A-Rod’s resurgence has been one of the best stories of the season
Now that he’s become the 29th player in MLB history to reach 3,000 hits, let’s take a moment to talk about New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez. To some, he is baseball’s greatest monster. To others, he is history’s greatest monster.
To Yankees’ fans, he’s turned into something else entirely. Coming off a scandal of epic proportions, the local fans have embraced A-Rod this season.
That appreciation shouldn’t just apply to the people of New York, though. What Rodriguez has been able to accomplish this year has been amazing, and all fans should be embracing his resurgence.
Given his past, that may be difficult for some fans. As John Schmeelk of CBS New York wrote recently, history doesn’t reflect well on players who used performance-enhancing drugs.
I ask Yankees fans to think back to what they thought of San Francisco Giants fans as they cheered Barry Bonds with virtual blindfolds over their eyes. Think of how ridiculous Cardinals fans looked as they bought into McGwire’s claim of innocence. Don’t be like those fans. Everyone else around baseball is laughing at you.
Was that really the case, though? Schmeelk seems to be looking at the situation through tainted glasses. Opposing fans could probably care less about whether the Giants’ fans loved Bonds, and everyone just wanted to see McGwire sock a few dingers during his great home-run chase.
Sure, there was hatred of these players at one time, but it’s not as evident now. McGwire works in the game, and his former drug use barely comes up anymore. Bonds still invokes fiery opinions, but he’s been away from baseball long enough that some of that has mellowed. The Giants even considered hiring Bonds to work for the team.
Lost in all of this is the fact that the fans embraced those players because they were performing at a high level. Rodriguez has absolutely done that this season. Rodriguez has hit .278/.384/.505, with 12 home runs, through 62 games.
His .383 wOBA indicates that Rodriguez is having his best season since 2009. By WAR, he’s been the second best hitter on the Yankees this year, behind Mark Teixeira.
On top of those numbers, Rodriguez has also reached some statistical milestones. He notched his 660th career home run earlier in the year, tying Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. He also picked up the 2,000th RBI of his career a few weeks later.
The Yankees entered the season with plenty of questions, causing many to wonder whether they could contend in the tight American League East. At 36-30, the team has already proved many analysts wrong, and A-Rod has been a big part of that. Of course the fans are going to cheer for him.
Lost in all of this is the fact that Rodriguez is producing at such a high level despite his age. Rodriguez is 39-years-old, an age where most baseball players spend every day playing golf. Only the all-time greats are still in the league at age-39, and it’s a testament to Rodriguez’s talent that he’s still capable to producing at a high level.
That production will undoubtedly cause people to scream “STEROIDS,” because that’s the nature of being a fan these days. If we assume Rodriguez is truly clean right now, what he’s doing is absolutely incredible. But let’s say he’s still using performance-enhancing drugs right now. Remember, he never tested positive during the Biogenesis scandal, so this scenario is conceivable. Even if that’s the case, should it diminish his performance?
Nope. Even if we look at players during the height of the steroid era, few were able to put up these stats at age-39. You can argue steroids massively inflated players’ numbers, but those players were still subject to Father Time. Only the once-in-a-generation-type talents play and produce at age-39. Steroids may have helped players, but they don’t help this much. With or without steroids, A-Rod is still one of the most talented players to ever step foot on a baseball field.
Having that much talent means something. While you might hate A-Rod now, he’s the player you’ll reminisce about in the future. Let’s face it, you aren’t going to tell your grandkids about the time David Eckstein hit two singles and “played the game the right way,” you’re going to tell them about the year A-Rod went 40-40, or the time he hit 57 home runs. You’ll make sure to tell them Rodriguez cheated, stress that cheating is bad, and that will be the end of it.
In other words, supreme talent outweighs past mistakes. We don’t discount Ty Cobb’s numbers because he was a terrible person and we don’t diminish what Pete Rose accomplished even though he broke baseball’s cardinal rule.
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What we’re seeing from A-Rod this season is truly remarkable. A former superstar has reasserted himself as one of the all-time greats at an age where 98 percent of players are out of the league.
If you can’t appreciate what Rodriguez is doing now, maybe fans should be laughing at you.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
