Alex Rodriguez, Finally Loved

For Alex Rodriguez, life in New York has never been easy. His personal life is constant fodder for the hounds of the New York Post’s Page Six, and his nickname of A-Rod has provided headline writers with an innumerable number of puns. From A-Fraud to Stray-Rod to A-Hole, he has been called every name in the book by the relentless New York media.

Nearly all of the harsh rhetoric stems from his massive contract, coupled with the fact that he has historically been nearly invisible in the postseason. However, as he rounded the bases after hitting a game tying, 2-run shot off of Joe Nathan in Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS, the smile on his face said it all. The pressure he was previously feeling seemed to dissipate as he crossed home plate into the waiting fist bump of his teammate Mark Teixeira.  It was the moment that we as Yankee fans had waited nearly 6 years for. 

We always wanted to root for A-Rod, I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s clearly one of the best 2-3 players in the game today, and to have him on our side is certainly a major asset. Can you imagine him with a stylized red “B” on his hat? I shudder to think. But I digress. The fact is, the Yankees have had a great third basement for the past 6 years, but all anyone wanted to do was hate the guy.

As a fan, I tried my very best to like him, but it seemed every time he got up in a crucial situation, he was determined to strikeout or hit an infield pop up. I think it’s safe to say that those days are well behind us.

As he mashed his way through pitcher after pitcher this postseason, it is clear that A-Rod 2.0 is here. All of the pressures that seemed to plague him have suddenly been lifted from his shoulders.

Maybe it was the arrival of Mark Teixeira, whose similarly inflated contract and similarly potent bat have relieved much of the pressure to produce in RBI situations.

Maybe it was his recent admission to using performance enhancing drugs in his past that cleared his conscience and allowed him to play loose.

Maybe Alex finally got over the fact that no matter how good he is, he will never be Derek Jeter.

Or maybe, he’s just finally hot at the right time. Whatever it is, it has certainly spawned a rebirth for Alex Rodriguez, who is hitting at an historic pace this postseason.

For me, a die hard Yankees fan, there is nothing sweeter than seeing our $250 million dollar third basemen produce the way we thought he always should have. Make no mistake about it: Yankee fans are winning-junkies, which is why I posit that Yankee fans, despite their checkered relationship with A-Rod, were always behind the guy 100%.

The fact of the matter is that when he is hitting, the team is in a much better position to win. Yankee fans have always wanted nothing but the best for Alex and the Yankees, but the boos he heard when he struck out at the worst possible times must have made that pretty unclear.

Now that his time being known pejoratively as “Mr. May” (for his seeming inability to produce after Memorial day) are over, it will be easier for Alex to really let his natural ability take over.

He recently commented that the game was slowing down for him, and when a superstar says something like that, other teams around the league should be very afraid. We know A-Rod certainly is not afraid of the New York media, the vitriol of the fans, or the pressures of postseason any longer.