Snobs vs. Slobs

For all intents and purposes, Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez should be universally loved by baseball fans. Objectively, A-Rod is probably the best player in baseball. His consistency, youth and defensive abilities mark him as the premier player in baseball. Since ‘96, he has been in the top six in MVP voting all but twice (one season he was injured, once he came in 15th) and has won the award twice. Bill James has predicted more than once that A-Rod’ll break Hank Aaron’s record someday. Hell, he’s even won Gold Gloves at two positions.

Subjectively, he plays in the biggest market on the most successful team in the history of pro sports. He does a fair amount of commercials, advertising stick deodorant and cola (among other things), so his face is out there. He’s handsome and bilingual.

So, why does everyone hate Alex Rodriguez?

I’ve normally been one to defend A-Rod, largely because the arguments against him are usually pretty petty and ridiculous. I’m sure many people in cities all around the country are simply jealous of the handsome, athletic fellow who seems to have virtually no skeletons in his closet.

“A-Rod only does well in garbage time,” “He isn’t clutch” or something similar. You probably heard a lot of this in the runup to the MVP award announcement. While there is some truth to this notion, A-Rod is only not-clutch in comparison to Big Papi.

(Moreover, “clutch” is a concept with dubious connotations, at best. I mean, come on. These guys are professional athletes; they’re the best in the world at what they do. I think being able to hit a Randy Johnson fastball takes a bit of concentration and these guys probably aren’t rattled by “Hey [player name]! You suck!” coming from a fat, drunk midwesterner.)

The argument of A-Rod being not clutch seems to come from Yankee fans and usually comes with a wonderful Derek Jeter comparison, which is ludicrous. Some even say that Jeter is more valuable than A-Rod is to the Yankees. I love what Jeter’s done in his career and am one of the bigger non-Yankee/non-ESPNer Jeter apologists around. But, to put Jeter on A-Rod’s level is patently insane.

Jeter’s reputation is based almost entirely on two things:
1. That time he went head-first into the left field stands to catch a foul ball.
2. His playoff experiences (his postseason numbers, coupled with that time he did the shovel-pass thing against Oakland)

First off, that time he went into the stands was a gutsy, crazy move. It was also incredibly stupid. For a player of his magnitude (while he’s not A-Rod, he’s still a great player) to risk his body, no, his career for one stinking out is plan stupid. Sure, it was against Boston (and consequently, was on ESPN), but that’s a stupid move. A-Rod doesn’t make play like that because he probably knows that he has more value on the field than on the DL.

As for the postseason, Jeter clearly has nice postseason numbers (.306/.380/.456 in 110 postseason games). But, they also look eerily similar to his regular season numbers (.314/.386/.461 in 1525 games). So, Postseason/Captain Clutch Derek Jeter is basically the same player as April-September Derek Jeter.

(By the way, this also proves that clutch means nothing. If you give a guy enough postseason ABs, his numbers’ll start to look like his regular season numbers. It’s simply a sample size thing)

And now, to prove my point, here’s an exercise. Which player would you rather have?
Player A: .330/.395/.583
Player B: .307/.385/.577

Basically a pick ‘em, right? Well, Player A is Postseason A-Rod and Player B is April-September A-Rod. Looks pretty clutch to me. A-Rod has not played in nearly as many postseason games as Jeter, but he does have 26 games worth. And he’s the same damned player.

This is not to denigrate Jeter. I love Derek Jeter and I bet 30 teams would love to have him on their roster. He is a wonderful player. He’ll likely get to 3,000 hits. He is probably a HOFer.

Objectively, though, he’s not A-Rod. When they are both done with their careers, A-Rod will be looked at as one of the top 10-15 players ever. Jeter will be looked at the same way as Robin Yount and Paul Molitor.

(Another unfortunate point against A-Rod is a look into hypothetical double-standards. When A-Rod chopped that ball out of Arroyo’s glove, he was looked at as ‘girly’ or a ‘cheater.’ The fact is, if Jeter did that, he would be lauded as making a heads-up play and everyone knows it.)

*****

The main reason, I think, that people hate A-Rod is money. It is an irrational, yet popular argument and it is based on jealousy. When A-Rod signed his $252M contract, a lot of missiles were inevitably going to be shot his way. I think he knows that (if he doesn’t, he’s a damned fool), and you probably saw it on his return to Seattle as a Ranger. A lot of spurned fans threw fake dollar bills and held up signs that said some pretty mean things.

Jim Caple, a pretty funny ESPN.com writer, has made a living being a jealous sportswriter and has written tons of columns about A-Rod’s greed. To this day, he still sometimes calls Rodriguez “Pay-Rod.”

But, Caple is one of the more honest writers. He doesn’t make any bones about saying things like “A-Rod’s salary handicapped the Rangers” (like, say, Buster Olney or Jerry Crasnick). Rather, he simply gets angry at A-Rod for choosing money over Seattle.

(By the way, that’s something anyone would do. Anyone in their right mind would make the decision to move to a bigger market to make more money. Seattle, while a nice baseball town, isn’t in the top 10 media markets in the country. Dallas is. Caple himself, formerly a beat writer for the Minneapolise Star-Tribune moved [presumably for more money] to the Seattle P-I to be a columnist. He is now writing for ESPN.com, in a move that probably didn’t give him less cash. At the end of the day, anyone in their right mind would’ve done the same thing. Including Jim Caple.)

My problem lies in the Dan Patricks and Buster Olneys of the world. I respect the hell out of Patrick, as he’s one of the top broadcast journalists in sports. But, I recently heard him on his awful radio show debating the MVP with callers saying something akin to this (I was in the car, so I couldn’t transcribe it): “A-Rod is paid $25M, Big Papi $5M. You get more for your dollar with Big Papi. ‘Value’ is about bang for your buck, as well. Big Papi should be MVP.”

Another popular opinion goes something like this: “A-Rod’s contract hamstrung the Rangers. Because they were paying him so much, they couldn’t build around him.”

While I don’t totally disagree with Patrick’s point (Big Papi is clearly a bargain for the Red Sox, a very smart organization), the second point is totally ridiculous. Chan Ho Park was getting paid more than $12M per year for alternately putting up 6+ ERAs and spending time on the DL. The Rangers were paying Ruster Greer more then $3M to sit on his fat patoot for a while, as well.

Moreover, it’s not really A-Rod’s fault that the Rangers were spending money like drunk sorority girls at Nine West. The Rangers were hamstrung by bad decision making (which is also evident in their current jerseys and hats), not the A-Rod contract.

The problem with Patricks argument is twofold. The first is something I mentioned: No one made the Rangers sign A-Rod. No one made the teams sign A-Rod to a huge contract. He did all he could do: Ask for a huge-ass deal.

(The unfortunate fact is that the Rangers finally got to be a better team without A-Rod than with him, largely due to dumb luck and good coaching. The pitching staff still stinks and the Rangers have yet to make the playoff since A-Rod left, so hold your “Ewing Theory” just yet.)

The second problem is that the MVP isn’t about value per dollar, it’s about value. Michael Jordan (in the pre-salary cap days) made $20M a season, yet you never heard anything about him being paid too much. Shaquille O’Neal ($20M) and Kevin Garnett ($18M) are two of the highest-paid players in the NBA (a league with a salary cap) and no one every bitches about their salaries. In sports, it’s about bottom line production and A-Rod produces.

(I hate to bring him up again, but who complains about Jeter’s salary [$18M]? No one.)

*****

Here’s the thing, though, I’ve recently soured on A-Rod. I don’t really care about the money he makes and I know he’s the best player in baseball. I don’t like A-Rod for a reason I hear sometimes, but nearly only from journalists: A-Rod is disingenuous.

Let me rephrase that, as I don’t know him personally. A-Rod is one of two things: disingenuous or really boring. And both is a big problem in my book.

Basically, my favorite players are Andruw Jones, Frank Thomas, Barry Bonds and Dontrelle Willis. Jone because he makes it look so easy, Thomas because he came into the big league when I started following baseball (and he plays for my favorite team), Bonds because he’s so controversial yet so great and Dontrelle Willis for essentially the reasons Taft loves Big Z.

Alex Rodriguez has none of those things. He’s boring and calculated. He sounds like Nuke LaLoosh in ‘Bull Durham’ doing his cliché training with Crash Davis. Look at the quote coming from him in Dan Le Batard’s (the best columnist in America) latest column on A-Rod:

‘’The true barometer of my career is what I do the next seven or eight years, forgetting what I did the last 11 or 12,’’ he says. ``Winning a ring is the only thing I have to accomplish, and I think it is something I will accomplish.’‘

The quotes come from an interview A-Rod did on Le Batard’s radio show after winning the MVP. I wanted to hear the interview, as Le Batard is great at interviewing athletes and getting them out of their shells. I figured he’s get A-Rod to open up and talk about his interest in mental illness or his new baby.

And, in a way, I think Le Batard got him to open up a bit. When Le Batard asked him what his greatest strength as a father was, A-Rod could’ve discussed a funny baby poop story or something touching about his baby son. You know what he said?

“Just being there.” OK, fine. His father wasn’t there for him, so that’s somewhat enlightening, if predictable. Le Batard pressed him on it (I told you he’s good) and A-Rod says this:

“Consistency. Being a parent is a lot like playing baseball.”

He answered the question in the way he answered every other question, as though his child is the same as playing baseball.

I am neither a parent or a professional baseball player, but I recently asked my father if being a parent is anything like being a dentist. He said no. What about working at a pizza place (which my dad did when he was younger)? “Nope,” said Vinsanity. How about teaching dentistry? “Closer, but not really that close.”

So, Pop, you’re someone who has worked a few jobs of varying pressures and difficulties, you’re saying that being a parent is unlike any job you’ve had? “Yeah.”

My dad is not a pro athlete, but as a parent of two grown children, he says it’s not like any job he’s had. Hell, I have a dog and it isn’t anything like my job.

A-Rod’s answer just reaks of nasty disingenuousness. Everything that comes out of his mouth sounds scripted. I don’t know if that’s the case; He may just be the personality equivalent of watching paint dry. But, there’s nothing good about that.

(Yes, I understand that MJ was similar, but there are a few a big differences. The first, obviously, is talent. MJ is the greatest ever, while A-Rod is in the conversation. Secondly — for better or for worse — MJ played a sport where one man can make more of a difference. Third, MJ’s cracks were/are all over Chicago. The gambling. The failure at baseball. That period where he basically lived at Hotel Nico because his wife kicked him out of the house. For all his otherworldly talent on the court, MJ is human.)

I appreciate him for what he is: Arguably the best player in MLB, certainly the best in the AL. But, as we see with our favorite players, it’s not always who’s the best. Baseball is a story of men playing a boys’ game. Men who should be having fun. Men who should show some passion. Men who should have some personality.

Not some scripted robot. And for all his strengths on the baseball diamond (and he deserves any accolades thrown his way), A-Rod has no personality off the court.