People Who Think People Who Blame A-Rod are Idiots are Idiots

What I'm trying to say in that convoluted title up there is that the contrarian position is not always the right one. Despite what this article and other blogs and experts are saying today to prove their intelligence over the drooling masses Last night, A-rod by all definitions sucked. Whether this was due to nagging effects from his multitude of injuries this season (read: after effects of steroids use) or just his usual postseason suckiness, the fact remains that Alex Rodriguez shit the bed this ALDS. Much like he did in 05, 06, 07 and every season besides the 09 run when I'm convinced that either A-Rod was hypnotized by Kate Hudson's magical vagina or he upped his steroids dosage. Yes, Girardi's overmanaging style was again partly to blame and there was a whole list of other players who were awful this series, but a great deal of the blame falls on A-Rod's broad, useless shoulders. That might be unfair to judge him because of his contract and celebrity status, but there's a reason he garners all that attention and money: he's a supremely talented player who's put up monstrous career numbers. We expect great things out of him in the playoffs and the guy just hasn't produced in the big spots outside of that one season. Break down all the sabermetrics you want, debate the existence of "clutch", however you look at it he's failed in big moments. I nicknamed him "smoke break" a couple years ago because once he came up to bat you knew that you weren't going to miss anything if you stepped out for a Newport. Obviously baseball is a team sport and more than any other sport the final score relies on factors that an individual can't control like pitching and defense that one player can't overcome. I understand that, Joe Posnanski. But if we give out MVP awards (of which A-Rod's won a couple) based partly on team success, then the individual should also take some heat when the team is unsuccessful.

Yankees' playoff series always seem to end with A-Rod striking out, and this is because they actually do end that way more often than not. Sportscenter ran a graphic about all of the past playoff series that have ended with Rodriguez at the plate. Last night was no different as he struck out swinging in every big moment last night and the one time he was on base he failed to score despite what looked like a deep enough base hit to drive in a run (Rob Thomson held him up there and he seemed to be laboring a little while running so he gets a pass I suppose). But this doesn't excuse the rest of the series when he got precisely zero hits besides one when the game was already out of reach on Tuesday. Even the Tigers were cracking jokes.

So obviously the entire team is to blame (not to mention there is another team that is playing, wants to win and doesn't know that we have to win the World Series every year). I understand an article or blog post that says "A Rod sucks" isn't all that interesting and But, let us vent some frustration on the most famous player on the team and the one who we have signed for an astronomical price for the next 6 years of our lives. He was not good. In fact, he sucked. And I don't feel like an idiot for saying that.