Just call A-Rod … um …. Mr. Clutch?
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 09, 2009 
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Alex Rodriguez has 20 home runs this season. Eleven of them have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead.
Of his 62 RBI, 33 have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead.
Just what has torn the world asunder? If you missed it this morning, read what Alex had to say about finding some inner peace in the wake of his “humiliating” spring.
A-Rod is comfortable in the clutch. Now we can expect Joe Girardi to show up with a mullet and Derek Jeter to date a girl because she has a great personality.
Clutch-Rod
Walk off Homers like it is his job
I think arod is finally over his hump. He may never put up the same number as he once did, but I think this team is destined for great things and arod is the straw that stirs this yankee beverage
I will call him Mr. Clutch if he continues this trend in the postseason.
The MLBPA treated Arod like a red-headed step. It is atrocious how they ran to support David Ortiz after abandoning Arod this spring.
Let’s hope Arod takes out his frustrations in the postseason.
At the same time, Jeter is no longer clutch now.
“The gift that God gave me is to play baseball, not to talk or explain myself.”
Truer words have never been spoken, at least not at sleepovers involving Derek Jeter.
Do I thank him or Kate Hudson? or the hip injury? It’s almost like something happened in Colorado b/c this season lets be honest here, there hasn’t been any outside noise. I mean really.
Bret:
Yes, A-Rod will want to play well because the MLBPA didn’t support him. Never mind that Alex, you know, actually did it.
Did you read the article? He has no frustrations.
If a player was motivated to play because of the union … oh, forget it. You just couldn’t be any more wrong.
NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez skipped David Ortiz’s news conference, opting to sleep in after hitting the winning homer in the New York Yankees’ 15-inning victory Friday night.
“I’m focusing on playing baseball,” the slugger said. “Less is more. … Our team this year is playing well and there’s music and there’s apple pie and there’s [championship] belts. The energy on this team has changed, too.”
“I didn’t see anything,” Rodriguez said after Ortiz went through the ordeal of a news conference. “David is a good friend. I’ve been there, done that. I lived it. Whatever he did, I hope he feels better about it because I certainly did once I had my press conference.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....BHeadlines
I mean srsly nada.
Warning: armchair psychobabble alert!
Alex is playing better because he’s in a good place right now. I think he lived the last 6 years with the fear that his steroids use would come out. Now that the burden’s been lifted, his mind is free and he can do what he does best.
No more A-fraud. Welcome back, A-rod.
Peter,
I agree Arod will be motivated more by the fans in NY than the player’s union. But still, I’d be shocked if their unequal treatment didn’t infuriate him.
Papi did roids too, but he lied about it and the union is trying to put out the fire.
You can see it in his face that he’s a different guy now. And it’s good that he’s not grudging the Union, though they should never stop kissing his butt for exploding the salary structure.
Pete,
Quick question for you. With are the talk of the yankees trying to get a fifth starter, how nobody’s mention Ben Sheets. I know he had surgery last year but was supposed to be ready by now. Do have any information on him and do you think the yankees should get him.
Thanks Tim
Those MVP awards meant nothing, nothing.
A-Rod is a great player he’s due to have a great postseason, hopefully he gets his due in full this October.
Ben Sheets isn’t pitching this year.
He doesn’t care about the Union’s support or lack of it.
It has no bearing on his life.
One of the reasons the Union is stepping out heavily with Ortiz is they are sick of the leaks and inaccuracies.
As far as ARod is concerned, its all worked out best for him.
I’d rather be Arod than Ortiz right now, Union support or not, that’s for sure.
Great to see this. A-Rod went through hell earlier this year, and while it was his own doing, I’m glad to see him moving in the right direction with his life and his career.
Additionally, John Henry’s “wife” is now on Twitter. This should be fun.
so the MLBPA steps up to the plate for the beloved big Papi in a desperate attempt to make his lies look believable…. the big cuddly likable guy he would never do steroids… it had just gone too far after he was leaked off the list… You know it doesn’t matter…. Ortiz w/o roids is no A-Rod w/o roids and the Red Sox are not close to the Yankees this year… it’s alllll good
If he never had a hip problem ?
Probably league leader in HR & RBI.
ARod said the other day he doesn’t really follow his HR #’s but I don’t believe that’s true.
If you look at the all time list you’ll see that
Delgado is next for the 500 club. If he ever gets healthy he only needs 27.
After that? Pujols in 3-4 seasons.
Then? It will be a loooong time.
Maybe the age of players reaching 500 in their young 30′s is leaving as quickly as it entered.
Thank the lord for that.
newsflash…………….
big poopie is hitting 217 and is a terrible terrible player and by the way he cannot field or run at all..
he is giambi like……….actually he may be worse because his OBP is lower.
papi must really miss those vitamin cupplements he no longer takes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a joke………
Ortiz looks bad right now. He looks like a liar but the union keeps attacking the report and calling doubt on its accuracy and validity. It’s all perfectly timed with the Papi leak.
We should be talking about 2004 and 2007.
If those championships were won by the Yankees with Arod, you can bet the sports world would be stamping the record books with the asterisk and tainting the Yankees accomplishments 24/7 on ESPN.
I’m happy for Alex. For all his flaws (and we all have our own, so I don’t judge him), I think he’s basically a decent guy. He’s also (before the steroid revelation hit the fan) been through heck and back in NY – mostly due to fans who can not let go of their hatred of the guy. Whether that stems from the Esquire interview a few years ago or what, these hypocrites boo him for every little failure (nevermind if the rest of the team doesn’t do anything) and then cheer him when he does well. I’m glad he basically flipped the bird at them and the media . Good for Alex that he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks of him……just his teammates and loved ones.
He’s come up huge again and again this year….starting with his first at bat of the season. That’s still the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.
“ARod said the other day he doesn’t really follow his HR #’s but I don’t believe that’s true.”
Past seasons I didn’t believe this, this season I really do. Dude his walkoff HR tied Harmon Killebrews all time record, not one mention of it at all.
MLBPA was pathetic in its handling of the press over the list. All these questions and inaccuracies they spoke of should have been discussed before the first name was leaked.
It doesn’t matter the names that were leaked or whether they were guilty of using steroids.
And according to an article by Lisa at Subway Squawkers, 42% of Alex’s career home runs either tied or gave his team the lead.
So maybe being “clutch” isn’t something that just happened.
From last thread, sorry didn’t see the new one …
Can’t begin to say how much I, and I’m sure we, love to read and appreciate your cut to the chase, on point, unbiased comments. Truly great to hear an insider’s perspective, Pete’s great ongoing blogging and journalistic views and the huge fan interaction day in and day out year round.
This is truly an under the radar, great site that I believe rivals any on the web today.
As I’ve said before, I don’t have a chance to post much but have read religiously since Pete began this undertaking a few years ago. I’ve gotten to know a number of the great folks through the blog and the LoHud outings at PNC Field. I can only hope it continues well into the future.
Thanks to all!
From the last thread:
SJ,
Thanks. So you’re saying that the Red Sox spin machine is still trying to hype Buccholz? Because I’ve only see you say that Toronto wasn’t high on Bucky (which is totally plausible). I guess San Diego wasn’t high on him either.
CB,
Thanks to you, too. You (and SJ) really illustrated how the Sox operate. I know Cash gets demerits for having deep pockets, but I don’t think the Yankees are pretenders at all. He’s able to operate in stealth mode because they choose to, and they seem to have clamped down on the loose lips (ahem Tampa faction).
Amazing how the club, with the help of espn and the Boston papers have been able to spin the Red Sox into something they’re not. They were a force to be sure, pushing the right buttons to win 2 world series (with a lot of players who didn’t come out of their system). But I think this year is showing that maybe they weren’t the baseball model that they’ve made themselves out to be. As recently as last season, we had article after article on the Red Sox being the ideal “business model” thrown in our faces. At any rate, there are cracks in the facade to say the least.
music and apple pie? LOL I can understand Alex confusing whipped cream with apples……unless AJ is also baking apple pies on days he doesn’t start.
From last thread, sorry didn’t see the new one …
SJ44
Can’t begin to say how much I, and I’m sure we, love to read and appreciate your cut to the chase, on point, unbiased comments. Truly great to hear an insider’s perspective, Pete’s great ongoing blogging and journalistic views and the huge fan interaction day in and day out year round.
This is truly an under the radar, great site that I believe rivals any on the web today.
As I’ve said before, I don’t have a chance to post much but have read religiously since Pete began this undertaking a few years ago. I’ve gotten to know a number of the great folks through the blog and the LoHud outings at PNC Field. I can only hope it continues well into the future.
Thanks to all!
I see the Padres are dressed for war today.
Betsy August 9th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
music and apple pie? LOL I can understand Alex confusing whipped cream with apples……unless AJ is also baking apple pies on days he doesn’t start.
lol
Oh NO!
Looks like things are getting serious.
ARod Meets teh Parrents
http://cache.daylife.com/image.....p/610x.jpg
Don’t do it, Alex, don’t do it.
Don’t forget A Rod was going through a divorce last year. If there is one thing that would cause inner turmoil, that is it. I hope he is very happy with Kate Hudson, because he deserves happiness and he plays for the team I root for. Get the brooms out for tonight!
why is everyone so worried about Big Papi? If he lied – the truth will come out eventually and he’ll look worse.
Alex is content. He did the right thing. He dyed his skin orange, sat down with George Washington Gammons and told the truth.
I appreciate what A-Rod’s doing, but honestly I think all the focus on “clutch” is really misguided. So what if 11/20 of his HRs have tied the score or given the NYY the lead? I would expect similar results from any random sampling of 20 HRs, regardless of who hit them. If you figure that the average HR is worth around 2 runs, then it doesn’t seem that meaningful that about half a given sample of 20 HRs should occur when the score is tied or the hitter’s team is down by 1 or 2 runs.
It’s funny that back in 2007, the government, Mitchell, Selig, the union, meda and fans talk about putting the “Steroids Era” into the past and start looking foreward. Since that day, all they’ve all done is look back. We’ve had the funeral, and now, it’s time to bury the corpse and let the living get on with life.
Prepare to be shocked, Bret. He doesn’t care.
It’s two different situations. Alex did it and admitted he did it. Apparently he did it. What was the union supposed to do? Ortiz whether you believe him or not, says he didn’t. Why in the world would Alex care about that?
You’re inventing something here. Oh, and he’s very good friends with David.
According to weather.com and their future tracker, storms will be pushing through the stadium around game time and clearing out by 9ish….my prediction is first pitch, 9:15pm.
you’re welcome.
Surprise, surprise, SJ44 would rather be A-Rod than Ortiz. You sure are taking a big leap there with that kind of support.
I wouldn’t rather be either, I’m quite happy with me.
I’m glad A-Rod is now recognizing his shortcomings and is being more honest, I haven’t been a big supporter of A-Rod, but I think he’s making himself more of a normal person than ever before. Since he seems to be figuring it out, I definitely hope he continues down that path. Let’s be honest, A-Rod nor Ortiz are bad guys, we’ll see how the future plays out for Ortiz. A-Rod just has a problem of sometimes stepping on his own pecker when he talks, but he seems to have quelled that. Good for him.
Also, how come any talk of A-Rod automatically inspires a bash Jeter comment? Jeter has been playing great this year and there is no better teammate than him. Stop the madness
Once Bay is healthy, I get the feeling Papi’s going to re-introduced to the bench and we’ll be seeing Lowell with some decent time at DH. Yuke at 3rd and Kotch at 1st.
Heal slow young Canadian.
BD, The knock on Alex in the past was that his HR’s were tack-ons and came when the score was lopsided.
If Arod swings for the fences in 100% of game situations where a HR ties it or gives his team the lead, why is 42% an impressive number? It would stand to reason that a high percentage of his HR total will help tie the game or give his team the lead of he uses such an approach.
58% of his HR either close a multi-run deficit or add to a lead.
Is that an unusually low number?
Tunnel Man, normally I’d agree, but eversince she showed up to YS which by coincidence or w/e was walkoff week vs the Twins…and she’s been at the past 3 Red Sox games.. I’d ask Pete first.
My sir Peter, is this some coincidence or has Kate Hudson had some positive effects to our Alex?
Pete its not about individual players and whether they were guilty. The union should have handled this before ONE name was leaked.
And when Alex’s name was leaked, they should have said something because there were, according to them, a lot of inaccuracies about The List.
They handled this very wrong. Its not about the latest name and if they are sympathetic enough to sit next to at a table.
They never got in front of this story about the list. Too little, too late.
A-Rod so far has had a great year so far. He might not have one of those 2007,or 2005 years again,but he will surely be productive.
lol…what is this apple pie arod speaks of…thats too funny if he meant whip cream…he sounds like a little kid talking about christmas…pie! belts! music!
SJ,
Sorry. That looked like I don’t believe you. I do believe that Toronto was not high on Buccholz. Buccholz and Bard? Oh, yeah.
Buccholz had a good outing yesterday against the Yankees, but he doesn’t look like a front of the rotation type to me. He can get more experience and that’ll help him, but to me he looks more like a Kennedy than a Joba or Hughes.
Pete, Even the CHB’s article today in the boston globe is kind of weak, Papi does get a free pass because he has been a more likable figure over there than A-Rod here in NY. I don’t have a problem with that, I definitely think Pa-PED is full of crap, but he’s built up enough goodwill with the Boston fans that they are willing to believe anything he says.
Do you know if the union provided A-Rod with any council? It definitely does seem like they acted differently with Pa-Ped than A-Rod. Also, Manny just had a bobblehead night in LA. Good for him
Peter,
Arod should care. The union is favoring Ortiz over him. It’s quite clear.
Well I guess batting .300 is a low batting average then.
I’m convinced the caller who said Alex’s HR in the 15th proves he’s a bad player because they wouldn’t pitch to a good player in that situation is from this board.
Madonna, Kate Hudson….there is one area where ARod will never be Jeter…..
“lol…what is this apple pie arod speaks of…thats too funny if he meant whip cream”
I don’t think I even want to know.
“…he sounds like a little kid talking about christmas…pie! belts! music!”
I know, next thing we’ll here is how GI Joe bought the team a twister board.
I would even go so far to say that the MLBPA is acting as a quasi-PR firm for the Boston Red Sox.
I just hope he raises that avg.
here (*hear*)
Ortiz….is he DFA’d in the off season and they just eat the last year of that deal ? Or do they hope he bounces back and becomes a .230 hitter next season ? The guy looks horrible at the plate….
“I just hope he raises that avg.”
I’ll take his .260 AVG w/ clutch hits. Really I don’t care about his AVG right now, and I doubt he does that much either.
Does ARod get the full surgery in the off season? They did a patch job so he could play this season….
Bret,
He doesn’t care. He really doesn’t. He’s more into doing his own thing, and being happy for a change, than getting caught up in Union business.
That’s a battle for others to fight at this point. He’s just happy his stuff is in the past.
Papi is a big fat liar. Somebody should make a sign for tonight’s game that shows Big Papi’s face with a Pinnochio nose.
Kurt Russel (who looks good and is still very cool) is not Kate’s real father.
And IMO, Kate is quite pretty but Goldie was smoldering hot at a similar age.
By the way Kurt was a ballplayer.
Pete, how does Alex look and act in the clubhouse as asposed to other seasons?
Brandon… I’M AWESOME ! Does this broom stick go w/ my outfit? August 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
——————————————–
Ya know, I couldn’t figure out what Alex was doing with Kate Hudson, because he likes older women and muscular women. And then it hit me, he see Goldie Hawn, when he sees Kate. While Goldie isn’t muscle bound like Madonna or the infamous Toronto dominatrix, she’s an older chick.
I care about Arod’s average. More contact tends to translate better in playoff games where the pitchers can make their pitches and mistakes are few and far between.
Bronx Jeers August 9th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Kurt Russel (who looks good and is still very cool) is not Kate’s real father.
—————————————
He’s not Kate’s biological father, but it seems like he’s her defacto father.
Goldie was very good in “Foul Play”.
Kurt was very good in… in… well, “Escape From New York” is a fun movie. “Tango & Cash” is not good.
I saw “Foul Play” with Chevy Case a few weeks ago. Goldie was both beautiful and funny.
Big Trouble In Little China.
Overboard.
The list goes on and on.
Of course Big Liar won’t admit he’s juicing,there’s 13MM at stake.The RS fan base,and sports writer’s to contend with.
Just compare his stats in 2003,and his stats over the years.
He went from mediocre to great,uhm I wonder how that happened?
RS know the WS wins were juiced!
BIG Liar AND Manny aren’t alone on that team,look closer,there are at least 2 or more.
Tom: did Chevy provide any commentary for you? And did he bring his own popcorn?
Actually Goldie was incredible in this late 60s Peter Sellers’ movie, “There’s a Girl in My Soup” — she was both stunning and charming.
Ortiz,the white’s of his eyes are yellow ,like Busted track Olympian Ben Johnson.
Ha!
No. We did reenact the ‘Call me Al’ video though…
A really good Hawn movie,that will keep you on your seat is Deceived,awesome flick.It will make you think twice about getting married.The guy who played her husband(his name eludes me now) was vicious/ruthless.
Did the Player’s Union make a decision to abandon A-Rod and to defend Papi? A-Rod said he did it knowingly. Papi said if he did it he did it unknowingly. Nothing for the Union to defend in A-Rod’s case. Plenty for the Union to defend in Papi’s case. If the Union was going to make a stand they had to walk with a guy who could make at least a plausible claim of innocence; that turns out to be Papi and not A-Rod. It’s sure as hell they made a decision to do let A-Rod drift and support Papi. What else were they going to do? Only an idiot would feel frustrated by that. A-Rod has appeared to be out of touch with reality at times but he has never struck me as an idiot.
Is Papi telling the truth? Who the hell knows but that’s a different issue.
Good strategy Bill is to get ahead of this story and show all the holes in the list before anyone’s name leaked. Forget good guy or bad guy; they shouldn’t have waited period.
And when A-Rod’s name came out there was a bunch of assumptions made about that list that the Union is now saying aren’t necessarily true.
I’m not a fan of the NFLPA but when the Eagles didn’t want to pay TO the Union stepped up and bluntly said its not about TO and whether he wants their help or not. Its for everyone else that will follow.
The Union is full of lawyers, they should know this practice better than anyone.
But now it seems like he refuses to hit a hr if it’s not clutch. Sometimes we need those “meaningless” tack on runs to save the bullpen. Arod is not helping that’s all I’m saying, if our bullpen has tired arms in the playoffs we all know who to blame. LOL there I gave the haters something to complain about.
“A-Rod is comfortable in the clutch. Now we can expect Joe Girardi to show up with a mullet and Derek Jeter to date a girl because she has a great personality.”
Ha!
I know it’s been said a million times, but I think a combination of the changing of the old guard (except Jeter, Mo, Pettite and Posada of course), bringing in the young (Gardner, Cabrera, and Cervelli) and fun (burnett, swisher, damon), and girardi loosening his tie has really changed the attitude of this team. To me, it seems like Arod found his soulmate in Tex. He takes a lot of pressure off and allows Arod to hit in a natural cleanup spot. Also, Tex takes baseball pretty serious as well.
I think as the Yankees move forward throughout the years, Arod will emerge as veteran leadership rather than the new guy who makes a ton of money.
Also, I want to know where this apple pie is coming from, and if CC is eating all of it. Just kidding, love you CC. Our hefty lefty.
To certain extent, and I don’t want to blow it up, I agree that the new players help.
There is no longer two big stars and the media’s desire to make players choose which side.
AJ, CC, Tex, and even Damon (who I’m sure didn’t wait til this year to be close with Alex) are big stars in their own right with strong enough personalities that they don’t let the fractured clubhouse thing (didn’t Torre acknowledge this?) get to them.
They will like who the heck they want to like. And it seems Alex has finally made it easier for people to like him instead of being so wrapped up in himself.
great read. always thought getting that bad news out there was like lifting a ton of weight off his shoulders!