Rodriguez comfortable with altered grip
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 18, 2011 
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Alex Rodriguez remembers losing the grip on his bat only two or three times in his career. It doesn’t happen to him often, but today he took a swing and his bat went flying into the stands. He thinks it hit a railing. Whatever it hit, Rodriguez needed a new one.
Which could have been an issue, because Rodriguez’s bats are no longer interchangeable.
“The tape is a big part,” he said. “Even though I didn’t get any hits, I still felt really good in the box, felt like I swung the bat with some authority.”
Rodriguez started today’s game with three bats taped, so he was covered when the first cracked. He said he’s planning to have assistant trainer Steve Donohue tape a few more before Monday’s game. The difference, Rodriguez said, is significant. In fact, he doubts he could drive the ball without the tape protecting his sprained left thumb.
The change of grip hasn’t been much of an adjustment, and it’s become so comfortable that Rodriguez didn’t even think that’s what caused him to lose the grip on his bat in the first place.
“Overall,” he said. “I felt really good.”
Associated Press photo
Must have been the popcorn.
Our old friend Pete Abe is down on the Sox:
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....readerComm
If I am calculating this correctly, the number of games for the Yanks to clinch is 5 and the number of games for them to win the division is 7. Is that correct?
Not trying to nit pick Blake but this comment below requires a little revision. Boston would have to go 9-1 to tie NY if the Yankees finish with 96 wins. Which is exactly how many I think they will end up with. Same way to get there as you described below.
# blake September 18th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
If the Yankees win tomorrow, split with TB, and then just win 1 game against Boston and TB in the final two series……then They finish with 96 wins and Boston would have to go 9-2 to finish in order to catch them.
So basically Boston needs 3 of 4 against Baltimore at least or they are done…..barring a monumental collapse by the Yanks
trisha,
Yes, that’s right.
On a totally unrelated note….This is a pretty good football game.
Verlander is 24-5?? WOW!!
JM – thanks.
Think I’ll go and watch my DVRd version of the emmys. I have my monthly bar clinic (legal that is
) tomorrow at one. Damn. I’m going to hate to have to sit there and not know how badly the Suxers are being beaten!!! You’d think these clients would have their priorities in order!
Unfortunately I’m going to be tied up at work and not able to watch either game during the day tomrrow….Will have to get by sneaking peaks at Gameday when my boss is not around (he’s a Phillies fan, of all things).
Have a great night, everyone…
Nothing is sewn up for the Yankees yet, but I like our perch better than that of the Sox.
Here’s a little reminder of how prescient Showalter is (from an article back before the season started):
“I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll,” Showalter said. “You got Carl Crawford because you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt.”
Hopefully, the O’s play the Sox as hard as they played the Rays, Angels, and Yankees.
IIRC, Bobby Mircer also once had to tape his bats like ARod to protect a bad thumb injury. I think Mattingly did as well. I remember as a kid, my brother and I used to tape our bats like Murcer did.
typo alert
Mattingly had those rubber things to absorb the bat vibrations. Why can I not remeber what those things were called?
Imagine how much more Buck would love whipping their butt if the O’s weren’t 24.5 games behind them.
Back in March, if baseball gods offered a 5-games lead in loss column with 11 left to play, I would have taken it in a picosecond. Team is relatively healthy and in good position.
Robbie Cano is one of my favorites and one of the most gifted hitters I’ve ever seen, which is why his mental mistakes lately are killing me. Time for Joe to have a talk with him and make it stop.
Hopefully, they can get the lead to Mo for the record tomorrow.
wow, those comments on the Pete Abe article are completely insane. good to see that Red Sox fans are just as prone to overreact as Yankees fans though. talk about panic mode. multiple posters seem to think that the Sox have “no chance” to even MAKE the playoffs now. and i thought some people in here were bad at times….
theREALKevin,
Oh no, there’s no comparison. Red Sux fans are lunatics. But their comments can be pretty darn clever. I enjoy them — esp when their team is in a free fall. By the way, the Yanks have nothing to toot their horns about right now either.
“I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll,” Showalter said. “You got Carl Crawford because you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt.”
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Wow, Showalter. Bitter much?
BoJo September 18th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
IIRC, Bobby Mircer also once had to tape his bats like ARod to protect a bad thumb injury. I think Mattingly did as well. I remember as a kid, my brother and I used to tape our bats like Murcer did.
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I thought that Alex might lose some power splitting his grip, but he seems to be driving the ball with authority with the new grip.
Wang IS Taiwan September 19th, 2011 at 2:30 am
“I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll,” Showalter said. “You got Carl Crawford because you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, Showalter. Bitter much?
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What’s wrong with that? He’s absolutely right–Epstein is overrated. Showalter gets a lot of undeserved flak on this board. Yes, I don’t like his trash talk about the Yanks, but Showalter really understands baseball. When he makes an observation about the game, it’s usually pretty interesting.
theREALkevin September 19th, 2011 at 1:20 am
wow, those comments on the Pete Abe article are completely insane. good to see that Red Sox fans are just as prone to overreact as Yankees fans though. talk about panic mode. multiple posters seem to think that the Sox have “no chance” to even MAKE the playoffs now. and i thought some people in here were bad at times….
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Some fans are way too emotional. Even though they didn’t help themselves much this weekend, the Sox are all but in. Assuming the Yanks beat Tampa threee times, all the Sox need to do is beat the O’s four times and the Rays once, and they are in. This is very doable for Sox, even in their diminished state.
The Yanks have a tough schedule to close out the season, playing Boston and Tampa. However, I think that this really plays in their favor. Facing Tampa’s excellent starting pitching during the last seven of ten games should be a real good tune-up for them heading into the post-season.
Morning, alot that can be talked about watched the game a pretty poor effort, but probably expected when Joe put the B squad out there. In the meantime both Detroit and Texas won cutting the HF race down to +4 games.
I visited the blog yesterday during the game as I was manning my Fantasy Football control room during the football games yesterday. Some fairly amazing poeple show up later in the day. Some are just so obsessed with Boston losing and not making the playoff’s that they don’t integrate the big picture as it relates to the Yanks. What they don’t understand or maybe care about is that for TB to have any chance to overtake Boston they are going to have to annilate the Yanks over those last 6 games they play. They just want to see them lose. Also they have not integrated in the importance of TB losing those games so the Yanks can secure HF and the division early so the rotation can be set and maybe some reguars get some rest as opposed to playing right down to the wire. Right now in my opinion, Boston is the weaker of the two teams.
Ghostwriter September 19th, 2011 at 5:57 am
theREALkevin September 19th, 2011 at 1:20 am
wow, those comments on the Pete Abe article are completely insane. good to see that Red Sox fans are just as prone to overreact as Yankees fans though. talk about panic mode. multiple posters seem to think that the Sox have “no chance” to even MAKE the playoffs now. and i thought some people in here were bad at times….
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Some fans are way too emotional. Even though they didn’t help themselves much this weekend, the Sox are all but in. Assuming the Yanks beat Tampa threee times, all the Sox need to do is beat the O’s four times and the Rays once, and they are in. This is very doable for Sox, even in their diminished state.
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I’ll agree on the emotional end of it. I think the Sox will be in based on their remaining schedule. For the Yanks the path to HF and the division is clear keep winning. With 10 games remaining and the schedule not favoring the Yanks I hope they can play well over the next 4 games leading up to the Red Sox to make those games pretty insignificant. You don’t want to go into the weekend having those games mean alot, especially with 3 games against TB right after that.
Gary,
Not to mention, if the Rays make the playoffs, they have the stronger pitching right now, and probably stand a better chance of advancing than the Red Sox would (with the understanding that in the playoffs, anything can happen).
For the most part, I think HFA is over-rated in baseball, because it can change if a team can win at least one of the first two on the road. But, the Yankees have not done all that well late in games on the road, so I’d much prefer the prospect of the Yankees have more potential opportunities to play at YS.
What I’ve always hated about HFA in baseball, though, is the non-HFA team usually has the middle series of games and that seems like an advantage because in the 4 of 7 series, that is a stretch of 3 games – 3 consecutive games in their own stadium, in their own homes, in their own beds. If a series goes to the full 7 (or 5), then definitely it is better to play that last game at home.
Gary,
Not to mention, if the Rays make the playoffs, they have the stronger pitching right now, and probably stand a better chance of advancing than the Red Sox would (with the understanding that in the playoffs, anything can happen).
For the most part, I think HFA is over-rated in baseball, because it can change if a team can win at least one of the first two on the road. But, the Yankees have not done all that well late in games on the road, so I’d much prefer the prospect of the Yankees have more potential opportunities to play at YS.
What I’ve always hated about HFA in baseball, though, is the non-HFA team usually has the middle series of games and that seems like an advantage because in the 4 of 7 series, that is a stretch of 3 games – 3 consecutive games in their own stadium, in their own homes, in their own beds. If a series goes to the full 7 (or 5), then definitely it is better to play that last game at home.
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Here is why HF for the Yanks is so important this year, you can pretty well guarantee they don’t play Detroit in the first round. You can say what you want, but their pitching is pretty good, facing Verlander in the first round is going to be a handful for anyone.
Verlander is tough, for sure. And Fister has been a pleasant addition for them. So, yes, the first round, it would be nice to not have to face them. However, I really, really, really, never wish for or against facing a particular opponent. Things have happened in the past that I’d never have guessed, so I just want the Yankees to play their best baseball against whomever they face.
I just watched the Wendy’s folks on CNBC. They are talking about the healthy aspects of their new burgers as the promo on the TV shows they pouring salt on the burgs and later as they scrape all the grease off the grill. Somehow I don’t make the connection.
Good morning all-
You all made good points this morning. BTW it’s 7 games left against Tampa-one a DH this week. Statistically, I don’t know if HFA has meant that much in the past in both 5 and 7 game series. The Yankees statistically have been better in day games (40-12) and against lefty starters (33-15) than anyone in the majors and their record in day games is much better than the Rangers (24-21). If the Yankees play the Rangers in the 1st round hopefully they’ll be penciled in for mostly day games in the ALDS against their lefty starters.
Villa Nova-Ya September 19th, 2011 at 7:30 am
Verlander is tough, for sure. And Fister has been a pleasant addition for them. So, yes, the first round, it would be nice to not have to face them. However, I really, really, really, never wish for or against facing a particular opponent. Things have happened in the past that I’d never have guessed, so I just want the Yankees to play their best baseball against whomever they face
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I agree with all your points. Winning HF is where you want to be, regardless of the outcome it gives the fans the maximum experience against any team. That’s really what it should be about.
Unknown,
You’re right…..I forgot Boston has only 10 games left.
Yanks win today and split with TB then they clinch the WC……should be doable at home.
I didn’t get to watch the game yesterday, and most of my questions were answered by Chad in the last thread.
One question I had was what does Valdes throw and what’s the velocity on his fastball?
FakePeteGammons 19 Sep Just heard whispers saying Pujols wants Boston & will take less to go there. No truth to rumor that whispers is the name of my cat.
FakePeteGammons 19 Sep When the story of this #redsox season is finally written, I’m going to have to use a lot of white out. This is Peter Gam
Trader,
Upper 80′s….looked like a sweeping slider……small sample but he looked potentially useful……
The other thing I don’t like about that middle stretch of games going to the non-HFA team? If your team really does well, they don’t get to win the series at home in front of the home fans. Of course, that’s a small complaint. Winning at all wherever is the most important thing.
FakePeteGammons 19 Sep Just heard whispers saying Pujols wants Boston & will take less to go there. No truth to rumor that whispers is the name of my cat.
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Where would he play? They won’t move Gonzales and I don’t think Albert wants to DH.
Gary,
Peter will invent a new position for Albert to play…..actually they probably should start to.worry about the Youkka’s long term health a bit. He’s breaking down big time for a 31/32 year old.
Blake-
Thanks again for your feedback on yesterdays game. If Valdes throws mainly a slider than does he offer any more than Logan who throws a fastball @ 94 and also throws the slider?
“Yanks win today and split with TB then they clinch the WC……should be doable at home.”
?? clinch HFA, right?
If the Yankees go 3-4 against Tampa, and the RS go 3-4 against the Orioles, then Tampa’s chances at the WC lie with how well the Yankees play the RS the last 3 games of the season.
Wouldn’t that be quite a dilemma for all involved if the Yankees have already clinched HFA???
Trader,
More of a 2nd Lefty…..doubt he’ll.show enough to replace Logan as the first option. Valdez nigh just be an option to.keep in mind in case they play the Lefty heavy Sox in the playoffs.
Thanks.
Any comments on the scenario if TB’s chances at the WC come down to how the Yankees play the RS the last 3 games of the season if they have already clinched HFA??
If the Yankees win today, lose 4 out of 7 to TB they go into the last series 95-64.
The Tigers, who also play the Orioles (4 games) have 9 games remaining with a current 89-64 record and the Rangers have 9 with an 83-65 record and 3 games at Anaheim the end of the season.
We could be rooting a lot for the Orioles to close out their season with a bang!!
Boston would never get past Detroit in the ALDS. Cabrera, Martinez et al would chew the horrific Boston to shreds.