I enjoyed this little quote from the recap [link]:
A-Rod, just 2-for-17 in the final four games of last year's ALCS collapse against Boston, went 2-for-15 (.133) with no RBIs. Sheffield, 1-for-17 during last year's final four games, finished the series 6-for-21 (.286) with no extra-base hits and two RBIs.
"I had a great year, something I'm very proud of," A-Rod said. "I left my guts on the field, I left my heart out there. I'm not going to hang my head. I'm going to learn from it and become a better Yankee."
A better Yankee? Jesus. That just shows why A-Job will never really be a Yankee*. Here's Jeter:
"We don't play to just make it to the playoffs, we've been to the playoffs before," New York captain Derek Jeter said. "We play to win, and we fell short again."
Sorry, A-Rod, when you play on Jeter's team, this is the season, jackass! Fifty home runs only gets you to what matters, the post-season. And you don't show up. A-Rod plays for himself and the back of his card. A-Rod, Sheffield, Johnson, Giambi, Matsui, Contreras—all the money and all the trades, and all they have after the last five years is an old-ass team, no prospects and a payroll over $200 million.
Glad to see it.
(Yes, I know I am a Sox fan, and yes, a Yankees loss is as good as a Red Sox win sometimes—like when the Sox can't win any more games.)
* NOTE: As much as I hate the Yankees, there is a core group of true Yankees that are actually pretty classy, and dare I say, I respect. And homegrown even: Jeter, Rivera, the vastly-overrated Bernie, the cast-off Pettitte (who is about to carry another team to the promised land—Go Astros!) and I'll give Tino Baseball honorary status. All the rest? Wannabes. Big-ticket players that have never paid off.
2 comments:
Yeah, I actually respect Jeter, too. He plays hard and, unlike the hasbeens who come to NY for a World Series berth and a big paycheck, he seems to be here for the long haul.
But A-Rod is a tool.
No teeth-gnashing 'cause I knew they would lose. The team is a shell of its World Series self. All the gnashing was during the last weekend of the season, when I was out of town.
This season was the very definition of resting on one's laurels.
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