Matt39
06-12-2006, 09:46 PM
TIME TO FACE FACTS: A-ROD SIMPLY DOESN'T HAVE 'IT'
June 12, 2006 -- TOM Brady and Adam Vinatieri have IT. Peyton Manning and Mike Vanderjagt don't.
You don't have to be one of the greatest players to have IT. Sam Cassell, for example, has IT and so does Robert Horry. Meanwhile, Patrick Ewing most definitely did not, and Stephon Marbury would not know IT if IT hit him upside the skull.
David Ortiz, as if he needed to prove the point any more, showed again yesterday at Fenway Park that he is a master of IT with a two-out, three-run, ninth-inning walkoff homer to lift Boston to a 5-4 victory. Meanwhile, 200 miles away, Alex Rodriguez once more was the Big un-It.
Rodriguez was hardly the lone culprit in a 6-5 Oakland victory that completed a three-game Bronx sweep. Kyle Farnsworth gave more evidence that he has a 98 mph fastball, but not a drop of IT. Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera ran into each other to create an inside-the-park homer for Nick Swisher. And the Yanks failed to fully capitalize on seven walks by Barry Zito as the buzz around Andy Phillips and Melky Cabrera (0-for-7 combined) faded some more.
But how do you ignore that with the other three main run producers - Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield - sidelined due to injury, Rodriguez again was asked to do more and offered less? He was hitless in three at-bats and had a damaging throwing miscue, his 11th error already in 2006 (he had 12 last year). The 54,570 in attendance did not ignore what was occurring, intensifying boos with each A-Rod failure; with each moment at which he could again not exhib-IT.
This is not a subject I tackle with naivete. We live in an era of advanced statistical analysis and, en masse, that group would tell me - is probably writing e-mails to tell me - there is no such thing as clutch or non-clutch, and that qualities such as IT are media-generated hogwash. I take the research seriously and, I agree, intangible qualities have been thrown around far too much in baseball coverage. But how do you disregard your eyes completely? How do you ignore that at the most intense moments Rodriguez seems to be carrying his 32-ounce bat and the weight of the world into each at-bat?
Joe Torre used the word "pressing." Rodriguez, as always, slapped that away, saying, "I feel very comfortable and confident." What else can he say? To admit otherwise is to concede the Kryptonite to his skills. Rodriguez is always the most talented player on the field. Unfortunately, for him, he detracts from the talent by thinking too much. He is too conscious of all that is around him.
His failures are not about indifference. Alex Rodriguez cares. But too much of that caring is about justifying his contract and place on the Yankees. He so badly wants to swat away the choker label that he is exacerbating the problem. A-Rod would be better off being dumb, instead of being as smart as he is. You will find teammates who say A-Rod tries too hard to be perfect and ends up letting hittable pitches go because he is trying to think along with the pitchers rather than simply using his great reactions. He is making less of more.
The players who have IT are best at living in the moment, eliminating the distractions, the history and the pressure. They do not overthink. They do not always succeed. But they do not fail by tripping over their brains. It is just about their skill. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have faltered in the clutch, but they are IT guys because they do not care what the fans or media think. A-Rod says he doesn't. But he does.
That doesn't make him a bad guy and certainly does not make him a bad player. Rodriguez, after all, has too much skill not to accumulate historic stats and succeed in some big spots. But he should be dominating the big moments more. Maybe he will eventually. John Elway and Phil Mickelson shed uncomfortable labels along the way. More than ever, the Yanks need A-Rod to do the same, to become the Big It.
June 12, 2006 -- TOM Brady and Adam Vinatieri have IT. Peyton Manning and Mike Vanderjagt don't.
You don't have to be one of the greatest players to have IT. Sam Cassell, for example, has IT and so does Robert Horry. Meanwhile, Patrick Ewing most definitely did not, and Stephon Marbury would not know IT if IT hit him upside the skull.
David Ortiz, as if he needed to prove the point any more, showed again yesterday at Fenway Park that he is a master of IT with a two-out, three-run, ninth-inning walkoff homer to lift Boston to a 5-4 victory. Meanwhile, 200 miles away, Alex Rodriguez once more was the Big un-It.
Rodriguez was hardly the lone culprit in a 6-5 Oakland victory that completed a three-game Bronx sweep. Kyle Farnsworth gave more evidence that he has a 98 mph fastball, but not a drop of IT. Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera ran into each other to create an inside-the-park homer for Nick Swisher. And the Yanks failed to fully capitalize on seven walks by Barry Zito as the buzz around Andy Phillips and Melky Cabrera (0-for-7 combined) faded some more.
But how do you ignore that with the other three main run producers - Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield - sidelined due to injury, Rodriguez again was asked to do more and offered less? He was hitless in three at-bats and had a damaging throwing miscue, his 11th error already in 2006 (he had 12 last year). The 54,570 in attendance did not ignore what was occurring, intensifying boos with each A-Rod failure; with each moment at which he could again not exhib-IT.
This is not a subject I tackle with naivete. We live in an era of advanced statistical analysis and, en masse, that group would tell me - is probably writing e-mails to tell me - there is no such thing as clutch or non-clutch, and that qualities such as IT are media-generated hogwash. I take the research seriously and, I agree, intangible qualities have been thrown around far too much in baseball coverage. But how do you disregard your eyes completely? How do you ignore that at the most intense moments Rodriguez seems to be carrying his 32-ounce bat and the weight of the world into each at-bat?
Joe Torre used the word "pressing." Rodriguez, as always, slapped that away, saying, "I feel very comfortable and confident." What else can he say? To admit otherwise is to concede the Kryptonite to his skills. Rodriguez is always the most talented player on the field. Unfortunately, for him, he detracts from the talent by thinking too much. He is too conscious of all that is around him.
His failures are not about indifference. Alex Rodriguez cares. But too much of that caring is about justifying his contract and place on the Yankees. He so badly wants to swat away the choker label that he is exacerbating the problem. A-Rod would be better off being dumb, instead of being as smart as he is. You will find teammates who say A-Rod tries too hard to be perfect and ends up letting hittable pitches go because he is trying to think along with the pitchers rather than simply using his great reactions. He is making less of more.
The players who have IT are best at living in the moment, eliminating the distractions, the history and the pressure. They do not overthink. They do not always succeed. But they do not fail by tripping over their brains. It is just about their skill. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have faltered in the clutch, but they are IT guys because they do not care what the fans or media think. A-Rod says he doesn't. But he does.
That doesn't make him a bad guy and certainly does not make him a bad player. Rodriguez, after all, has too much skill not to accumulate historic stats and succeed in some big spots. But he should be dominating the big moments more. Maybe he will eventually. John Elway and Phil Mickelson shed uncomfortable labels along the way. More than ever, the Yanks need A-Rod to do the same, to become the Big It.