A-Rod, and Old-Timey Base Ball...
Alex Roderiguez is once again in the spotlight...and I don't mean for the blond woman he was seen with in Toronto, I mean for that play in which he startled a Blue Jays player by yelling "hah!" to him as he was trying to catch a high pop-up. The Blue Jays player allegedly thought it was his teamate calling for the ball, and backed off, letting the ball drop and eventually allowing the Yankees to score three runs. The Blue Jays player, and the fans, and many people in major league baseball, have been debating whether or not A-Rod "did something wrong." Well, I've got a word or two for anyone--ANYONE--who is even debating this play for a minute; GROW UP.
This is professional sport! This is not a Miss Manner's tea party, where we all dress up and lift our pinkies when we drink and act courteous and proper to each other! This is a game where the finest physical specimens in the world play on a dirt field wielding wooden bats, metal spikes, and hurl rock-hard objects at each other at 9o miles per hour! Granted, they now wear white tights and play on artificial grass sometimes...but this is a tough job! And when you are losing as much as the Yankees are, its not a fun job, and those guys are out for blood. In the world of pro sport, men do whatever they can to disrupt their opponent's concentration, his confidence, his composure. Wherever they can gain an advantage, they go for it. In that sense, A-Rod acted quickly and made a clever move that allowed his struggling team to win. (Actually, by his own admission, A-Rod didn't even think much about it! But it apparently shook up Toronto enough for them to blow the game.)
A-Rod should be credited for this play, for it harkens back to a time when baseball players had to use their wits and not just their braun. In those days, A-Rod's play would have been the absolute least of the vile tricks people played on each other. His teammates probably would have razzed him for NOT yelling something at the Blue Jays player. Just to cite an easy example, you could write a fair-sized book on the tricks Ty Cobb did to players on his OWN TEAM that he didn't like. What A-Rod did was Good Old-Timey Base Ball...
Even today, runners slide into the legs of second basemen to keep them from getting double plays, infielders chatter at batters, players in the dugout yell at opposing players trying to catch foul balls. What will the game become if distraction is condemned as a means of gaining an advantage? Are we to pretend that this or any pro sport is contested in a jovial, good-natured, "Sorry, old chap!" type of manner? No! This is not your Thanksgiving game of touch-football! Granted, good sportsmanship is a great and noble quality, but after the play. But when the play is on, whatever the rules do not specifically prohibit, they permit.
That's my thought on this whole nauseating debate. Few people have even come out in support of A-Rod, which surprises me. They are all saying things like, "Well, I don't know, maybe he shouldna done it, I mean I don't know if I woulda done it, but..." It seems like nobody has any guts anymore, and the people who do have guts inevitably step on somebody's toes. It would be refreshing if somebody take some responsibility for the fact that this game, this world, can be a bit cutt-throat. The great players are the ones who can keep their composure, who can get rattled and bounce back, who can be a bit cutthroat when the situation demands. Now, Roderiguez has been known to blow a few clutch situations, but he keeps coming back, and week-in, week-out, year-in, year-out, he does what he does with style and with competitiveness. But, maybe that's why A-Rod is destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Toronto thirdbaseman is...what was his name, anyway?
This is professional sport! This is not a Miss Manner's tea party, where we all dress up and lift our pinkies when we drink and act courteous and proper to each other! This is a game where the finest physical specimens in the world play on a dirt field wielding wooden bats, metal spikes, and hurl rock-hard objects at each other at 9o miles per hour! Granted, they now wear white tights and play on artificial grass sometimes...but this is a tough job! And when you are losing as much as the Yankees are, its not a fun job, and those guys are out for blood. In the world of pro sport, men do whatever they can to disrupt their opponent's concentration, his confidence, his composure. Wherever they can gain an advantage, they go for it. In that sense, A-Rod acted quickly and made a clever move that allowed his struggling team to win. (Actually, by his own admission, A-Rod didn't even think much about it! But it apparently shook up Toronto enough for them to blow the game.)
A-Rod should be credited for this play, for it harkens back to a time when baseball players had to use their wits and not just their braun. In those days, A-Rod's play would have been the absolute least of the vile tricks people played on each other. His teammates probably would have razzed him for NOT yelling something at the Blue Jays player. Just to cite an easy example, you could write a fair-sized book on the tricks Ty Cobb did to players on his OWN TEAM that he didn't like. What A-Rod did was Good Old-Timey Base Ball...
Even today, runners slide into the legs of second basemen to keep them from getting double plays, infielders chatter at batters, players in the dugout yell at opposing players trying to catch foul balls. What will the game become if distraction is condemned as a means of gaining an advantage? Are we to pretend that this or any pro sport is contested in a jovial, good-natured, "Sorry, old chap!" type of manner? No! This is not your Thanksgiving game of touch-football! Granted, good sportsmanship is a great and noble quality, but after the play. But when the play is on, whatever the rules do not specifically prohibit, they permit.
That's my thought on this whole nauseating debate. Few people have even come out in support of A-Rod, which surprises me. They are all saying things like, "Well, I don't know, maybe he shouldna done it, I mean I don't know if I woulda done it, but..." It seems like nobody has any guts anymore, and the people who do have guts inevitably step on somebody's toes. It would be refreshing if somebody take some responsibility for the fact that this game, this world, can be a bit cutt-throat. The great players are the ones who can keep their composure, who can get rattled and bounce back, who can be a bit cutthroat when the situation demands. Now, Roderiguez has been known to blow a few clutch situations, but he keeps coming back, and week-in, week-out, year-in, year-out, he does what he does with style and with competitiveness. But, maybe that's why A-Rod is destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Toronto thirdbaseman is...what was his name, anyway?
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