Alex Rodriguez would be a disappointment to Yankee fans if he had never used performance-enhancing drugs. Nothing enhanced his post-season play for the Yankees. That he was caught using drugs twice, lied about using them and still was a huge October disappointment makes him really unique among disappointing Yankees.
Don Mattingly made the post-season only in his final year with the Yankees and never delivered a championship. Yankee fans revere him. Dave Winfield was a horrific 1-for-22 in his only Yankee World Series, but fans have forgiven him. Bobby Murcer and Mel Stottlemyre also became fan favorites without winning rings (though Stottlemyre made it to the World Series his rookie year and pitched well in head-to-head match-ups against Bob Gibson).
A-Rod actually won a ring, putting him ahead of those Yankees (but behind dozens of Yankee stars of various eras).
None of the Yankee busts disappointed on the scale that A-Rod did — not in-their-prime free agents who tanked under New York pressure (think Steve Kemp, Ed Whitson and Carl Pavano) and not aging stars who didn’t have one more great season left for the Yankees (think Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson). The free agent busts and lopsided trades just kind of blur together. But A-Rod stands out as the biggest disappointment in Yankee history.
I didn’t blog about his suspension last year or about the various discussions of his return this year or about his appearance at spring training or his stupid hand-written apology to fans. I guess that I was hoping he would just retire, rather than make us watch how far he had declined after a year off. I mean, how much money does one person need?
But it’s Opening Day and he’s back, so I’m posting this piece that’s been in the works for more than year, about A-Rod and why he’s been such a disappointment to the Yankees and Yankee fans. Read the rest of this entry »
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