Dear A-Rod,
I am sure you are already well aware, but the frustration level of your performance on the baseball diamond has reached an all time high. I am not here to remind you yet again of your 0-10 performance the last two games in Anaheim, which includes seven strikeouts. Instead, please think of this as a simple form of motivation.Simple. Ah, what a word. Things haven’t been quite as simple as they once seemed have they, Alex?
No, I didn’t think so.
Maybe you need to go back to simple? Maybe you need to think all the way back to when you were in the Minor Leagues and remember what got you to the Majors? Maybe you need to stop listening to the thousands words of advice you receive? Because after all you are a $252 millionaire and I’m sure there have been people, like me for example who hasn’t even graduated High School yet, offering their most sincere opinions on how to improve the lost swing of two time Most Valuable Player, Alex Rodriguez.
Maybe if you forget the advice of others, or simply just refuse to listen, you will be able to focus on what you think is best? Maybe you will be able to work yourself out of this “slump”?
Maybe you need more of a challenge? Maybe 40/40 man isn’t enough? Maybe two MVP’s isn’t cutting it anymore? Maybe you are saving a great performance for this year’s playoffs? Maybe you are saving up for a World Series MVP?
Honestly, if that were the case, I’d say that’s swell and dandy. But the fact is, Alex, the Yankees haven’t secured a playoff position yet. True, you come into today’s game 5.5 games up on Boston, but you know very well that lead can be lost just as fast as it was gained.
Maybe there is something wrong with you and Jeter?
You did take his spot in the lineup yesterday, only to go 0-4 with three strikeouts and a groundout. I mean I have a book that says right in there; Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are “best buds”. Why can’t you act like it? Why can’t you put all personal issues aside during the season and attempt to work them out after a World Series is won? I think it’s become very obvious, Alex, that Derek needs you despite his MVP season, and you really need Derek in these times of struggle.
Maybe the fans are finally starting to take their toll on you, as a human? Maybe three years of constant boo-birds is enough to even demoralize the best all around player in baseball? These same fans did run a homerun champion out of New York during the 1960’s.
Maybe you are really hurt? You did mention in an interview about an injury that has nagged at you throughout the season, but you failed to mention what it was. If you are injured, please Alex, take a break. Take a break now, not during the playoffs. Because it seems like if you really are injured, the injury, whatever it may be, is affecting both your swing and throwing in the field. Not everyone can play as well as Mickey Mantle did when injured.
Maybe the mental beating you have taken is worse then we fans could ever imagine? Roger Maris did lose his hair as a result of mental abuse from his Yankee fans. Maybe it’s possible you do not even have a mental problem at all? Maybe you are more mentally strong than you have ever been?
Maybe it is all just really, really, really bad luck? Maybe it’s no coincidence every time you look up at the count you are behind? Maybe you need to be more aggressive? Maybe you should try and bunt a few times or get hit by a pitch? It will only hurt for a few seconds, I promise.
Maybe you just need people, like me, to just give you a serious break and stop talking about you? Can America go one day without talking about the struggles of Alex Rodriguez?
Maybe then, Derek will give you a pat on the back and offer a glimmer of hope?
Maybe you are poised to make a run at Comeback Player of the Year in 2007?
Maybe you just don’t realize that people like me get just as frustrated as you do every time you strike out or make an error? Maybe you just don’t realize we actually want you to excel, and it doesn’t have to be a 40/40 season every year? Maybe we want to watch a game on TV and look into your eyes and see that you are doing ok? Maybe we love you so much, Alex, we forgot that even the best baseball player in the country is human?
Whatever the problem is Alex, I hope you have the ability to work yourself out of it and finish the 2006 season strong. I sincerely hope you are doing well, both mentally and physically, and if you’re not, please seek some help immediately. I, as well as many other fans, would hate to see this suffering continue, for both your sake and ours.
Come on A-Rod, you can do it! Hate the playa. Love the game. Thanks for trying harder then any Yankee before your time.
Good luck,
Colin Cerniglia
Copyright ©2006 Colin Cerniglia. All Rights Reserved.
10 replies on “Dear A-Rod”
AMEN! to that.
JD i know this is totally off-topic but i wanna know your opinion being an a’s fan… where do you think zito ends up next year? over here on the east side rumors are the yanks, but do you think billy has got somethin up his sleeve? and do you really believe he can end up in ny? thanks.
Zito I would love to see Billy re-sign Zito but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think he’s going to let Zito walk and I do think that he’ll end up in New York. Either the Mets or the Yankees. And if not there, maybe Boston or Philly?
Zito I would love to see Billy do it to. I just can’t see it getting done. The A’s owner all but said last week that they are going to make no attempt to resign Zito but every attempt to resign Frank Thomas. Starting pitching is an area of strength for the A’s. I think Shane Komine (“The Hawaiian Punch-Out”) will end up as the fifth starter on next year’s team and Harden, Haren, Blanton, and Loaiza will all move up a notch. I see the A’s keeping Brad Halsey in the pen and using Jason Windsor/Kirk Saarloos as trade bait.
Zito is going into to spark a bidding war. Scott Boras has to be thrilled that the Mets, Yanks, and Red Sox all need starters. I can see Zito getting wildly overpaid when it’s all said and done. I’d bet the Mets. If the money is close to the same, Rick Peterson is there and him and Zito are boys.
Zito… Zito will stay with the A’s…they’re leading the division with no signs of slowing. To let your #1 guy go now would be public relations suicide. The A’s keep Zito and get knocked out first round.
As for Zito signed with the Yanks; I say PLEASE, NO. He’s a great pitcher, but you want to talk about mental issues. That guy gets humiliated every time he’s in the Bronx. He’d crack so fast, he’d end up sitting next to Pavano in the whirl pool.
Go to the Mets, bud. Not the Sox though..not the Sox.
Zito Losing Zito would be public relations suicide? They let Tejada go. They let Giambi go. They let Mulder and Hudson go. The Oakland management and ownership is not making the moves they make because of public opinion, they are making the moves based on a lack of funding.
Zito’s chance of wearing Oakland green come next year are next to nothing.
Um, yes.. — Would it be public relations suicide for the Yankees to trade Moose? Red Sox to trade Schilling? Mets Pedro? Sure, Zito isn’t the calibur pitchers these guys are, but the fact is, he’s the #1 pitcher on the 1st place Oakland A’s rotation. I don’t care how much money you want to save or how you don’t just want to let him go..but to trade him now would be the biggest WHITE FLAG imaginable. Of course, we all know the A’s won’t make it anywhere in the playoffs, so I guess it wouldn’t be all that bad of an idea to move him now.
Um..no Maybe for any other team, trading away a #1 pitcher in the rotation would be PR suicide, but not in Oakland. We held it together when Giambi, Tejada, Hudson and Mulder all were let go one way or another. Why? Because the fans here in Oakland know that no matter who we get rid of, there’s a younger player who can fill the spot nicely. Billy Beane always has these things prepared and planned out so there’s no need for us to worry.
A’s There are only 5 players remaining from the Oakland teams that biffed at the beginning of this decade. Don’t be surprised when the A’s knock off Los Tigres in the first round.
are you serious? Do we really have to go through all of this again?? The Oakland A’s are not that good!! They play in one of the worst divisions in baseball. Look, all besides the point. Maybe you’re right, maybe they will trade him…but then we’ll once again all notice why it is they always set the bar at reaching the playoffs. Hey, on the bright side…at least they’ll get there this year. Those power bats should carry them through…say, the 5 game series loss.
As fans, don’t you want to win? Don’t you ever think, “Maybe this year is the year?” I mean, maybe I’m wrong, but when my team is doing well, I don’t want to throw away #1 guys; I don’t want to look to next year. I want to win the big one now. Problem is, the Niners are paying the price for my theory.