Yankees, A-Rod Hope for the Best in 2007

So it's been almost three months since the Yankees ended their 2006 season with a Game 4 loss to the Tigers in the ALDS.  Some people will tell you that there were many reasons for the embarrassing defeat at the hands of Jim Leyland's inexperienced Detroit club...but not me. No matter how many times I play the debacle back through my head, there's one name that I just can't seem to get over:

Alex Rodriguez.

 

And yes, I know: A-Rod is a phenomenal baseball player. He can hit. He can field. When his career is done, in fact, he might be considered among the all-time greats.

I just hope he'll have a World Series ring on his finger.

And a Yankees cap on his Cooperstown plaque.

Outside of the 2004 ALDS and parts of the 2005 regular season, Rodriguez has been nothing short of a bust during his tenure in pinstripes. His miserable performance against the Tigers marked a third consecutive October flop—and brought back painful memories of the 2005 ALDS and the 2004 ALCS.

In the Detroit series, Alex hit .071 (1 for 14) with 0 HR and 0 RBI. His lone hit came on the heels of a Jason Giambi home run in Game 1—vintage A-Rod style.
 
Against the Angels in 2005, he posted a .133 batting average (2 for 15) with 0 HR and 0 RBI.  His last postseason homer came against the Red Sox in 2004...but even that series was marred by inconsistency, and his numbers in 20 playoff games with the Yankees, .221, 2 HR, 5 RBI are hardly the stuff of October legend.  
 
And don't come at me with regular-season stats. Sure, A-Rod edged David Ortiz for the 2005 AL MVP—but he was horrible in 2006.  How can Yankees fans boo a player who hits .290  with 35 HR and 121 RBI? Easy:  Watch the guy on an everyday basis.  Anyone who caught even half of the Yankees' games in 2006 and still wants to tell you that Rodriguez was anything but poison is either (a) a liar or (b) an idiot.

Need proof?

Try this:

A-Rod was the third-worst hitter in Major League Baseball at bringing in men on 3rd base with less than two outs in 2006.  If he had capitalized on even some of those missed opportunities, he would have been a shoo-in to repeat as MVP. As it was, he picked up 121 RBI while leaving half the Bronx stranded on third.

Some regular-season hero, that A-Rod.
 
The bottom line is that Alex Rodriguez needs a HUGE year in 2007—to say nothing of an even HUGER postseason—if he wants to be a Bomber in 2008. And it's not like the Yankee faithful aren't rooting for him. Everyone, this writer included, has got to be on Rodriguez's side come Opening Day.  Yes, it's hard to put faith in a man who's let you down so many times in the past—but it doesn't matter. A-Rod needs us...and if he can produce the way he did in Seattle and Texas, everything might just be all right around the Stadium come October.

A pipe dream?

Maybe.

But come on: It's New Year's Eve, and you can't fault a guy for hoping... 

 

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