As a baseball fan, this July has been unbelievable to watch. The lucrative, storied and popular New York Yankees is struggling with a major attitude problem on the home front. One of the league’s classiest players has also become one of the most selfish and immature players. Observing the 2013 New York Yankees can show anyone involved in baseball and sports how not to act.
Does 10 years and $275 million sound familiar? That’s Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s current contract, and as Rodriguez enters his ninth season in pinstripes (six seasons into his current contract) he has been up to standards in the regular season while hitting absolutely shoddily in the post-season. Rodriguez has hit .292 yet has compiled 1,366 hits, 302 homeruns and 960 RBIs as a Yankee. His numbers are impressive, for he is supremely talented, but the Steinbrenner family paid him such a gargantuan sum to solidify the Yankee lineup as unbeatable in the postseason. A liability in the postseason though, Rodriguez’s performance and his numbers do not justify the investment the Yankees made in him. So you can bet Ole’ George is rolling over and grumbling in his grave. Most notably though, Rodriguez has been a liability to the chemistry and flow of the Yankee team.
On Sunday, July 21, Rodriguez was diagnosed by Yankee team physician Christopher Ahmad with a Grade 1 strain in his left quadriceps. Ahmad did not clear Rodriguez as game-ready. Confirmed by multiple sources, Rodriguez clandestinely sought out further examination by another doctor, Michael Gross, who has no relation to the Yankee organization. Gross claimed he observed no injury. In a ridiculous assessment, Gross remarked that Rodriguez must be uninjured because he doesn’t feel any pain. (What?) Thus, Gross cleared Rodriguez to play.
Rodriguez’s course of action brings up a whole heap of issues that reinforce his detriment to the Yankees. According to Article 10 of the MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), players may not seek alternative doctors for assessment and treatment unless they clear this mode of action with their team’s front office before any outside communication ensues. Otherwise, they must abide by the team’s physician. Strike one.
Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, publically criticized Rodriguez for the second time this month — clearly Rodriguez is causing internal issues serious enough to push Cashman to take his organization’s issues public. Strike two.
Before the conflicting diagnoses on Rodriguez occurred, Cashman sent Rodriguez to the Yankees minor league system on July 12 as part of his rehabilitation. When Cashman scheduled Rodriguez to travel from Florida to Buffalo to play for the Yankees triple-A Scranton team, Rodriguez complained of “tightness and stiffness” in his left quadriceps even though he has discreetly sought out a doctor that would clear him to rejoin the big league club and even though he has, on multiple occasions during the snafu, said he’s “felt great”. To make things more interesting, the weather forecast in Buffalo was ironically sub-par with rain and high wind on the days Rodriguez was to report. Oops. No explanation needed. Strike three looking.
Clearly, Rodriguez is selfish, cocky and doesn’t respect the standard processes of Major League Baseball or his own club and what they ask of him. He doesn’t listen to his boss (Cashman) even when he does his best to get him back into the Yankee lineup. I think Rodriguez should start watching Mariano Rivera more often — numbers aside, Rivera is and will always be one of baseball’s best representatives on and off the field. I don’t understand how someone could expect to be liked when they go about their profession — and their lives — in such an immature, disrespectful, selfish fashion. And to think the Red Sox almost picked him up in 2008.
This article serves one purpose: to call out another case of high-profile talent “big-leaguing” the system. Rodriguez has continued to aggravate the Yankee front office, has continued to disrespect Commissioner Selig’s regulations and continues to misrepresent what baseball is all about. That’s why it’s worth my time to call him out. He chronically distorts the beauty of baseball and we need to keep our eye on the goodness of the game — respect, class, hidden strategy and how one swing of the bat can change any game. And we need to keep our eyes on the players that exude the aforementioned qualities of baseball.
(Note: This is not me being a Masshole Red Sox fan shredding Rodriguez just because he’s on the Yankees.)