Sunday, October 4, 2009

Who knew Alex Rodriguez had so much heart


Alex Rodriguez capped off what was already an impressive year, by hitting two homers and driving in 7 runs on the last day of the season to make 30HR, 100RBI, despite missing 38 games. What made it even better was that his grand slam made the Rays pay for walking Mark Texeira, clearly done to avoid allowing Tex to hit the home run that would put him in sole possession of the league lead. I have no problem with them wanting to stop teammate Carlos Pena from being passed for the HR lead, but to hit Tex on Friday when they knew the Yanks couldn’t retaliate was cowardly.

BTW, David Cone was absolutely right when he said Joba Chamberlain had a different look in his eyes. He looked so intense during his 7-pitch, 1-2-3 inning on Sunday. It reminded of the old Joba coming out of the bullpen. If I was Joe Girardi, that’s exactly what I needed to see out of Joba to put him on the ALDS roster: not just the dominant pitching, but the intensity. I’ve always thought Joba’s histrionics on the mound were quite juvenile, but if that’s what he needs to get and keep himself going, so be it.

Thankfully, the Yanks made it through the last weekend of the season with no catastrophes. They were a little flat Friday and Saturday, but rebounded nicely on Sunday, thanks to ARod. Now they just have to watch what happens Tuesday between the Twins and the Tigers. I don’t have a rooting interest. I was at the first game against the Tigers in the ALDS a couple of years ago when Derek Jeter went 5 for 5 and Mo closed the game. I was convinced the Yanks were well on their way to a sweep. Needless to say, that series turned out to be a major disappointment.

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