The WVBR Sports Blog:
The Voice of the Big Red
The Voice of the Big Red
Today, we Spell Redemptions A-R-O-D
Original Airdate: Monday, October 19, 2009. This is a part of the 93-Second Sports Shot series. 93-Second Sports Shots air weekday nights at 6pm.
For those of you who are fans of baseball but dislike the New York Yankees and/or Alex Rodriguez, you should probably know the party line about A-Rod by now. As a Yankees fan myself, if I had to hear "Sure, Rodriguez can hit home runs in May and June, but can he do it in October?" one more time, I think I was going to pull a Vincent Van Gogh and cut my ears off. The worst part? Leading into this postseason, A-Rod deserved a lot of the criticism. In fact, Rodriguez had gone an atrocious 0-29 in situations with runners in scoring position before he had 2 RBI singles in game of this year's ALDS against the Twins, a streak that dated all the way back to the 2005 postseason.
Well, in the two weeks that have gone by, the embattled superstar has done absolutely everything in his power to shake the unfortunate title of baseball's least clutch player. In a 2009 playoffs that has so far been brief for the Yankees because they haven't yet dropped a game to the Twins or Angels, A-Rod has already hit 4 home runs and 11 RBIs with a batting average approaching .500. Three of those home runs have either tied the Yankees or put them ahead, and two of them have been game-tying shots in extra innings. Of the hits that he's had, only one has not produced an RBI.
So to what does A-Rod owe his recent post-season revelation? Has he finally learned to take it easy and play loose in high tension situations? Has the presence of Mark Teixeira taken some of the pressure off? Or is this simply a matter of one of the greatest ballplayers in the history of the game inevitably finding his stride? It may be a combination of all three. I don't frankly know. But one thing is for sure; for the first time since he joined the team in 2004, Alex Rodriguez is the toast of New York City. And given the way that he's swinging the bat, don't expect that to change if (and when) the Yankees make the World Series.
For those of you who are fans of baseball but dislike the New York Yankees and/or Alex Rodriguez, you should probably know the party line about A-Rod by now. As a Yankees fan myself, if I had to hear "Sure, Rodriguez can hit home runs in May and June, but can he do it in October?" one more time, I think I was going to pull a Vincent Van Gogh and cut my ears off. The worst part? Leading into this postseason, A-Rod deserved a lot of the criticism. In fact, Rodriguez had gone an atrocious 0-29 in situations with runners in scoring position before he had 2 RBI singles in game of this year's ALDS against the Twins, a streak that dated all the way back to the 2005 postseason.
Well, in the two weeks that have gone by, the embattled superstar has done absolutely everything in his power to shake the unfortunate title of baseball's least clutch player. In a 2009 playoffs that has so far been brief for the Yankees because they haven't yet dropped a game to the Twins or Angels, A-Rod has already hit 4 home runs and 11 RBIs with a batting average approaching .500. Three of those home runs have either tied the Yankees or put them ahead, and two of them have been game-tying shots in extra innings. Of the hits that he's had, only one has not produced an RBI.
So to what does A-Rod owe his recent post-season revelation? Has he finally learned to take it easy and play loose in high tension situations? Has the presence of Mark Teixeira taken some of the pressure off? Or is this simply a matter of one of the greatest ballplayers in the history of the game inevitably finding his stride? It may be a combination of all three. I don't frankly know. But one thing is for sure; for the first time since he joined the team in 2004, Alex Rodriguez is the toast of New York City. And given the way that he's swinging the bat, don't expect that to change if (and when) the Yankees make the World Series.
WVBR SPORTS BLOG ARCHIVE
~Rewarding Poor Play (Tue 8/31)
~No Surprise Here for Stephen Strasburg (Mon 8/30) 2 Comments
~Auburn All Star (Mon 8/16)
~World Cup - Lego Reenactment (Sun 8/15)
~Walters Injured (Mon 8/9)
~Amazing Catch (Thu 8/5)
~A-Rod* (Wed 8/4) 1 Comment
~The Quarterback who Cried Wolf (Tue 8/3)
~New York Jets Training Camp: Day 1 (Mon 8/2)
~New York Jets Training Camp Questions and Storylines (Mon 8/2)
~Greatest Baseball Injuries (Fri 7/30)
~Is the Evil Empire not that Evil? (Tue 7/27) 1 Comment
~Another No-Hitter (Mon 7/26)
~New York Jets Training Camp Questions (Thu 7/22)
~Ithacan Wins 25K Swimming World Championship (Thu 7/22)
~Do Sports Tell Us Who's Best? (Wed 7/21) 1 Comment
~Worst Sports Injury? (Wed 7/21)
~Last Thought on Lebron-Wade-Bosh (Tue 7/20) 2 Comments
~Riley Nash signs pro contract, leaves Cornell (Mon 7/19)
~Cornell Hockey adds six new players (Thu 7/15)
~No Surprise Here for Stephen Strasburg (Mon 8/30) 2 Comments
~Auburn All Star (Mon 8/16)
~World Cup - Lego Reenactment (Sun 8/15)
~Walters Injured (Mon 8/9)
~Amazing Catch (Thu 8/5)
~A-Rod* (Wed 8/4) 1 Comment
~The Quarterback who Cried Wolf (Tue 8/3)
~New York Jets Training Camp: Day 1 (Mon 8/2)
~New York Jets Training Camp Questions and Storylines (Mon 8/2)
~Greatest Baseball Injuries (Fri 7/30)
~Is the Evil Empire not that Evil? (Tue 7/27) 1 Comment
~Another No-Hitter (Mon 7/26)
~New York Jets Training Camp Questions (Thu 7/22)
~Ithacan Wins 25K Swimming World Championship (Thu 7/22)
~Do Sports Tell Us Who's Best? (Wed 7/21) 1 Comment
~Worst Sports Injury? (Wed 7/21)
~Last Thought on Lebron-Wade-Bosh (Tue 7/20) 2 Comments
~Riley Nash signs pro contract, leaves Cornell (Mon 7/19)
~Cornell Hockey adds six new players (Thu 7/15)
