Rodriguez ran from first base toward third base on a high popup. He shouted "Hah" - his version - or "Mine!" - Toronto's version - causing Howie Clark to pull up and let the ball drop for a critical RBI single. The Blue Jays blasted A-Rod's play as "bush league," and all but guaranteed he will get hit with a pitch when the two teams meet again.
How unfair! The poor Blue Jays, getting picked on by the big mean man like that!
I've never played baseball. I don't mean I never made it to the major leagues. I mean I have literally never played a real game of baseball (the nine innings with all the players sort of thing). So I'm the ultimate outsider. But this really couldn't bother me any less than it does. What's all the fuss about? Post:
Renck's take: It's remarkable how every time Rodriguez attempts a "hard-nosed or baseball-smart" play he ends up getting barbecued, whether it was his attempt to knock off a Red Sox player's glove in the playoffs or his hard slide into second baseman Dustin Pedroia recently. About this verbal assault? A-Rod is better than that. This move smacks of Bill Romanowski or Rick Mahorn, athletes who resorted to cheap tricks to compensate for a lack of talent. In 11 years of covering baseball, I have never seen another player pull this move. Even more troubling, Seattle Mariners infielder Jose Lopez said A-Rod does it all the time, calling his act stupid. While it's true major-league baseball is viewed as a win-at-all-costs game, it shouldn't come at the expense of class.
Funny that the Post's Troy Renck would invoke Bill Romanowski, then act like yelling in a baseball game is the epitome of dirty play. And the whiny reference to "class" makes me think Renck is a Utah Jazz fan. As Michael Wilbon pointed out on PTI Friday, you can throw a spitball but you can't yell at someone?
Of course, spitballs are truly illegal but winked at, whereas distractions break no rules. What a dumb sport sometimes. While I'm hardly an A-Rod or Yankees apologist, I think you'd be dumb not to yell once in a while. (You should do it every time, except they'd stop falling for it.) What kind of pros are the Blue Jays if they can't take it?
2 comments:
people are reacting because it involves a high-profile player like a-rod.
his slap move was really sissy like, so i won't defend that. but yelling to confuse or distract is hardly a new occurence in sports.
basketball players constantly yell in the face of the shooter, talk to them or at them during free-throw shots. a defensive player will put their hand up during a fast break to imitate an offensive player running down the court, hoping they are mistaken as a teammate and receive an errant pass.
football players bark, yell, talk trash, say nasty things. it is considered part of the game.
yelling "mine" is about the most tame thing anyone could yell, put a mic on an nfl player and you'll see a stark comparison.
just a bunch of fuss on a slow news day.
Agreed, although I hate everything A-Rod does, so I don't mind if he gets toasted in the media on occasion.
And that slap move was indeed "really sissy like," as was his after-the-fact claim that he didn't mean to do it.
Post a Comment