The Yankees are better with ARod.

Not only that, ARod seems to sell a lot of magazines and newspapers.

Really, it's quite okay to love yourself. As long as you hit .300/40/120 every year.

Besides, if Ian O'Connor and other sportswriters were writing about me every day, I might feel self-important, too:

"Joe Torre's championship seasons, Alex Rodriguez once said, were best framed by the scenes of Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams diving onto victory piles, and by the sight of Derek Jeter pumping his right fist into a charged October night.

The post-dynasty years? Rodriguez just captured those perfectly in a single magazine shot.



A-Rod is seen kissing his own buffed-out reflection in a mirror in the latest issue of Details. Remarkably enough, he struck this pose while knowing Sports Illustrated was about to drop a hammer that would leave his legacy in a million little pieces.

And there are people who still argue the Yankees are better off with him?"


The Yankees don't need better teamwork. They need better pitching.

Is ARod more narcissistic than Roger Clemens?


The Yankees won back-to-back World Series rings with Roger Clemens, God bless his mercenary li'l heart.

How can Ian O'Connor explain that?


If ARod a bigger jerk than vehicular murderer Jim Leyritz?

Jim Leyritz saved Joe Torre's career with one swing and has more clutch WS HRs than Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams put together, that's for sure.

How can Ian O'Connor explain that?

Or does he just ignore these facts?


How does Ian O'Connor explain Chuck Knoblauch's four rings and 13-1 postseason record?

Chuck Knoblauch is a bigger winner than Derek Jeter.

Does Ian O'Connor really think Knoblauch is a greater leader than Jeter? A better personality? A more inspiring presence in the clubhouse? Or was he just lucky enough to be on Jeter's team (kind of how Jeter was just lucky to be on Mariano's team and Mariano was lucky enough to be on Pettitte's team)?

Or is it more likely that off-field goofiness has little to do with on-field baseball success?

Is it more likely that the entire industry of baseball analysis is completely fraudulent?

Every writer is tired of the stats. They're tired of on-base percentage and first-strike percentage and stolen bases. They want to know the people behind the stats.

Which is a harmless, if pointless, exercise. ARod dates Madonna, Sheffield drives a Porsche, Bernie plays guitar. Whatever.

The problem is the endless attempt to link these personality types to on-field success. It leads to the idiotic notion that ARod hurts a baseball team's overall on-field performance. The logic is completely off and easily disproved.


See, my lasting image of the Dynasty Years isn't a middle-of-the-field pileup of O'Neill, Bernie, and Jeter.

Just to shake things up, I'd put all the malcontents in a big pile in the middle of the field.

Charlie Hayes shaking hands with Wade Boggs; Pre-arrest Denny Neagle hugging Jose Canseco; Roger Clemens sharing needles (and women) with David Justice and Kenny Rogers; Cecil Fielder and Glenallen Hill badmouthing Torre.