Saturday, August 15, 2009

Alex Rodriguez has turned a corner



















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When you think of all Alex Rodriguez has had to go through in his years as a pinstripe its amazing that he has not had a nervous breakdown. We are talking about possibly the most talented player to ever step on a baseball field.

He has still failed to put up a decent playoff series since the 2004 division series against the Minnesota Twins where he was 8 for 19 which gave him a solid .421 batting average with a home run and 3 RBIS.

Since that point in the playoffs Alex has doomed his way into crushing defeats and poor performances in the clutch failing to come through for consecutive years. In 2004 you cannot put all the blame on him as they lost a 3-0 lead in that series to lose four straight games there is no excuse for that and there is no way you can put that on one player.

Then in 2005 when he got up in the final game 9th inning with a man on and grounded into a double play against at the type the Angels Francisco Rodriguez who signed with the New York Mets this past off-season.

Alex got a hanging breaking ball that he normally would have hit into another area code but he topped it trying to do too much. The thing that hurt about that inning was everyone had come up to the plate and hit the ball hard with the exception of Alex.

2006 is a year I think you have to not even mention in so many words because the only word that can come to mind when you think of what Alex did in the 06 series against the Detroit Tigers is pathetic.

It was the worst series I have ever even seen him have at least in the 05 series against the Angels he was working walks getting on base, but in 06 the guy might as well have stayed home for that playoff series.

In 2007 what else can you say about the way he came back determined to make things happen for the Bronx Bombers with a new attitude ready to rock n roll. During the 2007 regular season Alex was as good as I have seen any player at any sport it felt like every time you turned on the Yankees he would hit a walk off home run.

The part of the season that would be tough would the playoffs which they ended up losing as Alex once again failed to perform in the post-season. He was 4 for 15 that series regardless of that being better than previous years for a player like Alex Rodriguez that is terrible.

2008 a year of all year long injuries for the whole team that left an unbelievable weight on Alex's shoulders to carry the team on his back as he just couldn't come through in big spots. Part of the reason was having Jason Giambi hitting in front of you how are you going to see better pitches?

Pitchers would go all out on Alex because he was getting no protection from guys who were supposed to be key players. The Yankees failed to make the playoffs as they were left with decisions to be made and which big name would start at the new Yankee Stadium in 2009.

This season Alex Rodriguez started out by having hip surgery and spent a long amount of time on the disabled list as the Yankees looked to be on to the same disappointing season that New York fans were starting to dread.

All of a sudden when it seems like it can't get any worse Alex comes back and boom hits a three run home run his first at bat back which had Yankee fans looking up.

However after that he struggled for a little bit but since that he has found his groove as the Yankees are looking to be the top team in the AL East this year. Rodriguez has been hitting big home runs all season and driving in key runs.

Last night he sat out due to being hit by a pinch the other night but don't look for that to be the same story today as Alex Rodriguez looks to further his legacy into the record books as one of the greatest players ever.

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