Posted By:
Al C.risafulliThe Yankees have gotten 8 hits in 20 innings, and yet people will still find a way to pin it on A-Rod.
It doesn't matter that the Yankees have three players hitting over .143 thus far. It doesn't matter that Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui are also hitless thus far, or that super-clutch Derek Jeter is 1 for 8 and has actually been on base one fewer time than A-Rod. It doesn't matter that Chien-Ming Wang couldn't get the ball over the plate, or that the Yankee bullpen (besides Joba and Mo) don't know what that big white thing on the ground in front of the catcher is.
The fact that Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui have each left 7 men on base doesn't enter into it. Luis Vizcaino's 2 walks in 2/3 of an inning last night don't matter. People have been waiting since April to blame A-Rod for the Yankees' loss, and regardless of whether the Yankees would have been fighting to play .500 ball without him, they're going to blame him. He could have gone 4-for-4 in both games, and if the Yankees lost, it would still be his fault.
When he leaves New York this year and Wilson Betemit plays third base, Yankee fans will be happy. But I will still know that the worst season of Alex Rodriguez' career - last season - was still a better season than the best season of any third baseman in the entire history of the New York Yankees. And I grew up a Nettles fan.
-Al