It's funny. Last week, A-Roid is the World's Greatest Athlete. Now he just sucks without an average of 1.0. Didn't they want to can Girardi earlier in the season because he sucked? Oh, wait, he's great. Sunday football reveals the Greatest Athletes ahead by 7 at the half, only to be replaced by the other Greatest Athletes at the final.

The fans cheer.

DvB

almost, box...Cliff Lee threw one of the all-time greatest games in World Series history, whatcha gonna do? BUT, like the money-bag team he's the poster boy for, A-rob knowingly brought on this scrutiny by signing such an albatros of a contract. So, not unlike the highest paid movie star, he BETTER deliver of bear criticism. He fell short last night. That's a shame, as new yorker Jerry Seinfeld would say.

I don't call him A-Roid because he takes steroids. I call him A-Roid because he is a big, walking hemorrhoid. (:-)

He has no loyalty to family, team, nothing. Just to money.

But I agree that the fans are stupid to love him when he hits and hate him when he whiffs.

Yeah, I've really been amazed at all the pundits who have used the first two rounds of the playoffs as "proof" that Rodriguez is not a post-season choker. Did it never occur to any of them that he was one bad World Series away from having that reputation become more entrenched? But then, sportswriters will quite happily write entirely contradictory stories within the span of a couple of weeks. What is important is what they think now.

The career playoff numbers for "Mr. Clutch" Derek Jeter: .312 batting average, .383 on base % & .481 slugging %. The career playoff numbers for "Mr. Choke" A-Rod: .301 batting average, .400 on base % & .557 slugging %. Don't see much of a difference.

how about in the World Series?

Well, A-rod's career WS stats are as follows: 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.

if we break down his season's salary, perhaps conservatively according World Series games twice value, what was he paid last night to never make it to first base? just wondering.

doug, you could actually twist that argument around and say that A-Rod is still a choker because he is normally a much better baseball player than Jeter (and thus is "choking" relative to his superlative ability whereas Jeter is "clutching" relative to his just very good ability)

I will argue this: 3 at bats in drizzling 40 degree weather against Cliff Lee is a pretty tall order. He's got at the very least 9 more at bats to give us a better sample size.

Should be a great Series.

I didn't get to see the game last night, but if I know my Yanks, the default status is always on "choke". Anything beyond that is a pleasnt surprise. And dammit, A-Choke makes how much a year--for that kinda money he should be able to pitch his own ball and strike himself out. Shit, I can whiff at bat too. Who pays me?

Looks like it's gonna be a great Series.

Go Yanks!

DvB

Bentoniani

I agree that Jeter's overall post-season numbers are better than his regular season numbers, which does make him clutch. A fairer comparison would be A-Rod's regular season averages (.305 BA, .390 on base %, .576 Slugging %) compared to his previously mentioned post-season averages. Yes, A-Rod has had a couple of awful post-seasons (like most Hall of Famers), but his overall post-season numbers are comparable to his regular season numbers, especially when you consider pitchers hitters face in the post-season are usually better than regular season pitchers.........I have nothing against Jeter. He's a classy player. I just think there's some irony in that Jeter's been making $19 million a year for nearly 10 years for his 80 rbi seasons while A-Rod's been making $25 million for 120 rbi seasons and people talk about is how A-Rod is overpaid. (And yes, I'm pretty sure I'm the only Red Sox fan who likes A-Rod, although I don't like his agent.)

A-Rod is considered a choker because he is basically the best hitter in the AL, and has been for many years. Basically, for him the standards are just preposterous. On the other hand, Jeter is overrated, and overpaid too. Comparatively, Jeter is more overpaid than A-Rod. It's reasonable for A-Rod to make the most in baseball, that's an argument you could make. Jeter, on the other hand, shouldn't really be all that close to the top, no matter how clutch people think he is, or how madly in love with him McCarver is.