Alex Rodriguez is the best 3rd baseman in baseball today--NY Times, Tyler Kepner, 3/11/07

Says Kepner, "the greatest third baseman in baseball history (Mike Schmidt) can reflect on his career as a cautionary tale for the greatest third baseman of today (referencing Alex Rodriguez)." Kepner: "Mike Schmidt won multiple Most Valuable Player awards, home run titles and Gold Gloves in his career, just as Alex Rodriguez has done in his. Each had an unquestioned work ethic and a spotless off-the-field reputation. Yet they struggled to win over their home fans."

• The thesis of Kepner's article is to relate the supposedly mysterious lack of fan love for Mike Schmidt to the same situation for Arod. Kepner breaks no new ground, just goes round and round the sensitivity issues and incredibly TO ME uses the phrase "PERCEIVED LACK OF CLUTCH HITS." "PERCEIVED?" Reality. Check 'Close and Late.'

• REASON #1 IS PERFORMANCE. STOP FEEDING US THE STANDARD TOTAL SEASON NUMBERS. THERE ARE OTHER STATS THAT TELL THE STORY.

• REASON #2-HE'S TOO MUCH TROUBLE AND HAS SAID THINGS TO UNDERMINE HIS MANAGER TO THE PRESS. WHY DON'T YOU GUYS EVER BRING THAT UP, KEPNER? NO REAL TEAM PLAYER WOULD DO A THING LIKE THAT YET HE DOES SO EASILY AND PUBLICLY.

• REASON #3 WHICH COULD ALSO BE REASON #1--IT'S OBVIOUS--AROD HIRED SCOTT BORAS, WHO GOT A TEAM TO PAY MANY MILLIONS MORE THAN IT HAD TO. THEN THE PLAYER, AROD, DECIDED HE DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY FOR THAT TEAM, THE TEXAS RANGERS. BUT HE WAS MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY FOR MANY TEAMS. HE WAS DESPERATE, SO EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO SHORTSTOP POSITION OPEN ON THE YANKEES, HE SAID HE'D PLAY FOR THEM. 3B WAS AVAILABLE & HE ACCEPTED THAT. END OF STORY.

But Kepner had to write the same old stuff about Arod, which ignores the above facts. Also, ENOUGH WITH THE PUMPING THE MVP AWARDS AS A REASON FANS SHOULD LIKE HIM.

• HIS AGENT PUT EXTENSIVE LANGUAGE IN HIS CONTRACT ADDING SALARY BONUSES FOR A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT BBWAA POST SEASON AWARDS. THESE AWARDS ARE DEMONSTRABLY INVALID AND MEANINGLESS WHICH I'LL SUBSTANTIATE IF YOU'D LIKE. MANY PAPERS LIKE YOUR OWN (THE NY TIMES) NO LONGER ALLOW THEIR EMPLOYEES TO VOTE IN THESE AWARDS DUE TO ETHICS CONCERNS. THE REMAINING VOTERS ARE DESPERATELY AFRAID THE AWARDS ARE IN JEOPARDY, SO DON'T YOU THINK THEY'D LIKE TO VOTE FOR A PLAYER WHO PROPS UP THEIR JOKE OF A SYSTEM LENDING IT UNDUE IMPORTANCE BY MAKING ITS ACTIONS TRIGGER SALARY INCENTIVES?

I'm not arguing about Arod myself, just trying to POINT OUT THE BASEBALL MEDIA WANTS YOU TO THINK A CERTAIN WAY AND THEY ARE WRONG--THEIR ARGUMENT IS WRONG. If you accept my 3 reasons above, you can let go of the whole issue and move on to more important topics.

• Article referenced from the NY Times by Tyler Kepner, 3/11/07, "How to Appeal to Baseball Fans? Advice, Don't Try" The Times takes cookies.

Tweet Stumbleupon StumbleUpon