Soiled Pinstripes

Another week, another complaint about A-Rod. Shocking, isn’t it?

I wasn’t going to write anything about his little league-esque incident last night...the one involving him and the Jays rookie third baseman Howie Clark...but listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio at lunch today got me fired up.

The ‘incident’ as I’ve called it went like this: Last night, A-Rod was running between second and third on a routine popup on the infield and as he ran by Clark at third, he allegedly yelled "Mine!", causing Clark to back away due to him thinking it was shortstop John MacDonald calling him off; thus, the ball fell to the ground without being caught. Clark says Rodriguez yelled "Mine!", Rodriguez says he yelled "Ha!", whatever. Jays’ manager John Gibbons called the play "bush league" and many of the Jays had something similar to say about it.

Cowherd is calling the Jays and everyone else who is upset about this a whiner or a pansy. Not surprising if you’ve ever listened to this buffoon’s radio show on ESPN, but troublesome all the more. I guess Cowherd has a point when he says that A-Rod isn’t cheating per se, nor is he trying to deliberately hurt anyone. He also mentioned that if players can slide into second basemen and shortstops to break up would-be double plays, this incident shouldn’t be looked at any differently. Interesting that he should bring this up, considering A-Rod takes that part of the game to a lowly level as well, per the incident with Pedroia from a couple weeks back. I suppose it’s not illegal from a rulebook point of view. It’s just a classless, cowardly move from a player who, as I’ve stated over and over, is one of the greatest of all time. It’s a shame and it’s an embarrassment to the New York Yankees and that city who loves that team so much. It’s an absolute embarrassment.

It just goes back to my previous post about how A-Rod plays the game. He plays like someone who has no respect for the team surrounding him, the team opposing him, the rest of the league or the fans who love the game so much, like me and you. There’s a reason why people in baseball right now are calling this latest move a ‘bush league’ play, or a childish play. These things happen in little league games, in t-ball games. After such events, a coach usually berates his player and makes him aware that this is not how the game is played and it probably never happens again. In this case, no one really berates A-Rod from his own team I’m assuming and he ends up saying he yelled "Ha" instead. I don’t see how that’s any better. It almost makes him seem more childish.

It’s reasons like this that the Yankees are still faltering in the cellar of the AL East. It’s becoming increasingly clear that A-Rod is more and more of a disease in that clubhouse day in and day out. I wouldn’t want to play with him and I’m sure as hell that guys like Jeter, Damon, Pettitte, Mientkiewicz and Posada--who play the game with respect and good character--don’t want to go out there with him everyday, either. Cowherd made a point today that we, Red Sox fans, shouldn’t whine because two years ago we were dying to get him here in Boston. I wasn’t, but surely some of us were and why not? What we were grasping for was the right to see one of the greatest in the game play at Fenway and for the Sox. What we don’t want and never will want is a guy who makes a mockery of the game like Rodriguez. He hadn’t shown this type of behavior until he got to New York and I suppose this is the culmination and manifestation of too much pressure and scrutiny. He may be nearly worth what they’re paying him in New York from a talent standpoint. But looking at this from the value of character, Alex Rodriguez is worthless.