All ARod, all the time.

It's apparently headline news when Alex Rodriguez goes to a bookstore and says nothing interesting.

Some of the headlines actually read, "Alex Rodriguez Sidesteps Questions."

Not to get all technical, but shouldn't news at least contain something new?


Jerry Crasnick has attempted an impossible task.

He's predicting the future or ARod and the Yankees and, for the sake of brevity, he has taken an infinite number of possibilities and boiled them down to three.

Crasnick has basically presented the Three Bears' porridge: Scenario one is too cold, scenario two is too hot, and scenario three is in between. Something will happen in the next year and it will likely approximate one of those three scenarios.

What's interesting to me is scenario one, which is where we may be able draw the line in the sand. ARod's 2004 postseason:

"Rodriguez's 2007 regular-season numbers are impressive, but they're rendered meaningless when the Yankees are bounced in the Division Series. It's A-Rod's fourth straight October flameout, and he's getting torched on WFAN radio and buried in the tabloids. He's thinking about wearing a Bobby Valentine nose-and-glasses disguise around town just to maintain his sanity."

2004 ALDS: 4 games, 8-for-19, 3 2b, 1 hr, 2 walks, 2 stolen bases, 3 runs, 2 rbis. .421 ba, .476 ob%, .737 slg%

2004 ALCS: 7 games, 8-for-31, 2 2b, 2 hr, 4 walks, 8 runs, 3 rbis. .258 ba, .378 ob%, .516 slg%.

2004 playoffs: 11 games, 16-for-50, 5 2b, 3 hr, 6 walks, 2 stolen bases, 11 runs, 5 rbis. .320 ba, .414 ob%, .600 slg%.


This is why I don't trust the anti-ARod crowd.

Not because of the criticisms of 2005 and 2006 postseasons. The numbers speak for themselves and he deserves a large dose of blame.

But when he was unfairly criticized for his 2004 postseason, I lost faith in the credibility of the accuser.

What's your agenda when you claim that ARod "flamed out" in the 2004 postseason?

Is Vlad Guerrero a choker because he hit 1-for-20 in the 2005 ALCS?

Is Albert Pujols a choker because he hit 3-for-15 in the World Series, when it really counts?

If the answer is "yes" in one case, then the answer is "yes" in all cases. Because that's the small sample size horse you rode in on. When that horse bucks you off, your butt is going to hurt.