Watching him right now on the postgame show on YES-the Yankees network. He's talking about hitting 660.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/05/01/alex-rodriguez-home-run-660-willie-mays/26432133/
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/alex-rodriguez-hits-home-run-no-660-tying-willie-mays-article-1.2207425
https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/new-york-yankees-boston-red-sox-350501102/
I can listen to him for a few reasons.
1. His pinch hit home run in the top of the 8th-his first career pinch hit hr surprisingly-is number 660.
2. It was at Fenway Park and led to the Yanks win over the Bosox. Which was the perfect way for this to go down for me.
In theory it would have been better if he did it at Yankee Stadium in front of the hometown fans. The trouble is that the Yankee management has ruined it by refusing to recognize his accomplishment.
True the fans would have enjoyed it-as unlike the phony Mike Lupica NY baseball media, the fans are totally behind A-Rod.
So for all these reasons I ate up his postgame comments, but in addition, he's just a great interview. Not only is he one of the greatest sluggers ever-and totally belongs in the Hall of Fame no less than Mays, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, etc-but he must be one of the best interviews in league history.
Listening to his soaring rhetoric I want to vote him for public office. That's just me, I know, but he really does sound like a politician-I'm unusual in that for me to say someone is like a politician is a compliment.
As I explained in a previous post: I am the world's biggest A-Rod fan, but I'm not a fan of Marshawn Lynch-as Lynch is not a fan of me or other football fans at least in America-other than his old neighborhood in Oakland.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-rod-vs-marshawn-lynch-what-i-admire.html
Everything I don't like about Lynch I like in A-Rod.
P.S. The first day of the draft was rather anti-climatic as the Titans went ahead and took Marriota after all.
There are all kinds of theories out there-one is that the coach didn't want Marriota but had his arm twisted by ownership. Here is another theory: Andy Reid talked Whisenhunt into taking him-or at least Reid's advice helped solidify his decision.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000489642/article/andy-reid-solidified-titans-decision-to-keep-mariota
Whisenhunt didn't initially like the idea of Mariotta but was turned around:
"After spending time with Mariota at Oregon's pro day, Whisenhunt realized the perceptions of Mariota as a runner or "system quarterback" simply weren't true."
It seems to me they made the right pick-I really like Mariota too based on what I saw when he did Jon Gruden the day before the draft. Yes, that he's such a great kid factors into it: just like you have to wonder a bit about Winston. I don't think that attitude and character are meaningless variables in making this decision. Not to say Winston won't be good-and I thought he spoke well for himself in February.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/02/jameis-winston-addresses-columbine.html
So if the Titans disappointed by having no trade in the first round, I sure wasn't disappointed by their trade to start the second tonight as my Giants got perhaps the best safety in the draft.
http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Experts-grade-Giants-draft-pick-Safety-Landon-Collins/c8054579-75d4-4571-969c-55e5199dc4bb
P.S.S, I'll say this-Willie Mayes is a classy guy. If the phonies in the media and the Yankees front office won't recognize A-Rod's milestone, Mays has no problem doing it.
http://nbcbayarea.csnbayarea.com/giants/mays-congratulates-rod-milestones-meant-be-broken
As Mays says, records are meant to be broken. However, baseball has always been very bad at accepting this. Everyone is as Bill James puts it 'spitting on A-Rod's shoes to protect Willie Mays' honor' but it's forgotten that the Very Serious people in the baseball media once did the same thing to Mays in honor of Babe Ruth-and Maris in honor of Ruth. Now they do the same to McGwire in honor of Maris.
This is a big part of it: the old men of baseball never like to see the heros of their own youth eclipsed. If I'm right, then the whole furor over steroids in a respite for the grandfathers of baseball as they can claim that none of the records really count.
This is the schizophrenic way baseball has chosen to deal with the steroid question-the hrs hit by A-Rod, Bonds, and McGwire all count but everyone in in a conspiracy to pretend they don't and that these guys never played the game.
The Bill Maddens of the world have to pretend to themselves and to us-unfortunately they decide who's in the Hall of Fame solely; in my view, their influence on this vote should at least be tempered by a fan and a player vote along side the writers-that only these small handful of players did steroids and everyone else never touched anything-if they avoided being named in Anthony Bosch's notebook for Biogenesis scandal, or no one took the trouble to leak their name to the press on that allegedly anonymous drug test from 2004, or weren't involved with Balco as Bonds was.
UPDATE:
P.S.S.S. The truth is that the Yankees claim that they don't have to pay A-Rod his $6 million for hitting 660-please don't argue that he doesn't need the $6 million unless you can show me that the Yankees do-couldn't be more specious.
They claim that because of the furor over steroids his milestone is no longer a 'marketable event.' I think that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. They have chosen not to market it but does this mean they couldn't have done so if they had wanted to? If they weren't determined to give him a hard time for no reason but general pettiness?
Again, I love the NY Yankees, but here they look small. A team with this history should be better than this. At least they're not like the Angels who are willing to pay Josh Hamilton $67 million not to play
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/05/01/alex-rodriguez-home-run-660-willie-mays/26432133/
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/alex-rodriguez-hits-home-run-no-660-tying-willie-mays-article-1.2207425
https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/new-york-yankees-boston-red-sox-350501102/
I can listen to him for a few reasons.
1. His pinch hit home run in the top of the 8th-his first career pinch hit hr surprisingly-is number 660.
2. It was at Fenway Park and led to the Yanks win over the Bosox. Which was the perfect way for this to go down for me.
In theory it would have been better if he did it at Yankee Stadium in front of the hometown fans. The trouble is that the Yankee management has ruined it by refusing to recognize his accomplishment.
True the fans would have enjoyed it-as unlike the phony Mike Lupica NY baseball media, the fans are totally behind A-Rod.
So for all these reasons I ate up his postgame comments, but in addition, he's just a great interview. Not only is he one of the greatest sluggers ever-and totally belongs in the Hall of Fame no less than Mays, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, etc-but he must be one of the best interviews in league history.
Listening to his soaring rhetoric I want to vote him for public office. That's just me, I know, but he really does sound like a politician-I'm unusual in that for me to say someone is like a politician is a compliment.
As I explained in a previous post: I am the world's biggest A-Rod fan, but I'm not a fan of Marshawn Lynch-as Lynch is not a fan of me or other football fans at least in America-other than his old neighborhood in Oakland.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-rod-vs-marshawn-lynch-what-i-admire.html
Everything I don't like about Lynch I like in A-Rod.
P.S. The first day of the draft was rather anti-climatic as the Titans went ahead and took Marriota after all.
There are all kinds of theories out there-one is that the coach didn't want Marriota but had his arm twisted by ownership. Here is another theory: Andy Reid talked Whisenhunt into taking him-or at least Reid's advice helped solidify his decision.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000489642/article/andy-reid-solidified-titans-decision-to-keep-mariota
Whisenhunt didn't initially like the idea of Mariotta but was turned around:
"After spending time with Mariota at Oregon's pro day, Whisenhunt realized the perceptions of Mariota as a runner or "system quarterback" simply weren't true."
It seems to me they made the right pick-I really like Mariota too based on what I saw when he did Jon Gruden the day before the draft. Yes, that he's such a great kid factors into it: just like you have to wonder a bit about Winston. I don't think that attitude and character are meaningless variables in making this decision. Not to say Winston won't be good-and I thought he spoke well for himself in February.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/02/jameis-winston-addresses-columbine.html
So if the Titans disappointed by having no trade in the first round, I sure wasn't disappointed by their trade to start the second tonight as my Giants got perhaps the best safety in the draft.
http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Experts-grade-Giants-draft-pick-Safety-Landon-Collins/c8054579-75d4-4571-969c-55e5199dc4bb
P.S.S, I'll say this-Willie Mayes is a classy guy. If the phonies in the media and the Yankees front office won't recognize A-Rod's milestone, Mays has no problem doing it.
http://nbcbayarea.csnbayarea.com/giants/mays-congratulates-rod-milestones-meant-be-broken
As Mays says, records are meant to be broken. However, baseball has always been very bad at accepting this. Everyone is as Bill James puts it 'spitting on A-Rod's shoes to protect Willie Mays' honor' but it's forgotten that the Very Serious people in the baseball media once did the same thing to Mays in honor of Babe Ruth-and Maris in honor of Ruth. Now they do the same to McGwire in honor of Maris.
This is a big part of it: the old men of baseball never like to see the heros of their own youth eclipsed. If I'm right, then the whole furor over steroids in a respite for the grandfathers of baseball as they can claim that none of the records really count.
This is the schizophrenic way baseball has chosen to deal with the steroid question-the hrs hit by A-Rod, Bonds, and McGwire all count but everyone in in a conspiracy to pretend they don't and that these guys never played the game.
The Bill Maddens of the world have to pretend to themselves and to us-unfortunately they decide who's in the Hall of Fame solely; in my view, their influence on this vote should at least be tempered by a fan and a player vote along side the writers-that only these small handful of players did steroids and everyone else never touched anything-if they avoided being named in Anthony Bosch's notebook for Biogenesis scandal, or no one took the trouble to leak their name to the press on that allegedly anonymous drug test from 2004, or weren't involved with Balco as Bonds was.
UPDATE:
P.S.S.S. The truth is that the Yankees claim that they don't have to pay A-Rod his $6 million for hitting 660-please don't argue that he doesn't need the $6 million unless you can show me that the Yankees do-couldn't be more specious.
They claim that because of the furor over steroids his milestone is no longer a 'marketable event.' I think that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. They have chosen not to market it but does this mean they couldn't have done so if they had wanted to? If they weren't determined to give him a hard time for no reason but general pettiness?
Again, I love the NY Yankees, but here they look small. A team with this history should be better than this. At least they're not like the Angels who are willing to pay Josh Hamilton $67 million not to play
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