Mike Lupica doesn't like Brian Giles, Mike Lupica describes Barry Bonds as baseball's worst nightmare, and Mike Lupica still doesn't like Alex Rodriguez:
"There is the amazing notion around that Alex Rodriguez received unfair criticism this week for winning the MVP award.
Not around here he didn't.
More than anything, A-Rod received criticism for suggesting - on the same day he won the MVP from David Ortiz - that 'even if I win three World Series (the criticism) will never be over.'
As if nothing he ever does in that area will be enough."
Again, I think ARod is just making a truthful observation. ARod does not run away from the criticism, he just kind of laughs it off, and rightly so.
Besides, don't make me go through the archives of two years of "Shootin' From The Lip." Not only would that cause my brain to hemorrhage, but it would reveal endless criticisms of ARod for his play on the field and his actions off the field.
Seems to me if you are the first Yankee to win the MVP in twenty years, you've got nothing to apologize about.
"He is the one who wanted to talk about the postseason then.
The answer to that is the same as it was a few days ago:
Play in just one Series, then we'll talk."
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Alex Rodriguez will still be criticized by Mike Lupica even after he plays in his first World Series. I don't know much, but I can guarantee that. Alex Rodriguez could hit four homeruns in his first World Series game and Lupica would point out (1) it's only game one, and (2) the Yankees didn't need all four homeruns because it was a blowout victory.
Maybe it's not for me to judge what's "fair," but Lupica-esque criticism of ARod also seem quite stupid and ignorant. We all know that the MVP voting occurs before the postseason, so why are we talking about the ALDS? We also should all realize that plenty of great baseball players miss out on the World Series.
ARod has been with the Yankees two whole seasons. It shouldn't be surprising that the Yankees missed the World Series two whole seasons in a row. The criticism reveals itself as "unfair" largely because it's not similarly applied to, say, Hideki Matsui and Don Mattingly.
"The problem with A-Rod in areas like this isn't that he's too polished, which is something we hear all the time.
The problem is that he's too needy.
Maybe that's why he feels the need to remind us how much time he spent in front of his locker after Game 5, blaming himself for everything except oil prices."
.321 48 130. There's no problem with ARod.
ARod's ALDS was bad and Game 5 was also bad. ARod probably felt genuinely upset about his performance and also took a proactive offensive posture in the interview room in an attempt to deflect the impending criticism. Much of which is, you know, "unfair."
Still, I don't care too much about the interview room. A guy who hits .321 48 130 can answer in haiku or spend his time making balloon animals for all I care.
Alex Belth over at Bronx Banter explained the phenomenon better than I could. He said that guys like Lupica focus on what ARod has failed to accomplish rather than what he has accomplished.
ARod accomplished a lot this season. It was a downright historic season. The Yankees would have undoubtedly missed the playoffs without ARod's historic season. Under normal conditions, that "what-if" success story boosts one's MVP status.
The post-MVP conference call can not change what ARod accomplished on the field. If that's the best criticism Lupica can come up with then, yeah, his criticism is unfair.
There's always a fantastic tension in a Mike Lupica column. It's real-time lying and it's actually quite fascinating.
While Lupica is defending himself against indirect accusations that he has been unfair in his criticisms of Alex Rodriguez, he's unfairly criticizing Alex Rodriguez at the same time.
"I've recently been accused of gossiping, but I never gossip about anyone. For example, I never told anyone that Sally made out with Tommy after the basketball game last Friday. So please stop saying that I'm a gossip."
No comments:
Post a Comment