MAYBE IT'S NOT AROD'S FAULT?

OK, OK, I will admit, I was one of those booing fans in Yankee Stadium as we lost yet another game to our Baltimore nemeses’, the Orioles, in October.  Yep, I sat there two rows behind the fattest, most obnoxious Yankee fan and agreed with him wholeheartedly as he screamed at the top of his lungs words of advice for the Yankee third baseman.  Most of those words had four-letter adjectives followed by swing, and hit, and run.  I agreed- I screamed too.  But, what if ARod’s hitting problems are not his fault.  What if his body is just doing what it was programmed to do?

According to the CBS News New York article posted by Sweeny Murti (HERE), Rodriguez’s doctor, Dr. Bryan Kelly of New York’s Hospital of Special Surgery, says that ARod’s hip problems stem from his genetic makeup.  “It is Dr. Kelly’s diagnosis that the hip problem was related to the shape of ARod’s hip bone, which is a degenerative condition and the shaping of that bone occurs in the first 15 years of a person’s life. In other words, that’s why Dr. Kelly has asserted that the injury was NOT the result of ARod’s past steroid use.”  So, we can’t blame the trending #PEDs for ARod’s woes at the plate and perhaps his re-occurring hip injuries for that matter.

Dr. Kelly goes on to say that this degenerative disease rendered ARod mechanically incapable of driving the ball, fast and furious, like his used to.  So as we booed, ARod, frustrated and impatient, just shook his head, took his benching punishment politely and yes, flirted with a couple of chippies along the way. 

I have kind of changed my opinion of him- well maybe sort of changed my opinion.  I have always felt that Derek Jeter was the model Yankee- hardworking, relentlessly playing through injuries and illnesses, a really hustler in the field, polite, quiet, and classy off the field.  For ARod, I always classified him as Jeter’s wicked step-brother- girl chaser, partier, weakly complaining about being hurt, being sick, and not really what I would call classy.  But, this time, his illness, is just not his fault.  It’s his body.

And my fear, as I said at the end of last season in my post MAYBE AROD PEAKED TOO EARLY is that ARod may not have anything left.  Perhaps, The Natural, has swung his last bat.  And I do feel that ARod had a natural, raw talent, but his bone disorder is getting to him.  Is that why he took steroids?  Was he truly losing his edge, too soon, too quickly? 

Many sport writers will agree that older players begin taking PEDs when they get older, toward the end of their careers.  Perhaps that’s why Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens could not resist.  But, ARod and his cousin took them for a quick energy boost.  It really makes you think, was he feeling something in his swing back then?

So, fans, as always, I give you something to think about.  Have you changed your opinion of ARod?  Will you cut him some slack when he comes back?

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof







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