I just read this nonsensical rant by Tracy "Where Am I" Ringolsby over at FoxSports.com.
Apparently there is no respect for the game among players, and A-Rod is simply the extreme manifestation of this phenomenon. Among the examples of A-Rod disrespecting "the game" was A-Rod's receipt of payments from Tom Hicks, owner of the Rangers. A-Rod's failure to void his contract in order to facilitate Tom Hicks's fulfilling of other, non-related (to A-Rod) financial obligations to Hicks's other employees, was a slap in the face to the game, and a blatant example of A-Rod's selfishness. If that makes sense to you, please get back on your meds.
Of course, he also mentioned A-Rod's recent mound-crossing controversy as a clear sign of A-Rod's manifest disrespect of baseball and others. An act Ringolsby's Sports Illustrated counterpart, Joe Posnanski, admits to having never heard was a violation of any unwritten rule in his long baseball career. But clearly, A-Rod hates baseball and everyone who plays, watches, or has ever heard of the game.
Then, Ringolsby, who apparently must live in the 'Real America' I always here so much about but seems to be accessible only via flux capaciter, cites the fact that opposing players talk to each other before games as a sign that no one respects baseball anymore. It could be that, or just the fact that it's not 1968 anymore. Maybe for his next column Ringolsby can write about how no current major leaguer served in 'Nam, showing not only a disrespect for the game, but this great nation of ours.
As long as I've been watching baseball, opposing players have talked to each other. When was the last time this was really an issue? Probably the same time it was last fashionably acceptable to wear a cowboy hat when not cast in a John Wayne movie. Judging from Ringolsby's picture (top of the column), he never got that memo. Perhaps Ringolsby should keep his opinions where his values are, far far in the past.
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Ringolsby is a massive, massive moron. He was on MLBN a few days before the season started, I remember, and he was just saying incredibly stupid things. I don't even remember about what. Something about the Yankees. Which is stupid.
BTW, I'm rebexarama on Twitter.
Ah, yes. I was going to respond to your Beltran question, but it had been asked a while before I logged in and I figured the moment had passed.
I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Beltran doesn't get back at all. Back when he had surgery there was talk of a possibly arthritic knee, and if that's the case he may be done. Sad really.
Yeah, no one answered that question. =P I just heard that they have no idea when he's coming back. Really sad. I always liked him a lot.
He was a very good player, it's a tough situation for him. It's sad how the whole thing has played out. I hope the condition of the knee is not as bad as they say, but he may be done.
The Anti-ARod Piece is a genre of its own. If you're a sportswriter and ARod does something naughty, you can just reprint the last Anti-ARod piece you wrote, add the new misadventure to it, write "This is further proof that ARod is murdering baseball history," and get published in a major sports journal. It doesn't matter that the same story has already been written dozens of times.
It's funny that Ringolsby uses silly stuff like crossing the mound and talking to the opposing team as evidence of the loss of respect for baseball, but leaves out PED use. Talk about misplaced priorities.
I stopped caring about all the anti-ARod stuff after 2009. Before then, it drove me nuts that ARod did annoying things AND was the highest paid player AND disappointed in the playoffs. The last part was pretty important because it was the only one that was performance related. I was sick of writing comments like "he hasn't really been that bad, remember the 2004 ALDS" when no one wants to remember anything about 2004.
Then ARod destroyed the opposition in the 2009 playoffs, won a championship, and got his postseason stats right in line with his regular season stats. So now why should I care about the rest? He's great at baseball and has actually helped the Yankees win the World Series. As long as he doesn't think it's cool to go back on PEDs, his personality is irrelevant.
I hear you on the anti-ARod columns. What struck me was how the evidence of ARod's disrespect/selfishness included things like, being paid in accordance with his contract. On what planet does the former follow from the latter?
Roberto, it's well known that ARod kidnapped and ransomed Tom Hicks' children in exchange for his Rangers contract, evincing a fundamental lack of respect for the game. Joe Mauer used a similar strategy in negotiating his Twins contract - I'm surprised Ringolsby didn't pick up on that.
Yeah, lets put the contract gripes back where it belongs: Scott Boras. He's destroying baseball by bamboozling the helpless owners into dishing out huge contracts.
A-Rod did nothing to Hicks's kids he hasn't had done to his kids by Selena Roberts. Besides, kidnapping has always been an accepted part of the game and contract negotiations. That's how come I get paid nothing for these posts. I just want my puppy back.
Well, I know Bobby Murcer served in the Army during the Vietnam era, cost him the '67 and '68 seasons.
Ringolsby also hates the DH. I guess hating A-Rod is so easy, a caveman can do it.
I used to hate A-Rod, too. Then he showed me that he was a winner after all. Took him long enough, but he did it, and he wasn't just along for the ride, he was one of the guys who made it happen.
So Ringolsby can go jump in the lake. That's an old expression, so he'll recognize it.
In Ringolsby's day he used to walk to school through a lake, uphill both ways.
I discovered Morgan Ensberg's blog today. My goodness, what a treasure trove. You need to read it.
Ensberg on Selig, Joe West, and the "pace of game" issue:
http://morganensberg.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/bud-selig-should-tell-you-the-truth-about-pace-of-game/#more-349
Ensberg on the ARod-Braden debacle:
http://morganensberg.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/what-was-a-rod-thinking/
Now we all agree that when it comes to being gangster, Jeter has no equal. That's why this site is good, just and necessary. But Morgan Ensberg is gangster too.
Those were great posts. I remember when Hughes first started his blog, Ensberg wrote a guest post where he spoke about having to wait for the commercial break to end between innings. It's really cool to have a player's perspective on these issues because you never really get that. The quotes to the media are always so guarded, and so this is a much better venue for something like that.
Ensberg's blog RULES. That entry about the Braden/A-Rod thing was amazing, but my favorite is still the one about how he may have been responsible for the Pujols HR/Lidge blown save in Game 5 (I think) of the 2005 NLCS. There's just a lot going on in baseball.
I always want to comment on it and tell him how much he rules, but I don't know if I could not be like, "So, did you ever see Andy Pettitte in the shower?"
Everyone knows Andy showers fully clothed.
Thing is, he probably does.
You guys forgot about the best post on Ensberg's blog: "The Unwritten Rules"
http://morganensberg.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/the-unwritten-rulebook/
That's a great post. My favorite unwritten rule? You don't switch wives with a teammate during Spring Training. Two Yankees broke that one back in the 70s. Braden was pissed.
I used to dislike A-Rod a lot. When the Yankees traded for him, I would get in long discussions with a Mariners fan I worked with about why I didn't want him on my team. But, I quickly came to realize that a lot of the derogatory garbage being spewed against him had no basis in fact. I've been an A-Rod supporter ever since...at least on the field. I still think he's an idiot off the field.
In Ringolsby's world, merely talking to another player's wife would result in a lifetime ban.
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