Fantasy Ranking: 2nd Half [David Stefanini]

The fantasy staff at ESPN.com has put out a list of the top players for your fantasy baseball team in the second half of the season. Here is a peek at the top 10.

1. Albert Pujols
2. Hanley Ramirez
3. Ryan Braun
4. David Wright
5. Chase Utley
6. Ian Kinsler
7. Carl Crawford
8. Tim Lincecum
9. Mark Teixeira
10. Miguel Cabrera

When I looked at this list I initially thought why is Teixeira there and not A-Rod? Who was the genius that made that error? Look at Teixeira's numbers: .275/21/63/56/1 (Avg, HR, RBI, R, SB). Now look at A-Rod's: .256/17/50/35/3. Tex has played 26 more games than A-Rod, and A-Rod is just beginning to shake off the rust. A-Rod on average is hitting more HR's, driving in more runs, and he already has more stolen bases. His average is so low because when he first came back he couldn't hit anything. In the second half, Tex is going to do what he always does, and more than likely so will A-Rod. With that said who would you rather have, a healthy A-Rod, or a healthy Tex?

Next how is David Wright so high on this list? He is stealing a lot of bases and he has a very nice batting average, but wouldn't you want Crawford instead? Crawford's batting average won't hurt your team at all, he steals more than twice the amount of bases and this season he even has more home runs than Wright. Their RBIs and runs scored numbers are very close.

So there are my thoughts on this. It's a very good list and I would suggest looking at the remainder of the top 250 players on it. However, if you can pick up A-Rod and only have to pay like he is a player outside the top 10, do it. He will have a monstrous second half like he always does. Also, if you can get top dollar for Tex I would trade him. There are several players you can get at 1B to fill in for his power.

A-Rod Moves Into 10th All-Time [David Stefanini]

Alex Rodriguez hit two home runs last night to move into sole possession of 10th place on the all-time home run list, moving past Rafael Palmeiro.

Most of you guys reading this are going to be thinking, he is a cheater he does not belong on this list. Give me a break. Hank Aaron did not take performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), but he didn't have to hit against pitchers who used them either. Everyone forgets this little fact when speaking of the hitters. How come its wrong for a power hitter to take steroids but everyone forgets the pitchers that get suspended.

How many extra home runs would A-Rod of hit if the pitchers he went up against were all clean? I understand his numbers may be somewhat inflated but there is no way of judging how many home runs were added to his total because of PEDs or stolen from him.

Everyone in this era, including Albert Pujols, is going to have their image tarnished. In others words stop complaining and live with it. Bonds is the home run champion, A-Rod will likely break his record and there is nothing you or I can do about it. We happened to live in an era where technology exploded and allowed for breakthroughs in training, diets, and yes steroids and human growth hormones (HGH). Batters and pitchers used them, I'm not saying there is a perfect balance; there is no question the amount of home runs has unnaturally been enhanced. Just be happy that we get to watch great talent like A-Rod and Pujols and live with the rest of it.

33: Baseball's Not so Magical Number [J. Mark English]

For most people, your thirties are supposed to be the age when you are "thirty, flirty, and thriving". In baseball, the early part of this decade showed that the same was true on the diamond. Think of players like Barry Bonds who excelled well into their twilight ages.

However, 'normalcy' (decline) seems to have crept up on certain players whom have reached the age of 33. Bill James breaks this all down in a conversation with Joe Posnanski from Sports Illustrated:

Today's topic is actually an age -- 33 years old. Many years ago, Stan Musial set a baseball player's prime from age 28 to 32. And even though this isn't 100 percent true*, there is truth in it. For many good-to-great players, 33 is the age when they begin to grow old. Maybe the bat slows a touch. Maybe nagging injuries nag more. Maybe the legs lose a little bit of their spring. Maybe the shoulder aches when they try to throw home....

....This is true this year, just like it is true every year: Alex Rodriguez, of course, is 33 years old and he in struggling in many ways. David Ortiz is 33 years old and he is struggling in just about every way (though he has been coming on the last couple of weeks). Alfonso Soriano, Placido Polanco, Edgar Renteria and Eric Byrnes are all 33 years old and all are having difficult years for one reason or another. Lance Berkman's batting average is way down. Carlos Guillen has been hurt all year. And so on....

...Joe: Let's start with Royals outfielder Jose Guillen. I've spent much of this year watching him; Guillen has never been a GREAT player, but he has been a good player, in large part I think because of an unusually quick bat. In 2007 he hit .290/.353/.460. In 2008 he had a mostly lousy year, but he had about a five- or six-week stretch where he hit the ball about as hard as anyone I've ever seen -- he hit .390 and slugged .662 from May 7 through June 17, and many of his outs were smashes.

Well, he's 33 years old this year, and he seems in better shape, he seems more focused, he seems more determined than ever not to be a distraction for the team. But, again, he's 33. And you can see changes: His bat no longer seems as quick. This shows up in different ways ... he seems to be behind the fastball. He's seems to be taking more pitches. He seems to struggle against those third and fourth starters he once loved facing.

Bill: Historically, hitters' bats die at age 33 ... not always, of course, but there is quite significantly more loss in batting ability at age 33 than at any other age. Let me give you a few for-instances from history ... and obviously, I'm just hitting a few highlights; there are many others involving players with less recognizable names.

1) Hall of Famer Hack Wilson
1932, age 32: .297, 23 homers, 123 RBIs
1933, age 33: .267, 9 homers, 54 RBIs

2) Hall of Famer Al Simmons
1934, age 32: .344, 18 homers, 104 RBIs
1935, age 33: .267, 16 homers, 79 RBIs

3) Hall of Famer Heinie Manush
1934, age 32: .349, 11 homers, 89 RBIs
1935, age 33: .273, 4 homers, 56 RBIs

4) Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri
1936, age 32: .287, 14 homers, 109 RBIs
1937, age 33: .244, 14 homers, 70 RBIs

5) Hall of Famer Bill Dickey
1939, age 32: .302, 24 homers, 105 RBIs
1940, age 33: .247, 9 homers, 54 RBIs

6) Walker Cooper
1947, age 32: .305, 35 homers, 122 RBIs
1948, age 33: .266, 16 homers, 54 RBIs

7) Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr
1950, age 32: .294, 27 homers, 120 RBIs
1951, age 33: .289, 13 homers, 73 RBIs

8) Gus Zernial
1955, age 32: .254, 30 homers, 84 RBIs
1956, age 33: .224, 16 homers, 44 RBIs

9) Del Ennis, perpetual 100-RBI guy
1956, age 32: .286, 24 homers, 105 RBIs
1957, age 33: .261, 3 homers, 47 RBIs

10) Hall of Famer, Duke Snider
1959, age 32: .308, 23 homers, 88 RBIs
1960, age 33: .243, 14 homers, 36 RBIs

11) Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle
1964, age 32: .303, 35 homers, 111 RBIs
1965, age 33: .255, 19 homers, 46 RBIs

12) Bill White, slugging first baseman, later National League president
1966, age 32: .276, 22 homers, 103 RBIs
1967, age 33: .250, 8 homers, 33 RBIs

13) Rocky Colavito
1966, age 32: .238, 30 homers, 72 RBIs
1967, age 33: .231, 8 homers, 50 RBIs

14) Hall of Famer Al Kaline
1967, age 32: .308, 25 homers, 78 RBIs
1968, age 33: .287, 10 homers, 53 RBIs

15) Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda
1970, age 32: .305, 34 homers, 111 RBIs
1971, age 33: .276, 14 homers, 44 RBIs

16) Hall of Famer Willie McCovey
1970, age 32: .289, 39 homers, 126 RBIs
1971, age 33: .277, 18 homers, 70 RBIs

17) Dick Allen
1974, age 32: .301, 32 homers, 88 RBIs
1975, age 33: .233, 12 homers, 62 RBIs

18) Hall of Famer George Brett
1985, age 32: .335, 30 homers, 112 RBIs
1986, age 33: .290, 16 homers, 73 RBIs

19) Hall of Famer Eddie Murray
1988, age 32: .284, 28 homers, 84 RBIs
1989, age 33: .247, 20 homers, 88 RBIs

20) Amos Otis
1979, age 32: .295, 18 homers, 90 RBIs
1980, age 33: .251, 10 homers, 53 RBIs

21) George Foster
1981, age 32: .295, 22 homers, 90 RBIs in a strike-shortened season of 108 games
1982, age 33: .247, 13 homers, 70 RBIs in a full season of 151 games

22) Andre Thornton
1982, age 32: .273, 32 homers, 116 RBIs
1983, age 33: .281, 17 homers, 77 RBIs

23) Greg Luzinski
1983, age 32: .255, 32 homers, 95 RBIs
1984, age 33: .238, 13 homers, 58 RBIs

24) Buddy Bell
1984, age 32: .315, 11 homers, 83 RBIs
1985, age 33: .229, 10 homers, 68 RBIs

25) Alan Trammell
1990, age 32: .308, 14 homers, 89 RBIs
1991, age 33: .248, 9 homers, 55 RBIs

Joe: This amazes me... you know from 1983 to 1990, Alan Trammell put up a 124 OPS+. Over those same eight years, Cal Ripken Jr. put up an OPS+ of ... yes, 124. I personally believe Trammell is a Hall of Famer, but I don't think he will get elected and the reason seems to be that he never played a full season after age 32.

Bill: Maturity in a player is the development of talents; not the development of NEW talents, but the development of those talents that the player has always possessed.

Aging is a narrowing of talents, and the narrowing of talents begins long before the player reaches the major leagues. Players, as they age, don't run as well, don't throw as well. They continue to develop those talents that they have, but the range of talents continues to narrow. What I'm trying to get to ... I don't think that "maturing" as a player is one thing and "aging" is a different thing. I think it is one continuous process, that helps the player up to some point, and hurts him beyond that point.

Joe: You will hear players say, all the time, "I wish I knew then what I know now." There's no doubt that David Ortiz is a smarter hitter now than he ever was. No question that Alex Rodriguez knows more about how pitchers are trying to get him out now. No question that Lance Berkman knows more about the game than he did at 26 when he mashed 42 homers and drove in 128 runs.

That's the cruelty of 33 for so many players ... and every player eventually hits that age. The brain is sharper than ever, but the body can't quite get them there.

Bill: It's like baking bread, or cooking an omelet. The baking of the bread helps the bread up to a point, and then, if you leave the bread in the oven beyond that point, the same things continue to happen, only they don't HELP the bread any more; they begin to ruin the bread.

Eight more players:

26) George Bell
1992, age 32: .255, 25 homers, 112 RBIs
1993, age 33 .217, 13 homers, 64 RBIs

27) Cecil Fielder
1996, age 32: .252., 39 homers, 117 RBIs
1997, age 33: .260, 13 homers, 61 RBIs

28) Albert Belle
1999, age 32: .297, 37 homers, 117 RBIs
2000, age 33: .281, 23 homers, 103 RBIs

29) Brian Jordan
1999, age 32: .283, 23 homers, 115 RBIs
2000, age 33: .264, 17 homers, 77 RBIs

30) Bill Mueller
2003, age 32: .326 (led American League), 19 homers, 83 RBIs
2004, age 33: .283, 12 homers, 57 RBIs

31) Jason Giambi
2003, age 32: .250, 41 homers, 107 RBIs
2004, age 33: .208, 12 homers, 40 RBIs

32) Cliff Floyd
2005, age 32: .273, 34 homers, 98 RBIs
2006, age 33 .244, 11 homers, 44 RBIs

33) Ivan Rodriguez
2004, age 32: .334, 19 homers, 86 RBIs
2005, age 33: .276, 14 homers, 50 RBIs

The human body is like bread that won't stop baking. Age 33 is about the age at which you KNOW the bread is getting over-done and you wish that you could turn off the oven, but you just can't.

Yankees Fight Back To Beat Orioles 5-3 [David Stefanini]

Joba Chamberlin looked like he was on his way to his second loss of the season, but Johnny Damon hit a three-run home run in the top of the 7th inning to give the Yankees a 5-3 victory. Joba pitched 6 innings while giving up three runs and striking out five. The Yankees offense once again looked out of sink, but found a way to win the game.

Everyone in Yankee world needs to relax a little bit a take a deep breath. The weather is starting to warm up which means C. C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira are going to start producing like they usually do. The fans at the Stadium who are booing these guys when they go out on the field have every right to do so. However, it is important to note that both of these players are slow starters who produce better results as the season goes on. Sabathia pitched a gem his last start, and Tex belted his 7th home run of the season.

The most important thing to take out of this game is how Mariano Rivera pitched. We all know the bullpen is going to be an achilles heel of this team all season long, but what non of us expect is Mo' to continue to struggle. Everytime his name is mentioned on WFAN or ESPN radio, I hear questions about is this the year he finally begins to break down? I think he is not from this planet and he will continue to get better with age, so to see him go out and not give up a hit is a very good sign to all Yankee fans that Mo' is ok. Once he gets back to being himself he'll likely stay that way for the rest of the season.

Around the Horn [David Stefanini]

• Alex Rodriguez hit a 3-run HR on the very first pitch he saw this season. The happiest person that AROD is back, Mark Teixeria. Now all the attention can be taken off his lack of production and put on AROD. Furthermore, finally C.C gives the Yankees something worth talking about. Complete game 4 hit shutout.
  
  
• The Mets won their fifth game in a row. As a Met fan I'm so happy they are finally playing like they are capable. As a Met fan I'm waiting for them to lose 3 out of 4 and play .500 ball for the next month. Jonathan Niese looked very good against the Pirates. Leave Oliver Perez wherever he is and let this kid Niese develop. He has great stuff.
  
  
• The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost their second straight game without Manny. Just make HGH and steroids legal and all this will go away. I enjoy watching superior athletes playing at the highest level possible. Hitters and pitchers are doing performance enhancing drugs, so it cancels itself out. They are harmful, but so is alcohol and cigarettes, if someone wants to risk their health for better performance I say it should be allowed.
  
  
• The Arizona Diamondbacks introduced their new manager A.J. Hinch. He is 34 years old with no managerial experience. Good luck Arizona you're going to need it.
  

A-Rod Wins Baseball's Most Clutch Award [David Stefanini]

How ironic is this? Last year the big argument against A-Rod was how he never comes through in a big situation. Sure he put up over 30 HR's and over 100 RBI's but they didn't come in big spots when they were needed. Now this season, claims the inaugrial award of being Baseball's most clutch hitter.

Here is the story by Bryan Hoch:

For his efforts in what will be remembered as a remarkable individual season worthy of praise, Rodriguez has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the 2007 Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Year, presented by Pepsi.

The officially sanctioned Major League Baseball award recognizes the player who performed his best when the game was on the line.

Milestone Overdose? [J. Mark English]

Baseball fans who are annoyed, disturbed, and flat out angry at Bonds might hang their hats on the feats of Tom Glavine and Alex Rodriguez this past weekend.

Saturday night I went to a Dave Matthews Band concert up in Hartford, and wound up drinking with some close buddies at a bar in New Haven afterwards. The TV's were showing replays of A-Rod's 500th home run. After showing his HR from just about every angle, they squeezed in a replay of Bonds smacking HR number 755. It was almost as if ESPN considered Bonds an after thought compared to what A-Rod had done.

Then last night, a deflated friend and I viewed Tom Glavine win his 300th game. Barely any mention of Barry Bonds during the telecast.

How lucky are we to have these three stars align themselves for their milestones at the same time? Barry Bonds somehow, despite tying the most "hallowed" record in all of sports, had to share his spotlight.

There is a sweet irony in all of this. The majority of fans who loathe Barry Bonds for overdosing, can find some sense of justice in the overdose of milestones this past weekend.

A-Rod is Youngest Ever to 500 [David Stefanini]

Alex Rodriguez has officially become the youngest player to ever hit 500 career home runs. We all knew he would eventually have this record, the question was just when. Well that question was answered in the first inning, on the very first pitch that A-Rod saw.

It is beautiful to watch a player with such a perfect swing achieve milestones like this. When A-Rod swings the bat it looks perfect. He does it with such ease he makes the players around him look bad.

However, I think there is cause for concern on behalf of Yankee nation. When the pressure was on for him to get this home run it took him forever. It put him into a career-tying long 0-21 slump. The past few games he started swinging the bat well though. I think a lot of Yankee fans have to take a step back and say is this going to happen in October? We all know how good A-Rod is in the regular season, we now know he can be great in the 9th inning of baseball games, the question still remains can he do it in the postseason?

With all that said, we should be grateful to have the opportunity to watch A-Rod play. Now the countdown is going to be to #600. Then after that #700, and who knows from there. I look forward to seeing A-Rod play a long and healthy career. If he does that, Barry Bonds will easily be forgotten.

Photos: A-Rod Hits Number 500 [David Stefanini]

**LIVE MILESTONE ALERTS** [David Stefanini]

9:47 - A-ROD WATCH: As the Yanks are killing the White Soxs 16-3, A-Rod can not even get a hit, nevermind a HR. He is 0-5 and is likely done for tonight.

9:41 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets grab a 2-1 lead, so Glavine is in line for his 300th career win.

9:24 - GLAVINE WATCH: No damage done in this inning for either team. The score remains in favor of the Brewers 1-0.

9:23 - A-ROD WATCH: A-Rod hit a lazy pop-up just out of the infield. He is 0-4 in the game and stuck on 499 career home runs.

9:22 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets can not get Glavine any help. They are losing 1-0.

9:14 - GLAVINE WATCH: Glavine got through the inning by giving up only 1 run. However, the whole story is more telling, it looks like he lost the strike zone. On a 3-0 pitch, a Brewer swung and popped the ball straight up on a pitch that was clearly ball 4. Glavine needs to find the strike zone soon. Brewers lead 1-0.

9:06 - GLAVINE WATCH: After a lead-off walk, then a base hit that was turned into a double by Moises Alou slipping in the outfield, the Brewers get the first run of the game on the board. The Brewers take the lead 1-0.

9:03 - GLAVINE WATCH: Nothing happening in the top of the 4th, score remains tied at 0.

8:49 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Brewers finally got a runner on base. However he stayed at first, and no damage was done. Glavine hasn't allowed a hit through 3 innings. The score remains 0-0.

8:43 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets went down in order again, leaving the score tied at 0 going into the bottom of the 3rd inning.

8:40 - A-ROD WATCH: He came so close to hitting it again. Instead Dye makes an amazing catch running into the wall and A-Rod is 0-3 in the game.

8:37 - GLAVINE WATCH: Glavine sits the Brewers down in order again. He is perfect through 2 innings. The score is 0-0.

8:29 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets go down 1-2-3 in their half of the 2nd inning. The score remains 0-0.

8:21 - GLAVINE WATCH: Tom Glavine pitched a 1-2-3 first inning. The score is tied 0-0.

8:14 - A-ROD WATCH: A-Rod just hit a ball about 400 ft, but unfortunately to the wrong part of the ballpark. It was a fly out leaving him 0-2 for the game.

Tri-fecta Anyone? [David Stefanini]

Something very rare can happen today. So rare, there has never been a day like this in baseball history.

Tom Glavine can become the 23rd player to get to 300 career wins. It is very possible this may be the last time we see this milestone achieved in the near future. The next closest person to 300 wins is Randy Johnson with 284 wins. But we do not know if he will ever pitch again. After that we have to go down the list to Mike Mussina who will not get to 300. The only pitcher I see that has a chance of getting to 300 is Johan Santana.

Now onto the long ball where Alex Rodriquez can become the 22nd player to reach 500 career home runs. Unlike Glavine this milestone will likely be reached again. It is possible that this milestone will be reached two more times before this season is over. Still A-Rod will be the youngest player to ever reach 500 home runs. A-Rod is 32 years and 4 days old today. That will be 332 days younger than Jimmie Foxx was when Foxx hit his 500th.

Finally the biggest and most impressive milestone of the three, Barry Bonds could tie the all-time home run record. Tonight, if he plays, Bonds will be swinging for career homer #755. No matter what your personal opinion of Bonds is does not matter today. The only thing that matters is the number 755. When he breaks the record there will be no mark in the record books, and his name will not be penciled in to be erased in later years. He will be the home run champion, at least until A-Rod breaks it in several years.

Mid-Season Awards [David Stefanini]

With the baseball season set to kickoff the second half of the year, I figured this would be a good time to say who I feel are deserving of the major awards.

NL MVP - Jose Reyes: Surely I am biased with this vote, seeing how Jose is my favorite player, but he deserves this award. Think about it. The New York Mets are completely torn apart with injuries. From there bullpen, to their starting rotation, to complete decimation of the outfield, and considering Carlos Delgado lost his swing, there still in first place! Why? Jose Reyes. He has an OBP of .387 and is making the rest of the Majors look bad when it comes to stealing bases. He gets on first, he steals second maybe even third, and scores a run. When he is on base the pitcher and defense gets so nervous they commit many unforced errors. Reyes in the MVP.

AL MVP - ARod: Not even close here. I have heard many people give the award to Magglio Ordonez or Vladimir Guerrero, give me a break. ARod is having a year for the record books. How many game winning homers has he hit? How many wins would the Yankees have without him? By himself he has kept this team in the Wild Card race. And if the New York Yankees make it to the playoffs, the main reason will be ARod.

NL Cy Young - Jake Peavy: This is a very difficult choice to make. I can think of three people who deserve this award. Jake Peavy gets the nod for me because I feel he has the best stuff and leads the NL in strikeouts. If he is on his game, he can strike 10-15 batters easily. To go along with his dominating pitches, he can get double play balls with his great sinker. That is why he is sporting a 2.19 ERA.

AL Cy Young - Johan Santana: I know this pick is going to get many fans upset. Most people feel Dan Haren is having the best year but let me say this. Santana has as many wins (should have more but his team doesn't score for him), more strikeouts, more complete games, more shutouts, and less hits given up than Haren. Yes, Haren's ERA is lower than Santana, but Santana has played far superior teams than Haren has. Santana gets the Cy Young because if it is Game 7 of the World Series, who do you want pitching? Assuming you have watched baseball over the past 5 years, your answer is Johan Santana.

NL Reliever - Francisco Cordero: Its time for me to come clean with this pick. Why did I give the award to Cordero? Because he leads the NL in saves.

AL Reliever - J.J. Putz: I should not have to explain why he gets this award. He has been the best pitcher in baseball from day one. If you need proof, look at his ERA and WHIP.

Missing the Bigger Picture with ARod/Clemens [David Stefanini]

As I was driving to work today, I was listening to sports radio. One of the things I heard got me thinking.

The broadcaster said Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens are chasing down great All-Time Records and the media isn't paying much attention to it. He said how the real home run record is 61 games by Roger Maris, which ARod is on pace to come very close to. The broadcaster also said the true record for most wins in a career is the great Warren Sphan with 363.

Most people see the home run record as being 73, accomplished by Barry Bonds. The most wins in a career is held by Cy Young. The difference with Cy Young is, he pitched in a era where the most home runs hit in a season was 10. This bring me to my point; is it fair to look down on Bond's and Young's record because one may have cheated and the other pitched in a pitchers era?

I think in the case of Barry Bonds, he has the record and will until someone hits 74. You are innocent until proven guilty, sure Bonds may have cheated but most of the players probably have (look at Pujols forearms).

In the case of Cy Young, I think the announce was right on target. Everybody above Cy Young pitched in the dead ball era (pre 1920). If they pitched past the 20's, most of their winning years were before then. I think it is appropriate to say Roger Clemens is only 14 wins away from tying the All-Time mark for wins in a career. I feel this is one of two great records that have a chance of falling this season. Clemens will likely need to comeback for another year, but Bonds should make it to Aaron's all-time home run mark. Hopefully baseball will not ignore Clemens the way they are ignoring Bonds.

Props to A-Rod [Addison Quale]

For all the A-Rod bashing I do, I want to stay objective. He really pulled it off last night. Top of the ninth, game tied 5-5 in the rubber match in the series. A-Rod was down 0-2 in the count facing perhaps the Sox' most menacing player: Jonathan Papelbon. I wasn't watching the game on TV but following via ESPN Gamecast. And I could just feel it that moment: "Paps is going to try to stick it to A-Rod and burn another fastball right by him. It could be a beautiful finish-- or it could be one of those monster homeruns, like the one Bonds hit off Percival in the '02 Series when he tried to get a fastball by him." Well, we all know what happened. And today's Boston Globe Red Sox section is plastered with articles who note that despite all his problems, A-Rod is still one heckuva a ballplayer. Sox-Yanks. Whatever. Baseball is awesome.

A-Rod Comes Through in the Clutch Again [David Stefanini]

Alex Rodriguez, once again, has come through in the biggest of situations. With nobody on base with 2 outs in the 9th inning, A-Rod hits the game winning home-run.

Coming into this season, all I heard about was how A-Rod hits all of his homers in the first 7 innings. Well where are those critics now?

It is simply amazing when you consider the turnaround he has pulled from last season to this season. What more can we say? He is great and we are lucky to watch a performance such as this.

In April A-Rod had two walk off home-runs. In May he cooled off drastically (his batting average fell all the way to 300). Now in June, A-Rod looks to be back in full April mode.

Still with this win the Yankees are 12.5 games behind Boston. Their only shot is to go after the wild card. And A-Rod may be able to carry them there on his back.

A-Rod Cheats to Win -- Again [Addison Quale]

Man, A-Rod seems to be winning over friends left and right these days. First, he's caught in a compromising situation with a certain "buxom blond" at a Toronto stripclub--and not at home with his wife and kid. Now, he's playing bush-league baseball resorting to dirty tricks in order to somehow get the hapless Yanks a win. Wednesday's game between the Yanks and Jays was pretty close until the last inning. A critical play took place when a popup to the infield was dropped by third baseman Howie Clark. Clark didn't just drop the ball because he misplayed it though. He backed away at the last second because he thought someone else called for it. It turns out though that it was A-Rod who called for it as he ran behind Clark towards third base. A-Rod, in his usual honesty, claims he simply yelled "Hah!" and not "Mine"--not exactly classy either. We'll let you decide--here's the video footage. And here's his very endearing post-game interview where he's peppered repeatedly about why he did this. He also claimed btw that he was past third base when the ball fell--also not true.

Lest we forget, A-Rod has resorted to incredibly classless and dirty tactics before though hasn't he? I mean, could we ever forget the cowardly slap to Bronson Arroyo's glovehand as he was being tagged running out a grounder in the 2004 ALCS? Of course not. It's funny. It's like as hard as we try to like A-Rod and as great of a player as he is--at least in April--he's really just not very likeable. Why would you even want to root for this guy? This is the guy we're supposed to be rooting against--the classless, cowardly, arrogant, dirty, overpaid, ego-driven punk. As Sox fans, we tend to dislike Jeter the most--but that's mostly sour grapes. Jeter at least has class. Poor Yankees fans must be getting pretty tired of this. Maybe they'll get a break though if A-Rod's season continues to go down the tubes and he skips town at the end of the year.

Something To Think About... [A.J. Cordi]

Remember in 2006 when almost all of New York was booing Alex Rodriguez? Remember how he made error after error and only seemed to hit the ball when the Yankees were winning? Look at how things have changed for 2007...

A-Rod Monday night hit home runs number 13 and 14, tying the major league record for homers in April. A-Rod, the present MLB Hitting Triple Crown Leader, is also on pace to break both the home run and RBI record.

Wouldn't ya know it... everything's backwards now! A-Rod is doing good and the Yankees are doing bad. Well, it's not fair to single out the entire team. The main reason they are losing is because the injury bug contaminated their starting pitchers. But thinking overall, look at how things have changed.

The real question now is whether or not A-Rod will accept the role as a Yankee, or turn on the team. There's no telling if he will opt out of his contract and sign with the Cubs. There's also no telling whether he will opt out and demand more money to re-sign.

However, I think it's safe to say that A-Rod will remain a Yankee for now. After all, he's finally beginning to smile.

For the article on the Yankees loss Monday night, click here.

A-Rod Hits 2 More: When is Enough, Enough? [David Stefanini]

Is Alex Rodriguez serious? I am watching the Yankee game right now and in the 9th inning, with a runner on first A-Rod comes up and with one swing of the bat cuts a 4 run lead down to 2. This wasn't even his first homer of the night, it was his second. With his second home run of the night he pushes his total to #14, that is more than eight TEAMS.

I am sort of tired about writing about this. Similarly the analysts on Baseball Tonight are also, they are just laughing at the numbers A-Rod is putting up. They are sitting, looking at each other with dumb-founded looks on their faces. I also, am at a lost for words right now, the scariest part about this is what if he doesn't slow down? As one analyst has pointed out, what if he stays on this pace and gets up near an 80, 90 home run count? Sure we are getting ahead of ourselves, but right now he is hitting anything thrown at any part of the plate. What are we going to do if he gets close to 80, is that even imaginable?

When I saw him hit his first of the night I told myself I was not going to write about it, because this site has written plenty about A-Rod this season and has been a big supporter of him. However he went 4-5 with 2 HR, 3 RBI, and 4 RUNS. Those numbers and his performance made me right about him. But I had an idea while I was writing this, why not let him try to pitch? The Yanks can not pitch for their lives right now, why not use A-Rod? He is doing everything else right and can he really do worse than any other pitcher on the staff right now? He can't do anything wrong and is on a world of his own, why not let the man try to record a few outs for the team?

My final point of the night is this: is A-Rod worth the money? He is getting around 25 million a year. Now that is a lot of money for anybody but consider this, entering tonight the Angels had 12 home runs as a team. Their payroll is over $109 million and A-Rod is out producing the entire team. So is A-Rod worth the money, yes.

Photos: Mets Honor Jackie Robinson; A-Rod Belts Out Two HR's [J. Mark English]

Alex the Great? .351 BA, 10 HR, 26 RBI's, .965 SLG, .418 OBP [J. Mark English]