâ€?)”
check out how this skinny-armed, small-headed dude got big-headed and husky in a few years. it’s gotta be the ‘roids!
age 22 or so: http://tinyurl.com/3d63mn
age 30 or so: http://tinyurl.com/2mubu7
Chipper Jones now realizes that he stuck his foot in his mouth and would like his comments to go away. Looking to worm his way out now.
This was a very nice post.
I’m assuming ARod was fined because he advanced toward the mound and the pitcher threateningly, with his bat still in his hand.
I know John McDonald was one of the guys whining when A-Rod did his infamous shout…but I thought he took everything like a professional when Duncan slid in REALLY hard. His comments after the game were not resentful at all — full respect.
I guess that’s why he’s stayed around…Dude can field and knows how to handle himself – because he sure as hell can’t hit.
Chipper Jones has proven himself to be a dumb Southern boy who is jealous of A Rod’s talent and obviously doesn’t know when to shut his ignorant mouth.Good Ole Boy Chipper wants to get in bed with Jose Canseco? Wow…there’s a Dream Team for ya’ll. Maybe they could go down to Chipper’s home state of Florida and wrassle some gators with John Rocker when their 10 minutes of backpage fame is over.
post sports editor greg gallo runs the distortion machine he calls a sports section. he calls his reporters every morning to start shaping the news in the manner he desires. the post will take ordinary comments offered in response to ordinary questions and bend those comments out of context, throw a dubious headline on top of the package, and offer it to the gullible public for consumption each morning.
chipper probably called a-rod today to tell him what happened. both of them knew what happened before the call was made. greg gallo’s boys distorted the news once again.
Very well said, Pete.
Thanks Pete.
I don’t get it Chipper said he thought Arod was clean made some general comments about steriods and the Post and Daily News put this all over the back pages? Chipper should have kept his mouth shut BUT he really didn’t say anything. I thought it was typical of the tabloids in ny though.
Do I know 100 percent that Arod is clean, nope but I can look at his stats. He’s been putting up those numbers since he was what 19? There is no drastic all of a sudden jump in his numbers, and Arod may have gotten bigger since his rookie year but his head is the same size unlike Bonds. There’s been no Bonds-Balco like connection for Arod either. I think if Arod took steriods he would hit 80-90 hrs in a year.
Alex Rodriguez is just being himself. He always makes himself the center of every team he plays with and they never win anything. In fact his off the field exploits with other women, gambling, etc. are worse than what he does on the field, where he is always so childish and bush league.
I wish he had never come to the Yankees and I hope this is the year that he goes away.
Very much agree, Pete. Chipper’s comments were, if read entirely, just making the point that in this steroids era, everybody will be suspected of use, and the better the performance, the more the suspicion. That, and nobody really knows what another person has done. Then the headline writers get involved…
Today’s Daily News does it again with Lupica’s column, which has a reasonable approach to what Chipper said, coupled with another ridiculous presentation/headline.
As usual, your voice is one of reason!
Bob