REVIEWING THE AROD "SLAP" YEARS LATER

For most of us Yankees fans, the 2004 ALCS is right where it should be... Behind us! In the past, and something we don't like to dwell on.  I know for me personally, it's one series I am reluctant to even bring up.  But I live in Rhode Island, I reside in the trenches of Red Sox Nation, so it's easy to be reminded of how it all went down. 

One thing that is brought up to me constantly is the "Slap Ball Incident". When it comes to Alex Rodriguez in these parts, the list of names is virtually infinite. The one that sticks out to me is "Slap-Rod". It goes back to when he swatted the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove as he was running to first. 


It appeared to be a bush-league play, but can we really say it was intentional? Sure, the commentators add fuel to the fire. You hear, "He swatted the ball out of Arroyo's hand!"  But what if he said, "Alex tried to swat Arroyo's glove out of the way?" or "Mientkiewicz is in the base line, where is Alex supposed to go there?" Would it change things?  Hey, we're just asking, don't forget, this rivalry was intense so any little thing gets amplified here! 

It was Game 6, the Red Sox are facing elimination and are up by 2 runs. The Yankees, needing to pull ahead to end it and head to the World Series put the ball in play. There was a lot of adrenaline going through these players with so much at stake. There are some factors in this play that take place that may show that Alex swatting the ball was merely an accident. Look at it these days... seriously. 

Of course, the end result concludes he made contact with Arroyo's glove and the ball ends up rolling loose. But was that his goal?  I mean, if Derek Jeter swatted at Arroyo's glove, I wonder if it would have appeared differently. 

Look. Here's what we know. The ball hit on that 2-2 pitch takes a bounce and rolls slowly. If the ball had rolled faster, it would have been Doug Mientkiewicz's ball to field and tag first. A routine grounder. However, because it rolled slowly, Bronson fields it instead and Doug is off the bag leaving 1st base unmanned. 

Mientkiewicz then starts to back pedal to cover 1st base, but is in the runner's path. So, with Alex's base path is blocked, making him step off the baseline to avoid collision with Doug and maybe even injury between both players. 

At around this time Bronson Arroyo already has the ball in his glove and is running quickly to be within "tagging" reach. Arroyo may not have realized Alex was much closer than he initially thought, thus, making another chance for player collision between him and Alex as well.  

So... Alex's only reaction at this point is to put up his hand. Right? Think about it. Just like we flinch when someone bumps into us. 

But with the umpires reviewing the replay from all angles they see Alex blatantly reaching to Bronson Arroyo's arm. So, of course it looks intentional.  Could it also be that this took place because of both players having bad blood earlier in the year that where Alex was hit by a pitch and a scuffle with Jason Varitek and clearing the benches one Saturday afternoon? 

All I'm saying is review the tape years later.  Alex appears to be blocking himself from getting slammed into, or swatted by Arroyo's glove.  A defensive reaction? Maybe, maybe not. But with so much happening in that split second, and after slow review, it is very very possible that it was just a reaction, not Alex's intent to "knock the ball out" of Arroyo's glove. Plus, the commentary by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver is over the top, which didn't help much in the media's eye.  I mean, at one point Buck says "Francona came out very calmly" for instance.  I mean, watch the tape, Francona's furious, noT calm.

Plus, think about this... who thinks that going down the line you are aiming to knock the ball out of someone's glove? How about thinking, "I'm getting squeezed here, what am I going to do?"  Look, we may never know, but Alex walks the villainous label in the eyes of many baseball fans, so it's easy to point the finger at him as the accountable one in this story.  So, what do you think? Do you think it was an accident blown into a something bigger story or did Alex blatantly want to knock the ball out of Arroyo's hand to show him up? You decide years later.

Trust me, when Casey told me to examine the tape and write something up,  I thought he was nuts. Now, years later, I'm not so sure.  

-- Rudy Laurens, BYB Writer
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