QUIET RIOT & THE NEW YORK YANKEES

This time of the year there isn’t much to watch on the sports front.  I have my Rangers, but other than that it’s the PBA, figure skating and college hoops…which normally have my full attention, but my beloved alma mater, Syracuse University, isn’t a great squad and are under a self imposed post season ban.  Things are slow to say the least.

The bright flicker in the distance however is the return of Yankee baseball.  Pitchers and catchers have reported and now all player are in Tampa and hope springs eternal…or something like that.  As of late the news from Tampa has been lousy at best.  Hal didn’t want to buck up from a Moncada and so he will now, “Pahk his cah in the Hahvad yahd.”  ARod returned and it went over like a lead balloon.  I feel for Alex.  He broke the rules, paid the price and will go on paying the price.  He is in a can’t win spot, and for a guy like that it has to be Hell on earth.

Aside from Rodriguez return to the diamond the other stories have been about CC’s weight, his deteriorating knee and whether he can actually pitch at all any longer.  We are all concerned about Tanaka and his elbow.  We worry that young Nate will be a hard throwing bust and if “Mikey Pine tar” will simply break like a three-week-old Christmas toy. Nova?

I don’t even want to guess. It’s not like he was a shut down ace before he went under the knife.  Ivan is a serviceable, at times, 4th or 5th starter with a two-cent head…it’s just my call…I root for him, but haven’t been blown away.

Recently I caught a Rockumentary on the 80’s glam metal group Quiet Riot.  They were never my cup of tea, but I am a sucker for these types of rock n roll hard luck stories.  Anyway, in a nutshell “Quiet Riot: Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back” chronicles the story of the band from it’s glory days playing arenas to now playing state fairs with only one original band member.  These guys have had more members come and go then the Red Sox have had shortstops since Nomar.  The group’s founder and lead singer died of an overdose leaving his drummer to pick up the pieces and try to make the band work again.  It’s sad to be honest.  They spend every waking moment trying to find a guy who can sing like their late front man…no dice.  The fans turn out, but are utterly disappointed to see that the band they once loved is a struggling knockoff of the original.  They are trying to bring back a sound and feeling that no longer exists…I started to see a glaring similarity between Quiet Riot and the New York Yankees.

The Yanks are doing the same thing.  They are trying to put a new coat of polish on older players and work under the delusion that simply tweaking parts here and there will bring them back to the World Series.  It’s a plan for failure.

CC, Tex, ARod…they were a part of the 2009 title…but it’s 2015! 

And to be honest their prime was long ago at this point.  I won’t believe Tex will be better.  HE WON’T BE! CC is 300lbs and pitching on a knee that's held together like the Leg Lamp in “A Christmas Story”.  And Alex…he’ll be 40, hasn’t played much in two years and…well, you know the truth. No juice, no numbers.

The Yankees signed Stephen Drew and Chis Capuano…there is 10 million right there.  It was reported that Moncada wanted just 2 million more on the offer the Bombers presented.  Hal, let me break it down.  You DO NOT spend millions on stopgap players only to lose out on gifted, young stars that could become mainstays. Read WHAT'S RISKY ABOUT A 19 YEAR OLD STUD?

(In Photo: Shane MacGowan)
This Yankee team is playing state fairs with once great players who can’t remember their hit songs.  One of my musical idols, Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, once said, “We weren’t the same band anymore and should have called it a day.”  What he meant was it wasn’t the same.  It was tired and old and had lost its way.  He felt rather than put out second-rate records and sorry tours that they should have gone their separate ways and done something else.

I wish Shane O were running the Yankees.  It’s time to let go of the past and build something new.  Do you feel the noise, Yankee brass?  That’s the fans banging their heads…they’ve heard enough and want a new sound with new players.

**Here are two for Hal and Cash…**





 
 --Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21




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KLAPISCH TAKES AROD'S ACTIONS PERSONALLY

Hey... I don't get it.  I've said it once and I'll repeat; What did Alex Rodriguez do to you?

I wrote THE MATURING ALEX RODRIGUEZ the other day.  It was a a bunch of thoughts about Alex Rodriguez and his meetings coming up with Rob Manfred and Yankee brass.  It was also about the hate machine against him, and the reasons why he probably SHOULD be hated. But there was another part to it. It was also about not getting too close to players as fans, or in Bob Klapisch's case, as writers.

Alex Rodriguez messed up big time. Bad choices and lying and cheating will do that to an individual. But this isn't personal for me and unless you're getting beers with Alex or holding the needle going into his ass because he asked you too, it shouldn't be personal for you either. And that's what the haters and Bob Klapisch seem to be forgetting. We're not personally attacked by Alex, we're just fans. We're removed from his personal disasters.

Bob wrote a piece called A-Rod should let bat do his talking. It was filled with anger, but the underlying message after he took it personally for 4 to 5 paragraphs was that Alex was a steroid user, abuser, and nothing he could do could make it better.  In the end, Bob suggested, ARod needed to hit the ball. Alex Rodriguez needed to produce, pretty much everything everyone has already said. There's nothing new there.

But it isn't the hitting part that got me.  It's that Bob can't let go.  Geez man, get over it bro! By the way, it's not just Bob, it's all of the haters as well.

Bob writes:

"...There’s no coming back from his years of lying about steroids and the manner in which he hunted down his enemies."

Alex is coming back Bob... remember? If you're speaking of reputation, sure, maybe, but I don't think that was the underlying reasoning for his meetings at this point.

Bob also wrote:

"Rodriguez’s scorched-earth policy, which included suing Major League Baseball, the players’ association and Yankees physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad, have left a permanent stain on his legacy. A-Rod is, at best, naïve to think all parties involved are ready to forgive and forget. At worst, he’s delusional. Rodriguez should stop the pandering... the idea of a face to face with Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman is ludicrous and pointless...Steinbrenner might listen politely as the slugger apologizes for his mistakes, but that’s not going to change a thing. A-Rod is still loathed, no matter how much he begs for forgiveness."

Way off base when it comes to the forgive part.  Why? I'll explain...

I wonder if Bob ever did anything bad in his life... something bad enough where he felt he needed to talk it out with someone he hurt, or even if the act was so terrible, ugly and stupid... that he was embarrassed by it after the fact.  Hmm, I guess not.  I guess Bob's squeaky clean and that's why he has no idea why "talking it out" or even apologizing shows something important about a person.  Even a "bad" person as Bob portrays Alex Rodriguez to be.

Think about this for a second; Bob's got it all figured out.  He knows the sit downs are "not going to change a thing", and you know what? I have news for you. Alex Rodriguez is not looking for a pat on the back from the Yankees.  He's not looking for a "It's OK pal, we still love you."  Alex is meeting with his team to "clear the air".  He's actually being man enough to face his employer and say "Hey, I'm a piece of shit, I know that, but I will work for you."  It doesn't matter if Yankee brass doesn't crack a smile. It's about coming to a common ground. It's about communication.

And let me explain something else before people start yelling about how much of a circus it will be in Spring Training with Alex there.  Um... it's been a circus since the Yankees signed him.  This is nothing new.  It's Alex Rodriguez, not Jaret Wright ladies and gentlemen. It comes with the territory, scandal or no scandal, the cameras still show up.

Bob Klapisch needs to turn it down a notch.  He's showing me he's personally offended by what 1 man did to his own reputation. As an ARod fan, maybe you're disappointed.  If you're a Yankee fan, you're disgusted, but why do you care this much about Alex Rodriguez?  You can argue that he let the Yankees down, but let's be frank.... YOU DON'T PLAY FOR THE YANKEES!

"Disgracing the pinstripes" wasn't invented by Alex Rodriguez. He's a player who made stupid choices, but ultimately he did it to himself.  He became too big for his own good and found himself to be invincible...or so he thought.  But unfortunately, Bob and millions of ARod haters fell into the trap of bringing on this burden of ARod-gate like their lives have been changed because of him.  Get over yourself!

Oh, and before you defile my site with "You're a freaking ARod fan, you're just as disgraceful as him," Let me state here for at least the 10th time this year that I was never an ARod fan.  I was always a Jeter guy.  Since the Big 3 of he, Alex and Nomar ... I was always a Jeter guy. But over time, and now, me being in my 40's, raising my own children, I started to see the big picture about a lot of stuff.  My children ultimately learn from me.  If I make mistakes, my kids learn from me. If I want forgiveness or want to talk it out with someone I hurt, I would hope my children learn that sometimes, no matter how hard it may seem, sometimes you gotta take your lumps, whether it will change the outcome or not.  Sometimes people make such big mistakes it's even harder.  But as human beings, there is always a soft side.  Well, maybe Bob Klapsich doesn't have one... but most of us do.  Sometimes what makes an individual great is the way we listen... or the way we need to "get something off our chest." Sometimes Bob, we know it won't change a thing... we just need to talk.

Bob Klapsich wanted to get a rise out of you.  Bob wanted to make you feel angry about Alex Rodriguez.  But the underlying message is talking through it, no matter what... helps.

It doesn't matter if it's your brother who broke the window in the neighbor's yard, or your son who used a bad word in school.  It could even be Alex Rodriguez.  Sometimes listening, and sometimes talking... well... brings the real you out, and helps get over the hurdle.  Sure, ARod has climbed way too many to mention... but he's still a human being trying to fix this mess.  In the end... he's doing the right thing, and the Yankees are too... for listening to him. Yup... even if it won't change a thing.

In your haste, there's a bigger message Bob... and you missed it.

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HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE DODGERS TRADE FOR ROLLINS

I'm a Dodgers fan... Now that that's established...

The Dodgers have a habit of signing players past their prime to overly-generous contracts before they are put out to baseball pasture (see: Manny Ramirez, Jason Schmidt, Nomar Garciaparra, Andruw Jones, et. al.)

So when the Dodgers made their first notable move at this week’s Winter Meetings, I wasn’t surprised that they were in contention to sign another veteran to their roster in Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins. What does surprise me though is that trade actually makes sense for the Dodger’s current lineup.

In his 15 years in the City of Brotherly Love, Rollins has established himself as one of the game’s top shortstops. Rollins, who is 36, is a two-time All-Star and 2007 NL MVP and is well regarded in the Phillies clubhouse and community. And after losing Hanley Ramirez to the BoSox, the boys in blue are in dire need of a quality middle infielder that can be an immediate impact player in the lineup.

While the Dodgers have young talent in Corey Seager, the infielder is still a year or two away from being an everyday player in the Bigs. Rollins has one year left on his contract and is expecting to be paid $11 million in the 2015 season and can act as a bridge until Seager’s major league debut. Compared to some of the horrible deals the Dodgers have made in the past few seasons, Rollins seems like a deal. The team gets a reliable hitter and a seasoned veteran in a locker room that’s been described as dysfunctional at best.

It’s not yet clear who the Dodgers will be trading in return for Rollins, but the deal seems to indicate that new GM Andrew Friedman may be a little more savvy that his predecessor Ned Colletti when it comes to using the purse. While the Dodgers have been rumored to be suitors in several blockbuster trades including Jon Lester, Cole Hamels, and Andrew Miller, Friedman has refrained from any major deals until today’s acquisition of Rollins.

--Alexis Garcia, BYB's "Eye on MLB" Columnist
Twitter:  @heylexyg






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SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST TOXIC

We all know that person…and if we don’t chances are we are that person. They just seem to bring drama along with them like a toothbrush on an overnight stay. It isn’t always their fault, some of these folks don’t intend to be trouble, and they just automatically find it. They can often seem like a weight on our shoulders. What do we do? How can we make sure these negative forces of nature don’t take us down with them? The answer is simple, but can be tough to execute…we need to cut them from our team if you will.

I have always admired ARod’s natural ability to play the game of baseball. He takes to the diamond like a fish to water. He is an outstanding, gifted athlete…even before the PEDs. The only thing Alex seems to excel at more then sport is bringing problems with him wherever he goes.

Al, like Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra, was a fresh-faced shortstop ready to set the world on fire. He was good looking, insanely talented and had the Seattle fans buzzing with talk of October baseball…and then…Alex opened his mouth.

Jeter and Rodriguez were close friends and then during an interview in GQ magazine ARod ran his buddy DJ down. Why? What compelled him to do that? Jealousy? Maybe. Was it stupidity? You bet. But it was more than that. Alex Rodriguez is just a toxic person. He can’t help it. It’s in his DNA. Al doesn’t see anyone but Al when he looks around. He is the ultimate “Me” player. Yes, he helps younger teammates and roots for his guys, but you can see it’s to bolster his own image…it’s sad really.

Even when ARod has tried to change his ways he slips back into the old routine like a warm bath. He can’t be someone he is not…namely Derek Jeter.

We are stuck with him, ladies and gents. That’s all there is to it. We are not innocent either. We loved that he crushed dingers and won MVPs…face it, we did. Now that he is making Ty Cobb look like a good guy we shout to the rafters that we NEVER wanted number 13 (fittingly a bad luck number).

I want to like the guy. I want to see him go out on a good note. Maybe he learns from his mistakes…finally. But I don’t see it. He is toxic. He doesn’t know he is the problem. He needs to have that drama draped around his shoulders to feel complete. He is at home with the Dark Side of the Force. There is no coming back for this guy and it’s tragic. He could have been and should have been talked about a one of the greatest to ever play this game…instead; he will be a cautionary tale that parents tell their kids. Talent is a great foundation, but you need to build on it in a positive way to make it pay off.

The Yankees need to wish him well and turn the page in this story. And if Alex was a good person he’d take the money he’s made and walk away…but he won’t.

 Alex is toxic.

** Alex is truly that unwelcomed family member now…he is toxic. He is bad company. And it’s time that he moves out.**





 
 --Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21



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AROD'S SIN ISN'T THE PROBLEM, IT'S AROD HIMSELF

A lot can be said about Alex Rodriguez. He’s a scumbag. He’s a liar, a sinner, a juicer, a 'roid head… go ahead, go on and on. If you’re a sports fan, a baseball fan, a parent... you're disappointed. You are entitled to your opinions.   I however am not going to go down that dark road.  I’m also not an Alex Rodriguez fan.  “How’s that possible?” you ask.  My answer is simple… I choose wisely. I was always a Jeter guy, not a Nomar Garciaparra or Alex guy. That being said, the guy's human, he's had missteps, we all have at one time in our lives. And to be perfectly honest, unless the guy came after me and my family, I'm not about to hate the dude.

Now look, I'm not exactly here to reprimand anyone for hating Alex. I am however curious as to why.  Alex Rodriguez is not the only one who made stupid decisions in life. He is however the only one being whipped fiercely.  The only thing I can tell you is that as a parent, as a fan of this great game, you need to rise above it.  We know Alex is tainted. That's old news. Here's a reminder on some other old news... many others have done the same thing or worse to disgrace the game or other sports... and they've been "cleared".  Not Alex. Never Alex. 

Alex Rodriguez admitted to using Performance Enhancing Drugs.  He didn’t come over to the states and infect everyone with Ebola and he sure as hell didn’t murder anyone. He did however lie to baseball fans everywhere… to my son, to your son,  and had denied ever taking PEDs.  But let’s make sure we tell the whole story here…

Ray Lewis was involved in a murder trial for an actual murder. Remember that?

Ryan Braun denied taking PEDs, had a sample collector fired from his job because he was hell bend on looking like he was wrongly accused. Then, later, Braun admitted he lied about it.

Lance Armstrong went on national television and told Oprah Winfrey he never failed a test after he won 7 Tour De France championships only to later admit that he made up the whole thing and doped for years.

Yet, Lance Armstrong is interested in coming back to racing, and his fans still wear his yellow LIVE STRONG bracelets all over the world. He's forgiven because he apologized. Braun returned to the Brewers after a 65 game suspension and continues to play… his fans welcome him with opened arms because he fessed up.

Ray Lewis’s attorneys negotiated a plea deal with the D.A. involved in his murder case and charges against Lewis were dismissed. He even gave a misleading statement to police on the morning of those killings!  I guess that didn’t matter... 

He was given 12 months probation and then went back on the field. The Ravens won the Super bowl with his help in 2001… and Ray Lewis was the MVP.  Ray Lewis was forgiven.  But Alex Rodriguez is the liar, the scumbag, the sinner and the juicer.  Not the others... just Alex Rodriguez.

I was surprised by Ian O’Connor’s piece on the ESPN pages. It was titled “Don’t bother with the apology, A-Rod”. In it, he began: 

“This time around, Alex Rodriguez should take a pass on the apology. We know that he is not sorry he used performance-enhancing drugs, again, and that he is only sorry he got caught… “

Well… OK. But in the context of what I just told you about the others, it would make sense to apologize for your bad behavior.  Fans forgive, don't we? Oh yeah, it's Alex, I guess an apology won't work. 

What ARod did was dumb, really dumb. But as a father, I think it’s more important that I steer my children away from him more than hate him directly.  He’s clearly a poor role model. He clearly made mistakes, but so did the others. And not just Ryan Braun, Ray Lewis and Lance Armstrong, but many before them as well. You can fault Alex for being dumb, maybe even for not having a spin machine PR firm showing him in a more positive light. But I ask you... if you're constantly being beaten up in the press, how would you react?   You'd serve your sentence and come clean. Alex did that.... it clearly isn't enough.

Athletes are role models.  I remember once Manny Ramirez, who by the way, tested positive for PEDs twice, only to recently be considered for a job as a coach with the Chicago Cubs, said  "I don’t want to leave the game like I did. I also want to show my kids that if you make a mistake, don’t quit. Just go back and fix it. And if you’re going to leave, leave the right way....I want to be a role model."

Positive quote. I applaud that. The only problem with it was Manny didn't realize that he was a role model all along. At the time, I wrote in WHY YOU WERE ALWAYS A ROLE MODEL MANNY... this:  

"Ramirez is just too immature to realize he was ALWAYS a role model for kids."
 

I also wrote in that piece that Manny deserved a 3rd chance. Call me crazy, but I did.  Whether you want to be a role model or not, you are one, and it’s how your present yourself that’s important.  Manny was selfish, and so is ARod. But strangely, Manny is forgiven… Lance is too… but not Alex Rodriguez.  He continues to get crucified by the fans, by ESPN and others.

I was shocked by a few tweets from Dick Vitale today. He tweeted:

Ppl at dinner say Arod will never ever play again 4 Yanks !
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) November 6, 2014

.@NYDNSports Mike Lupica throws a haymaker @ Alex Rodriguez http://t.co/GgzDT0Rhq5
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) November 6, 2014

Interesting. So, while not coming out directly and blasting ARod, he'll pin it on others... and wait! Mike Lupica hates ARod? Where’s the news? As a fan of Dick Vitale, it's pretty disappointing to see him, under the ESPN name to blast a player publicly.  Meanwhile David Ortiz showed up on a positive PEDs list ,but Dickie V has no problem posing for pictures with him.   

Amazing. Now look, I have nothing personal against Lupica or Vitale. I just wish they'd see the double standard here. Hey Dick, you're a hypocrite. Get over yourself.   

It’s too easy for sports writers. It's too easy to write about a player being a disgrace because, if they wrote what I'm writing, they'd get trashed. 

My thought is this; How about being provocative and write something that's different.  I didn’t bother reading Lupica today… because it’s more of the same.  “Alex is a disgrace.” Yup, we get it… and we agree… my question is… what about the other tainted athletes in all sports? What about the other athletes that skate for bad behavior?  They are never included in sports guy's articles ripping of Alex, but they should be.  It’s poor journalism. Hey Mike Lupica... Hey Bill Madden, your agenda is boring. Do some research. Sorry, that’s my opinion.

A person tweeted this the other day: “Alex makes it so hard for me to root for him.” It’s heartbreaking for a fan, and it’s 100% accurate.  ARod blew it and he’s blown it over and over again. But the haters just can’t get enough.  You all wanted him to get suspended for the full season, and he was.  Now he’s done the noble thing, he admitted using PEDs, and suddenly, that’s not enough either.  Now you want him banished, hanged, whipped into submission… even dead.  Why?  Again, I don’t like Alex Rodriguez as a player, and as a human being, I kind of feel sorry for him. It's ridiculous. When is Alex allowed to be forgiven?  Before you tell me "he did it to himself", I ask you... what did he do to himself? PEDs? OK, and? 

O’Connor writes this in his piece, literally insinuating that ARod would do it again if he could:

“...if he were being completely honest with himself and the fans, Rodriguez would admit that in an attempt to extend his career and earn the $61 million the Yankees owe him over the next three years, he might cross over to the dark side again if he can only find more discreet chemists and cousins.”

Really Ian?  I love ya, but really? That's absurd.

Look, forgiveness is a bitch. As fans, we don’t want to be disappointed when it comes to players and many times, when players come clean on wrongdoing, it’s over and we can all move forward.  Alex messed up many times, and fans have left the slugger's side. It’s a wicked web, but here’s the thing; it’s HIS wicked web, not mine and not yours.  As a father, as a fan, all I can do is hope the guy figures it out and steer my kids toward positive role models. I can't hate him, I just realize that he's not my problem.  Hating him gets me nowhere.  For me personally, I just move on.

Look, there is no question that if I’m the New York Yankees, I am figuring out a legal way to void Alex’s contract.  The marriage is clearly not working. He's clearly a poison they don't want to deal with. The once home run champion is tarnished forever and if the Yankees are truly full of class, they would suck it up and cut him loose.  But will they? Who knows, honestly.  That's the business side of it.  

Personally,  I believe in 2nd chances, 3rd and even 4th. But right around the 4th mess up, I'm reconsidering how to channel my energy.  Am I gonna yell that Alex Rodriguez is a loser? Not really... I just need to circle the wagons and make sure my kids understand what positive role models are.

As a fan of the game, ARod is a sad story, but it was also sad when the whole "PEDs gang" went before Congress years ago.  Mark McGwire has since admitted to using and then secured a hitting coach job with the Dodgers.  Nelson Cruz failed a PEDs test and came back with the Orioles this year and cranked out a bunch of home runs to help get them to the playoffs. 

When he was finally finished with his suspension, this appeared on the Gammons Daily: New Life for Nelson Cruz. Seems like a positive headline to me.  You'd never see a headline like that for ARod.  Cruz and McGwire are forgiven.  Alex Rodriguez is the liar and scumbag though.  I don’t get it. Or maybe I do. This isn’t about ARod’s sins at all… this is about ARod, the individual.

I often wonder is Alex didn’t sign that monster deal with the Texas Rangers all those years ago, if he would have that stigma attached to him. Sure, the PEDs use, the foolish way he deals with the media doesn't help, but I almost feel like him looking greedy came off bad.  From that day forward, people were gunning for him to fail.  Even Selena Roberts did. 

She probably sold 10 books in the process, but there is no question she was trying to help destroy him in 2009, all the while capitalizing on his popularity.  Well, it was a pile on and it sucks.  Since 2009, when that ARod interview with Peter Gammons took place, there have been 22 times a major league player has been caught or accused of using PEDs, some have been repeated.

But Melky Cabrera is back playing with the Blue Jays. Marlon Byrd’s still playing. Even Jhonny Peralta apologized and signed a big deal this past winter with the Cardinals.  But Alex Rodriguez confesses and according to Ian O’Connor… according to Mike Lupica, or the "hate ARod" fans… it’s too late.

Forgiveness for ARod will never be in the cards. No matter how much Bald Vinny wants to sell his T-Shirts or Mike Francesa backs Alex or no matter how much I think there’s a double standard, it doesn't matter.  Alex is a criminal. A murderer. A rapist, oh yeah... and a PEDs user. 

It’s finally crystal clear to me.  It’s not about his sins… it’s about him. He's the most hated man in America who virtually did the same thing as the many I’ve listed, and in some cases, not as bad.  But it doesn’t matter. ARod’s the bad guy.  ARod will never be forgiven. 

The others? Yup.. they’re free from judgement.  

Not Alex. He's the worst and it makes no damn sense.

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VERDUCCI JUST DRAGGED JETER INTO THE AROD MESS

"Rodriguez brought his fraudulency to the Yankees next, and with it came the discomfort caused by being teammates with Jeter. People speculated that their friction stemmed from a 2001 Esquire article in which Rodriguez took an unsolicited shot at Jeter, saying, 'Jeter's been blessed with talent around him. He never had to lead. He can just go play and have fun. And he hits second -- that's totally different than third or fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie [Williams] and [Paul] O'Neill. You never say, 'Don't let Derek beat you.' He's never your concern.'"

The article didn't help, especially for a guy like Jeter, who demands cold-blooded loyalty. But associates of Jeter knew what also bothered Jeter was Rodriguez's PED use, a whispered secret among players. It wasn't so much the popular comparison among the AL shortstops -- Jeter, Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada and Nomar Garciaparra -- in which people (including Rodriguez himself) degraded Jeter for his relative lack of power, his price for playing the game clean. It was that Jeter knew the two of them were wired so differently, with Rodriguez choosing the deceit of steroids to play the game."

That quote is from Tom Verducci in his SI piece HERE,  and my only question is... are you seriously bringing Derek Jeter into this? Why make it worse?

I have told you here at Bleeding Yankee Blue that the whole PEDs thing is icky to me. The media starts to call the users villains, (They're not, they're cheaters, there's a difference), and with players being fingered and some accepting their suspension and ARod not, yet, not admitting to NOT using. Meanwhile, the ones who accept are now considered guilty and some of them even previously denied any use. It's a circus and a mess.  One thing I won't stand for though is acting like a victim, like Alex did in his press conference.  The second thing I won't do is stand for people like Tom Verducci, whom I respect, dragging our Captain into it.  All this does is allow people to look at what  he wrote and suggest, "Well, Jeter knew Alex Rodriguez was using, could he be an accomplice?"  Jeter is sacred to Yankee fans, to baseball and it's wrong.  You know how people are, this PEDs story has legs and Verducci just added a few legs to it, putting Jeter and PEDs in the same sentence.

Look at that fool Skip Bayless last season when he "didn't say" Jeter was using but was basically saying there is no way he could be "that good" without dabbling.  Read SHAME ON SKIP BAYLESS for context on that.   Now, I'm not comparing Verducci with Bayless. They are on different levels, but Verducci was trying to be provocative here and I don't appreciate it. This time being provocative at the Captain's expense was wrong.   I would assume that Jeter doesn't like it either and you know what? You shouldn't either.

There are certain players that were and are good for the game of baseball.  Cal Ripken Jr... Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter and of course... in generations before me, there were several too.  Jackie Robinson for example.  Look, I'm not going to keep naming names, you get the idea.  I just didn't appreciate the tone of Verducci's piece is all and wanted to point it out.

Did Tom mean anything by it? Probably not, unless you consider "clicks" a crime, but throwing Jeter into the PEDs mess... it's' not needed... trust me, we have enough to talk about. Keep the Captain out of it!

What do you think? Comment.

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WHY OVERRATED IS OVERUSED

"A deep drive to left..... Number 3000!!!!"
5 for 5, Game winning RBI. Congrats Derek! I can't think of a better performance.

(Photo: Getty)
Now, on to my original point... We hear it all the time. "Derek Jeter is the most overrated player in baseball." Well, as far as I'm concerned that's both an inaccurate and tiresome statement.

While his stature and legend may be inflated, there is no possible way he is THE most overrated. Fact is, you don't get 3000 hits by being average. You don't have a .312 career batting average by being an average ballplayer. You don't have a .309 career post-season batting average by being an average player. And lets face it, Jeet has played 147 career post season games, so that .309 isn't a small sample; it's a testament to a great hitter. You don't amass the stats Jeter has accumulated by being overrated. Jeter is at or near the top of many of the Yankees career stats lists. His name is up there with the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle.

Terry Francona has said that Jeter "is the last guy you want to face with the game on the line." Derek always seems to come through when it counts. Great players do great things in big spots. When I think big gamers, I think Joe Montana, Reggie Jackson, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Derek Jeter.
Back in the late 90's there was an argument about who the best young shortstop was. Well, Derek (.312 BA, 236 HR, 1157 RBI, 5 Championships) has outlasted both Nomar Garciaparra (.313, 229, 936, 0 Championships) and Alex Rodriguez (.302, 626, 1883, 1 Championship) at shortstop. Was he the best of the three? Probably not, but he's definitely been the most consistent and the most professional.

The Captain has never been a controversial guy, never getting into trouble.... Would he be this God-like figure if he played in a small market? Doubtful, but that's part of the lore. It's no secret A-Rod has had issues with the New York media. It takes a special person to be a superstar here in New York and that's part of what makes Jeet so special. As the song says, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."(Photo: Getty)
So, rather than saying Jeet is overrated, I argue he is a product of circumstance, a class act, a future Hall of Famer, and most of all, the Captain of the New York Yankees!!

-- Lem Allen, BYB Freelance Writer

bybcurmudgeon@gmail.com

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