September 20th, 2006 → 9:47 am @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments
I recognize the irony in my asking why there are people in the world who’ve been burned by their dumb-ass comments before and still make egregiously misguided statements to the press.
Like A-Rod. It’s been five-plus years since he permanently alienated Derek Jeter with his “he’s never had to lead” comments to Esquire. In the current SI, Tom Verducci has a bunch of juicy quotes in his magnificent, 5,000-word piece on Rodriguez’s struggles with the Yankees, titled “The A-Rod Agonistes.”
A quick read reveals this as perhaps the most incendiary quote: “Mussina doesn’t get hammered at all. He’s making a boatload of money. Giambi’s making ($20.4 million), which is fine and dandy, but it seems those guys get a pass. When people write (bad things) about me, I don’t know if it’s (because) I’m good-looking, I’m biracial, I make the most money, I play on the most popular team.” (That quote is eerily reminiscent of the manner in which Kevin Millar anonymously slammed Curt Schilling last year; I recount the whole incident in the book. Suffice to say there are plenty of corners of the Sox’s clubhouse that don’t miss Mr. Cowboy Up.) A-Rod also says, “I can’t help that I’m a bright person. I know that’s not a great quote to give, but I can’t pretend to play dumb and stupid.” Which begs the question: if you’re so smart, why are you giving quotes you know will cause problems?
Sure, Jason Giambi’s quotes in the piece are more revealing — Giambi tells the extent to which the team was frustrated with A-Rod and describes his asking Torre to toughen up on the Yankees’ maligned third baseman — but Giambi is one of the more popular members on the team. Alex is not.
(The NY sports media is, predictably, all over this. I can’t imagine the story will disappear in the next few days.
The Times: “As Yankees March On, a Reminder of Rodriguez’s Summertime Swoon”
The Post: “Spoiled Rotton”
The Daily News: “Giambi Told Torre to Get Tough on Alex“)
Post Categories: A-Rod
Retire_Number_14
17 years ago
Who else out there is thinking what I’m thinking: That the MLB players’ union’s interference with the Texas Rangers-Boston Red Sox trade in late 2003 that would have sent Rodriguez to man the infield on Yawkey Way, was actually doing us a huge favor? Boston’s media isn’t that far off from NY’s in terms of its omnipresence and undue influence on the team and the players themselves. Rodgriguez wouldn’t have found Boston’s pastures any greener, or its townsfolk more forgiving.
ARod sounds like Derek … Zoolander. “There’s more to life than being really really really good looking.”
Blue Steel!!
jward23
17 years ago
C’mon folks, it ain’t that hard to figure out why people don’t like ARod. He’s a phony. Think J.D. Salinger and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’. Whatever happened to that word? A phony is just somebody that most people intuitively dislike, because, he/she is well, phony. And most people just sense it. End of story, no other explantion necessary.
sxturner
17 years ago
There’s a hilarious take on this by Jim Caple at ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/060921
Steve