I thought Rodriguez was perfect in his interview. He was as real as you can get. He answered every question perfectly, with honesty and with respect.
Joel Sherman -- the greatest acting straight man -- try to go hard after A-Rod (no pun intended) when he asked Rodriguez:
"Do you think anything else is going on here besides you're not hitting against righties, and they think the best alternative is to play (Eric) Chavez or other guys instead of you."
Rodriguez respondes:
"I don't want to speculate -- I mean, Joel, you know I've played this game for a long time and the bottom line is anytime I'm in any lineup I think that lineup is better and a better chance to win no matter -- I don't care if it's an All-Star game, I feel I can bring that type of impact and I'm also at any point ready to break through anytime I'm in the box; the game can change and everyone knows that.
I thought my at-bats in some of those games got a little better; the last hits, I hit two rockets"
That's what you want to hear if you're a Yankee fan. A-Rod is absolutely right; he can change the game with one swing. And it's a shame that he still has this confidence in him, and the Yankees don't want to use him.
I feel bad for him; I know people will say: 'No, you shouldn't because he's making $30 million' -- yea, but he's human. He's not a bad person. Some people forget 2009 like it's 1999, you know. Yankees still don't have a World Series since 2000, if it wasn't for him.
It's such a tough situation to deal with and to do this to someone. I understand the Yankees in what they have to do, but they're totally panicking themselves. If A-Rod's hit ball goes by Johnny Peralta in that 1st inning in Game 1, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
The fans booing and the media making up stuff, ruined it for A-Rod. Every at-bat he has, he must feel the millions of eyes on top of him. That's uncomfortable. Nobody in baseball as that type of pressure. It's not normal.
The whole situation with him giving his or wanting that model's phone number, wasn't right. I admit, he shouldn't have done that. Especially when you aren't hitting and your team is losing.
Fans would call him: "Selfish, arrogant, a me-guy" -- I don't think so. He's very much a team player. He's always helping out the young guys, like Robinson Cano, Eduardo Nunez, Brett Gardner -- if anything, he's just stupid. He's an idiot. A-Rod is a superstar, but thinks like the average dude. Everyone wants him to act and talk like a Derek Jeter, but he's not.
Does he want to leave New York: I think he may feel his time is up, although, he knows once he leaves he's not going to a team that's like the Yankees. I'll be no more playoffs, no more New York City, no more 40-40 club, no more hot chicks (because NYC has the best looking women in the world). That's all over. That's gonna hurt him once, or if, he leaves.
With Game 4 being rained out, maybe it's a sign for Joe Girardi to think about it some more and puts A-Rod in the lineup.
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