I think that Alex Rodriguez’s “problem” in part is that he has an atypical personality for a great player. Great players tend to be either the strong silent types, or extremely driven and focused people, or larger-than-life personalities with huge appetites — or some combination thereof. A-Rod doesn’t really fit in any of those groups. He seems to be motivated largely by a desire to be liked, to be loved, and New York simply isn’t taking to him while everyone else is against him because he makes so much money and plays for the Yankees.
Or not. Whatever.
A-Rod for Renteria and Hudson? I’d love that deal. Won’t happen but I can dream.
This is off topic, but at least someone in New York is doing something right.
http://www.slate.com/id/2151273/?nav=tap3
The article discusses “clutch pitching” and gives Glavine high praise.
Is anything ever going to happen? Are the Braves going to make any moves before the winter meetings in December?
The playoffs aren’t even over. What are we supposed to do?
@3
What’s the advantage to making a move in October?
A-rod is a great ball player, but no single person is worth the contract he got from the rangers. Putting up hall of fame stats every year is not even enough to justify that contract. I think this makes him question his own self worth. Don’t get me wrong I’m not feeling sorry for him, but imagine being hated or ridiculed because some idiot laid 256 mil. in your lap. He couldn’t say no, but deep down he knew he wasn’t worth it.
and as far as this off-season goes I doubt we go after any big names,all we will probably do is trade for prospects and sign some bit players.
As I’ve mentioned many times before, going to Yankee games this year has been a season full of armchair analysis. Half the time, my 2 pals & I would get into discussions about him & his situation that would last the entire game. We’d watch A-Rod’s every move & reaction—I’ve never seen anyone so aware that he was on a stage. He really looks like he’s posing half the time. To me, it was way more interesting than the games this year. I generally don’t like soap operas, but I certainly enjoyed this one.
What’s funny now is how there’s talk about how Jeter shut him out, how Torre lost respect for him, how most of his teammates felt he was an emotional drain on the team. Some are pointing the finger at Jeter for not reaching out to him—which strikes me a positively Rovian, but whatever.
His need for love & approval was the entitlement he’s always had fulfilled in other clubhouses. [“Look at my numbers!” he seemed to say, as if that carried weight in a clubhouse that included Rivera & Jeter, who earned the right to only count to 4.] In this clubhouse and with this fanbase, the reaction was more like, “You’re great, but you haven’t won anything before–ever. Proove it when it counts.”
That’s how it is here. There’s a certain joylessness to it, but there it is. A-Rod hasn’t helped himself & most of the grief he encounters comes from his post-season performances. Around here, that’s what people talk about. That’s what people remember.
Tell you a quick story: A person I work with occasionally was hired to do an event for the Yanks a couple years ago. It was for Jorge Posada’s charity (related to his son’s condition). It was on a Sunday night after a day game in the Bronx, with Monday an off-day. Every single player on the team & coaching staff was there for Posada—except A-Rod, who was in the Hamptons for his wife’s birthday. According to this person, that’s all these guys were talking about. It was early in A-Rod’s tenure & that did not sit well. He had put himself apart from the team, and he did that himself.
“What’s the advantage to making a move in October?”
None, I’m just bored.
In fact, I remember when Arod first signed that contract with Texas he said in an interview that he was “embarassed” by it. Now, what exactly he meant by “embarassed” and what exactly was it that was embarrassing, i guess we’ll never know, but that is the word he used.
boras didn’t like that interview
Glavine wasn’t too clutch when he lost twice to the Giants in 2003. As far as A-Rod, why not put in for him and ask the Yankees to take part of the salary? I think that will be part of any deal. According to yankees.com, the Yankess “only” pay 80% of his salary now, or about $16M a year; the Rangers have the rest. Maybe the Braves could get him for $10M a year. Problem is, Yankees will want young power pitching, not Hudson. They (Yankees) don’t need outfielders or infielders.
Nobody makes moves in October. Contracts don’t expire until after the playoffs, so the potential free agents can’t file for free agency yet. Teams are heavily discouraged from making trades in October because MLB doesn’t want anything to distract from the playoffs. Be patient.
Though its cover photo pains me, this week’s SI should offer some vigorous debate among posters here.
Its headlines:
SEC Power
On Any Given Saturday
The Southeastern Conference Proves It’s the Toughest in the Country
Haven’t read it yet, but I will.
I don’t believe for a second that the Yankees will trade ARod to Atlanta for anyone we have on our roster. As much as I dislike them, Cashman and Steinbrenner have shown a lot of restraint recently, esp. compared to the Bronx Zoo years, and will likely deal ARod only for young, major league ready power arms. Which, looking around, I don’t see here in our system.
I’d not be surprised to see the Angels make a play with their load of minor league/young major league talent, which would finally give Vlad the Impaler some protection in the lineup.
funny thing is that on any given saturday the big ten could say they are the toughest or the pac 10 or the ACC…
that should get some people fired up
ACC BOOIII
This is an excerpt from Talking Chop:
“Martin Gandy: I asked you in the middle of the year about the leadoff situation and your handling of that. As the year is almost complete now, do you think you can build on that if you’re asked to do [leadoff] again?
Marcus Giles: Yeah, I guess I can, but the bottom line is I’d rather not be asked to do it again. Any way it works out, my main thing is trying to make this my last year in that spot.
Gandy: You know, this team in the past has been a lot about Smoltz moving to the pen, and Chipper moving to left field for the team. All you’ve been asked to do is move one spot up in the order, and you’ve made sort of a big deal about it. Do you think that’s had any negative effects around here?
Giles: No, I don’t know how I’ve made a big deal about it to be honest with you.
Gandy: Every chance you get you say you don’t want to be there. That’s expressing your opinion obviously but…
Giles: No, people ask me the question if I want to be there, so I say no. If the question is not asked I would never…you’re kind of acting like I’m complaining about it. I’ve never once complained about it or made an excuse over it. Make that clear – that’s for sure. This is kind of a mistaken article I think you’ve got going.
At that point Giles was pretty much through with the interview and walked away. I caught up with him several minutes later and apologized if my clumsy phrasing had led him to the wrong opinion of what I was asking him, and he agreed to continue the interview, though I figured I’d steer clear of the leadoff questions.”
O.K. So Giles didn’t like leading off. I just don’t understand how moving up one spot can cause you to suck all of the sudden.
People make way too big a deal about the psychology of athletes. If the Yankees had let A-rod stay at short where he was on the way to becoming the best shortstop of all time, would there even be a discussion of his defense? 24 errors isn’t all that terrible for a player playing only his 2nd full year at 3rd base. Heck Renteria made 30 errors at shortstop last year. Look how dumb the Red Sox look now for giving up on him after 1 aberrant year. But if the Yankees think A-rod can’t handle third, why not switch him and Jeter? Jeter isn’t all that special a defensive shortstop as far as I know. Certainly his defense was inferior to A-rod’s prior to him coming to Yankees and moving to 3rd.
When a team becomes the first in baseball history to blow a 3-0 lead in a postseason series, how can you blame it on one hitter regardless of how bad he hit? Mariano Rivera was far more to blame, but he doesn’t get trashed because he doesn’t make a zillion dollars.
In the postseason, you face the best pitchers on the best teams in the league. A-rod wasn’t the only Yankee who got shut down by the Tigers’ pitching this year. A-rod wasn’t responsible for Randy Johnson and Jaret Wright stinking it up in games 3 and 4. A-rod didn’t have a very good series against the Tigers, but neither did the rest of the team. The As’ hitters didn’t do well against Detroit either in game 1 of the ALCS. Instead of blaming A-rod or Joe Torre, people should be giving Detroit credit for playing and pitching extremely well.
The Braves don’t need a shortstop or a 3rd baseman and they can’t afford to trade any pitching (aside from Hudson but why would the Yankees make that trade?) to get A-rod. If the Braves want to invest $16 million in offense, they’d be far better off getting Alfonoso Soriano to play left field and bat leadoff.
In reality, the Braves offense was pretty good this year and would have been great if Chipper had been healthier. The Braves either will spend their free agent bucks on pitching or not make a major free agent acquisition due to payroll constraints. A-rod is not coming to the Braves even if the Yankees are stupid enough to want to trade him because the Braves don’t need him, can’t afford him, and can’t afford to give up what it would take to get him.
JoshQ,
The second & third headlines of the SI story are independent thoughts.
@#8
That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard, there is no husband in his right mind who would skip his wife’s birthday for a charity event. If they really were upset with him over that, then that makes him even more defensible.
Justin I agree, I wouldnt be there and I would like for someone to tell me I was wrong for not being there. That’s ridiculous that they would expect for him to be there. Family comes before friends and coworkers anyday. Unbelievable…
A classy exit from Don Sutton:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/braves/stories/2006/10/11/1011sutton.html
Everyone has different definitions of what it means to be a good teammate. For example, Pete Rose insisted that his children be born in the offseason.
I’m sorry, but I will have to disagree with anyone who thinks a teammate should be there when its his wife’s bday. Send your regards to Posada and if that’s not good enough then too bad. Its only a big deal because it was Arod. If it was Jeter or Torre that had something else to attend, nothing would have been said or mentioned.
ububba,
Well that does it. I was holding out hope that Sutton left on his own. This whole TBS sell off of the Braves broadcasting rights SUCKS.
Sutton to FOX or they suck too. Oh, wait…
$10, Skip and Pete announce their retirement this offseason.
TBS, this is not “very funny.”
Very classy by Don Sutton. I will miss his pitching analysis, those were pretty neat.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2006/insider/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2620662&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2
I get some satisfaction out of this Useless Info of recent Yankee October failure, despite the Braves being included in the conversation (as they should be).
Ububba,
Thanks for the link on Sutton’s message. A real class act. I’ll miss him.
Turn to CNN now!!!!!
NYY P Cory Lidle’s plane crashed into a NY building. I think it said that Lidle was piloting.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/11/plane.crash/index.html
WOW
Gandy: Every chance you get you say you don’t want to be there. That’s expressing your opinion obviously but…
Giles: No, people ask me the question if I want to be there, so I say no.
Sounds like Mr. Gandy realizes he employed poor technique here. Defensiveness is the only response you’ll ever get with such an approach.
This is also a symptom of the blog echo chamber. As Giles pointed out, he gave his opinion about hitting leadoff when he was asked about it, but he’s never to anyone’s knowledge made any demands not to do so. But it’s something to talk about and pore over and pick apart, and the end result is a question about a molehill that begins, “So about that mountain over there….”
That’s terrible about Lidle. How in the world did something like that happen? It’s so random.
Really awful.
I get some satisfaction out of this Useless Info of recent Yankee October failure, despite the Braves being included in the conversation (as they should be).
Some local idiot on sports radio out here said today that the Yankees recent post season struggles have made Joe Torre “a modern day Bobby Cox”. Gave me a laugh.
The Lidle thing is just unbelievable. Wow.
Wow, ESPN is reporting it now too. That’s awful…
Condolences to Lidle’s family. 🙁 One has to wonder how that happened, yes.
@36
A modern-day Bobby Cox? Wow, so Bobby’s an ancient relic now? Sweet. We should put him in a museum.
They are saying that he was killed in the crash.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2621860
If he was piloting, he died. No way the pilot survived that. Four people total they know have died from it.
Wow, Cory Lidle is dead….
Was Lidle actually flying the plane?
yep just confirmed
Truly bizarre story.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2621860
Longer story. It says he was.
Wow… Cory Lidle..
How awful. 🙁
Yeah, his passport was found at the scene. This has me really bummed. I always respected him as a pitcher.
The news is harping all over the “national security” and “Yankee pitcher dead! How random!” angle and the fact that 3 other people were killed seems to be getting swept under the rug. I’m a little mad about that. There are also a bunch of injured firefighers. My prayers go out to them all.
Am I alone in thinking that these light planes are way too easy to get licensed for?
What I want to know is how Joe Torre was the first person to tell reporters it was Lidle’s plane. Nobody was confirming anything yet. How did he know?
No Mac,
I’m with you too…this sucks so bad….. 🙁
This puts all that silly “A-Rod is a choker in clutch situations” crap into perspective…
Rissa, I’m sure he was notified …
Well, at first they were saying two people died, now it’s four. I don’t think they really know for sure yet. I was actually checking the news stories trying to see if any people had died (I was assuming the pilot had), when this whole Lidle thing broke.
This is tragic, but it is also so bizaare as to be almost unbelievable–something you would see on a soap opera.
For old timers, Yanks must also be remembering Thurman Munson who also was killed in a small plane accident.
From ESPN:
On Sunday, the day after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs, Lidle cleaned out his locker at Yankee Stadium and talked about his interest in flying.
He explained to reporters the process of getting a pilot’s license and said he intended to fly back to California in several days and planned to make a few stops. Lidle disccused the plane crash of John F. Kennedy Jr. and how he had read the accident report on the National Transportation Safety Board Web site.
Lidle, acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on July 30, told The New York Times last month that his four-seat Cirrus SR20 plane was safe.
“The whole plane has a parachute on it,” Lidle said. “Ninety-nine percent of pilots that go up never have engine failure, and the 1 percent that do usually land it. But if you’re up in the air and something goes wrong, you pull that parachute, and the whole plane goes down slowly.”
The Yankees didn’t like the fact that Lidle was into flying…and big part of that was the Munson thing…
How does that happen twice…
here’s a pic of lidle flying….
http://media.phillyburbs.com/2006/02/23/0223randycory.jpg
I’m a Braves fan living in NYC, and as much as I hate the Mets and want to see them lose, I feel sorry for their fans who will have to watch every broadcast game with the announcers talking about this terrible accident instead of talking aboput the Mets.
“The only thing Cory Lidle wants to do is fly around in his airplane and gamble.” Arthur Rhodes in August
At the time the gambling thing got more attention…
Wow, I’d forgotten about that quote. Obviously, those aren’t mutually exclusive hobbies.
Obviously, those aren’t mutually exclusive hobbies.
Good call.
NEW YORK — Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was the pilot of a small plane that crashed into a high-rise apartment building in Manhattan on Wednesday, according to published reports.
Lidle, 34, was killed in the crash, the reports said. The New York Times reported that police said two bodies were found on the ground shortly after the crash, and that one of them was that of Lidle, who was a licensed pilot.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061011&content_id=1708962&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
The New York Times is linking to a story it did a month ago about him being a pilot.
Notable is the following passage:
Commenters on Deadspin are actually making jokes. That’s just sickening…
The people at Deadspin have always been twisted.
Will booted one of the commenters for the joke… he should’ve booted a couple more.
My goodness. I take an hour nap and a Yankee pitcher dies. Wow. Have they found out the total number of people dead?
I think it’s 2.
As of now, just 4 people.
I just heard Lidle interviewed the other day on WFAN & he got raked over the coals for his post-ALDS comments. It was a pretty combative conversation. Kinda weird listening to it now.
I think right now they’re saying Lidle and someone else in the plane died, then two people inside of the apartments died for a total of four.
Lidle was a good pitcher and did well against the Braves.
Thurman Munson died the same way via plane crash.
Deadspin is what happens when indifference and hate mix with drug addicts. I hope they choke on the crap thats backing up out of their mouths.
ARod is narcissistic. He loves people to love him. Thats why his emotions go up and down. It follows along with the fan base somewhat but he has this overreacting mechanism that causes him to go higher or lower than the boos and cheers and crashes and rises drastically. He cares about what poeple think of him, that is BIG problem.
I’ve been listening to New York radio for the last hour. I think it’s just Lidle & his flight instructor who perished.
His flight instructor? I thought he had his liscense. That would be good news (it’s still two people who died, but that is better than the four they were saying awhile ago).
Mets game postponed due to rain, not that anybody here is up for a ballgame today.
On A-Rod. He sounds a bit like Peter Keating from Ayn Rand’s great novel, The Fountainhead.
Mac,
General Aviation flying is still safer than driving. It just gets more notice. The Thrashers had a player killed and another injured severely driving.
Athletes and entertainers flying themselves seem, anecdotally, to be more prone to aircraft crashes. Basically, any “on the edge, daredevil” side will get you killed.
If there was no mechanical failure and if Lidle had enough hours to have a valid twin engine rating (with the weather apparently gorgeous) then he probably really goofed. It is sad. Some of the dumb commentators are calling for banning Visual Flight Rule flying over all major cities.
ARod sounds like the smoother less rugged version of Corbin Bernson’s character in Major League.
Many Yankee fans liken A-Rod to Liberace.
The thing about flying accidents that makes them seem so much more dangerous is the likelihood of survival in the event of a crash. Its true that an aviation accident is far less likely than an auto accident, but its much more likely to walk away from a car crash than a plane crash. Thats why people get scared of flying.
Getting on a plane tomorrow night. Yippee!
I have no feelings really about this ALCS. I figured I’d wait to see how it played out & hope I get an emotion. I got my first one with Big Frank up and the bases loaded. I kinda wanted to see him have a big moment. Oh well…
Hard to see the A’s getting out of Detroit. Of course, whichever AL team win will automatically be my fave in the WS.
The Tigers seem to have the pitching to win. It’s the Gambler in game 3, right? He could get knocked around after such an emotional game against the Yankees. We’ll just have to see how they hold together, I guess.
As an aside, I went to a game at the old Tiger stadium back in ’85. Worst seats I’ve ever had at a ballgame. I was literally sitting behind a huge steel pillar and couldn’t see most of the field until I changed seats.
Overall, Oakland’s lineup is pretty lame. I don’t expect them to win 2 of 3 in Motown. Guess I’m a Tigers fan for the next couple weeks.
Strangely, tonight’s rainout could help the Cards. Now they can pitch Carpenter in Game 2 on 4-days rest & again Game 6, if nec., on 4-days again. Otherwise, he was slated for Games 3 & 7. Hate to say it (cuz I usually don’t mean it), but: Let’s Go Redbirds.
How ’bout a nice, quiet rematch of the 1968 Series? Works for me.
“The thing about flying accidents that makes them seem so much more dangerous is the likelihood of survival in the event of a crash. Its true that an aviation accident is far less likely than an auto accident, but its much more likely to walk away from a car crash than a plane crash. Thats why people get scared of flying.”
35mph or 350mph…take your pick…..
http://com5.runboard.com/bamadog
Look for the “Bama Moments” post in the Bryant Denny Football forum…1989 Desperation Block is in there PLUS 1973 Notre Dame vs. Bama Sugar Bowl, AND Wrong Way Bo….hehe
I’m in New York and people are stunned by this whole Corey Lidle thing. RIP
Mac,
Its actually very time consuming and not as easy it seems to be to get a pilots license.
Given the number of people that fly everyday, it’s a very safe form of transportation–certainly safer than driving since pilots have a much higher level of training than do drivers. Nevertheless, I’m not an easy flyer. But I doubt that flying a small plane is any less safe than many other activities he could have been doing. I’m just wondering what the flight instructor was doing.
A-rod to the white sox for crede and pitching ????
Dans, I just heard that also. Makes a lot of sense for both teams if you think about it
I think these are just rumors. I don’t think the Yankees would trade A-Rod unless they just got overwhelmed. You can criticize him all you want, but he is a first-ballot HOFer, who you can count on for 35-40 home runs (in a down year). You are going to trade a guy like that for Joe Crede and a pitcher? What White Sox pitcher is close to being that good? Brian Cashman isn’t a moron–he won’t make that trade unless the Boss just gets tired of A-Rod. The Yankees problem is not A-Rod; it’s the fact that Randy Johnson is 43 years old, Mike Mussina is overrated, and they have to count on Jaret Wright in a critical game.
If I were Cashman, I would go to Roger Clemens and say, “How much will it take to get you to be a Yankee next year?” and then I would give it to him. You don’t win by trading away your best player if you’re a team with unlimited payroll. You win by adding pitchers who can actually, you know, pitch.
LAA- A-Rod
NYY- Ervin Santana, Chone Figgins, and maybe Bradley Beck.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Brad%20Beck&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=467157
@95
Heh heh heh heh, count on Jaret Wright for a critical game. That’s still funny.
Wow, that was a really good post from Marc Schneider. I agree on all points. I don’t think that’s ever happened.
from 10/10 if no one else reported this
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves announced three roster moves today, as outfielder Josh Burrus was sent outright to Richmond (AAA), left-handed pitcher John Foster was released and left-handed pitcher Wayne Franklin cleared waivers and has chosen to become a free agent.
Burrus, 23, batted .213 with three home runs and 28 RBI in 76 games at Mississippi (AA) this season.
The 28-year-old Foster appeared in 62 games for the Braves in 2005, but he had “Tommy John” surgery on his left elbow on June 6, 2006, and missed the entire 2006 season.
Franklin, 32, was signed by the Braves as a minor league free agent on April 17. His contract was purchased on August 6 and he appeared in 11 games for Atlanta with a 7.06 ERA (6 ER/7.2 IP).
Ray to the Royals. T.J. Pena clone Luis Hernandez to the Orioles. Barry to Richmond.
@99
Thanks Rob.
The only people I would even consider trading A-Rod for would be Johan Santana, Roy Halladay, or (maybe) Justin Verlander. Otherwise, don’t even talk to me about it. In 1966, the Reds traded Frank Robinson to the O’s for Milt Pappas because he was an “old” 30. (And, probably, because he was considered a trouble maker). Granted, A-Rod clearly isn’t the warrior F. Robinson was, but that may have been the worst trade in baseball history, even though Pappas was a pretty good pitcher. (There was also a throw in outfielder who never amounted to anything.)
Wayne Franklin gone? Now who will get the third out with the bases loaded by almost giving up a home run for us? Yates pitches too hard and the ball wil get out…
Good post Mac, but it sounds a lot like Bill James’ entry on Steve Sax in his Historical Baseball Abstract.
Probably because it’s basically based on that. Should I have noted that? Probably.
That’s a good observation, Mac, but it reminds me a lot of the entry on Steve Sax in Bill James’ Historical Baseball Abstract.
Woops. SOrry for the double post.