High and Tight.: Mike Lupica is a Jackass: Chapter One

Mike Lupica is a Jackass: Chapter One

This used to be a regular segment on my old blog. I've been waiting for Lupica to post another asinine column where he shows his bias and complete lack of understanding for the game. Don't worry, Mike. I'll be keeping tabs and pointing out your idiocy so nobody misses anything by "New York's premier sports columnist!"

Yank greats & Alex a World apart

This is referring to which "Yank greats"? Babe Ruth? Lou Gehrig? Scott Brosius?

Alex Rodriguez is exactly what he was when the Yankees traded for him 21 months ago. He is their trophy third baseman, more of a trophy third baseman than ever now that he has won his second MVP award in three years. He is just not the trophy the Yankees had in mind.

He's an MVP third baseman. I'm pretty sure if you went back in time and asked Brian Cashman before he completed the Soriano deal "would you be satisfied with his performance if Alex plays good defense and wins an MVP in his second year?" that Cashman would be very happy with that. But you're referring to the fact that Rodriguez didn't guarantee a championship... which is exactly what you've been mocking the Yankees about (trying to "buy" championships) in this paper for years now.

"We can win three World Series, with me it's never going to be over," Rodriguez said yesterday. "I think my benchmark is so high that no matter what I do, it's never going to be enough, and I understand that."

What a guy.

He just won the MVP and it wasn't enough for you. You're spending this article throwing him under the bus.

The definition of benchmark goes something like this: A point of reference for a measurement. A-Rod knew exactly how big Yankees were measured when he decided to move here from Texas and move from shortstop to third base. The idea that the expectations for him are now ridiculously high is ridiculously low comedy.

The expectations are just as they should be for someone who is routinely discussed as one of the great baseball players of all time. That is what he should understand. He knew the deal as well as he knew the deal when he signed for $252 million.

He won the MVP, which is the award for the best player in the league. He was the best player in the AL in 2005. If the expectations are that he should be the best player in the league, well guess what? He just did that.

It is why there are an awful lot of Yankee fans who remember him as much for that .133 he hit against the Angels in the division series and for that 5-4-3 double play in the ninth inning of Game 5 as for all the gaudy numbers that got him past David Ortiz in the MVP voting. The bull's-eye on A-Rod's back that he alluded to yesterday? He put it there himself when he elected to become a Yankee.

No, people remember it because you keep mentioning it. What about Sheffield? Matsui? They didn't do much against the Angels, did they? Alex hit into a double play, yes. Did that end the game? No. Was that the reason the Yankees lost the series? No. And what about Sheffield? Why isn't there a bull's-eye on his back when he elected to become a Yankee? Where is Matsui's bull's-eye? Randy Johnson? Did only Rodriguez get a bull's-eye?

Of course there is still plenty of time for him. He has only been here two years, which means only two of the five since the Yankees last won a World Series. He is still the true face of the 21st century Yankees, the new Yankees, never to be confused with the old Yankees who won four Series in five years for Joe Torre. He is the richest player on the richest team, one that has spent $1 billion in payroll and payroll taxes since 2001 and still hasn't been able to win it all.

Yep, George puts his money back into his team. What about your beloved Mets, Mike? They're spending, right? They haven't won since 1986, am I correct? Boy you must be really proud of that team, full of drunks and drug addicts (Gooden, Strawberry, Dykstra, Hernandez). I bet none of those guys had bull's-eyes though, so that's ok. Seriously though, I hope nobody confuses this team with the old teams. Because as we all know, we'd waive Rodriguez if only Charlie Hayes would come out of retirement.

He is always going to be the new guy you look at first. Not Giambi, not Sheffield, not Mussina. Not Randy Johnson.

Him.

He's the guy you look to first to produce, since he's the best hitter in the league. You look at him first to heap criticism on the team's "failure."

He is the best player on what everybody calls the best team going into every season. He is the richest player in history playing on the richest team in history. He hasn't won yet and the Yankees haven't won since 2000. So far they are made for each other.

Yep, he makes a lot of money. Glad you brought that up again.

"Maybe when I retire is when the critics and all that kind of stuff will end," he said yesterday.

Puh-leeze.

OK, now I'm pretty sure this is Lupica admitting he's never going to stop his assault on A-Rod. Mike, pay attention here: you're the critic. The guy won the MVP despite the fact that you've spent every article since September talking about David Ortiz and how he's the best player since Roy Hobbs.

He had an amazing season, the greatest season any righthanded hitter has had at Yankee Stadium since Joe DiMaggio. Only Barry Bonds has had grander numbers than A-Rod in this time in baseball. It probably won't take A-Rod as long to make a World Series as it did Bonds. It may happen as soon as next season. Still: He is two years a Yankee and 10 full years in the big leagues and he hasn't been to the Series yet.

Yep. Mattingly was the last Yankee MVP. He didn't make it to the series either. I guess that means he was a terrible ballplayer. You love Joe Torre. He won an MVP. And yet he never played in the World Series. I suppose he sucked as well.

So far there is a Wilt Chamberlain quality to him. He has the most amazing numbers and the fans don't love him the way he wants them to and he still hasn't won. Chamberlain was eight years in the NBA before he finally won with the 76ers.

Could it be because every time they pick up a paper there's a jackass sportswriter ripping him to shreds?

The voters for the MVP award judge the candidates only on what they do during the regular season, not during the playoffs. Good thing. The last big postseason swing A-Rod made for the Yankees was a home run swing in Game 4 against the Red Sox, 2004 ALCS.

I suppose Ortiz was instrumental in the Red Sox glorious 3 and out.

In the last nine postseason games Rodriguez has played as a Yankee, he is 4-for-32, a .125 batting average, that one home run, two RBI. He was 1-for-12 over the last three games against the Red Sox in '04 and 2-for-15 against the Angels. No RBI for those eight games. Why is this relevant today? Because he's the one who says that winning three World Series will never be enough here.

You're really missing the point Mike. In fact, this article is making Alex's point for him.

Don't talk about the Series after your team can't get out of the first round. "One of these days," one Yankee said to me during the playoffs, "(A-Rod) is going to stop squeezing the bat so hard when we need him the most."

He isn't the only star Yankee who let his team down in the games I am talking about. No one in this city has ever thought of putting all of this on Rodriguez.

What?! That's what you've been doing since the last out of the ALDS! That's what you've done in this very article!

But it is hardly unreasonable to suggest that there were plenty of times over the past two postseasons when one swing from him, one Papi-like swing, could have changed everything for the Yankees.

Ah, I knew it was coming. Papi. You love Papi. Papi's team won 2 less games this postseason you know.

A-Rod was tremendous in August and September when the Yankees really started to come on. He hit 20 home runs the last couple of months. He had 48 for the season and 130 RBI and a slugging percentage made out of platinum and you know all the rest of it.

So, wait? He carried his team into the playoffs? Without him they wouldn't have made it? Yep, what an asshole he is! What a non-clutch asshole!

Yesterday should have been a day to celebrate that part of his season, not share the burdens of being A-Rod. He's the one who threw that one out there. Three World Series? Is he kidding? Yankee fans would settle for one.

Today should have been a day to talk about Rodriguez's award, and not another excuse to throw him under the bus, you jackass. If it should be a day to celebrate his season, why then is the front page of your paper dedicated to Rodriguez promising not to do something that wasn't illegal in the first place but out of which your paper made a big deal?

A Yankee wins the MVP for the first time in what, 20 years? Here are the front and back covers: