July 2, 2008
by Jason@IIATMS
It’s an exhibition, friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
Would it be nice if A-Rod wanted to compete in the HR Derby during the All-Star break? Yeah. But the fact that he doesn’t is totally fine with me. He wants to stay focused on the real task at hand: helping lift the team to the playoffs, which seems a real stretch at this point. He doesn’t want to mess with his swing.
“I try to stay away from that,” Rodriguez said, according to the New York Daily News. “My responsibility is to the New York Yankees. I need my swing to be at its best.”
Remember who won the Derby last year (try it without cheating*)? Remember how badly the Derby affected Abreu and David Wright. Each suffered the 2nd half of the year after participating. Besides, if there’s a player on the Yanks with a HR Derby-tailored swing, it’s Giambi, not ARod. Let Giambi see if he can hack a few into the short porch. What, like he can screw up that swing? It’s ugly but it’s perfect for a HR Derby, since that’s how he swings normally!
ARod’s going to be the starting 3B in the actual game, a quasi-exhibition. We can celebrate him then, during the game. The Yanks need him at his sharpest if he is going to hoist them on his back and lead them back into the fray.
Besides, he can spend the night with Madonna. Ewwww. Man arms and old-lady claws. Canseco. Rodman. gaaak!
July 1, 2008
by Jason@IIATMS
A quick story from last night…
I’m watching the Rangers/Yanks game last night with my boys, ages 8 and 5. They pan in closely to the back of Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s jersey. I said “Look how his name wraps around the top of the jersey. He’s got the longest name in the game with 14 letters” just before Michael Kay does the same thing. Naturally, the boys looked at me like I am some wizard. (I love that!)
A minute or so goes by and my older son turns to me and says “what about Doug Mientkiewicz*? Or Mark Grudzielanek*?” Smart ass. I spelled ‘em both wrong to him, naturally, though I was close. Who knew he even knew who these guys were? He’s eight! If he pulled out John Van Benschoten, I would have passed out.
*Yes, I had to check the spelling to make sure I had it right here.
July 1, 2008
by Jason@IIATMS
My apologies for the lack of postings the last day and a half. I’m in the midst of a very busy time at work. I will have some free time tonite so I’ll be back at it. Thanks for coming by and the kind words about the Rasner interview. I’ll try to get some other interviews over the coming weeks.
