A-Rod's timing is tacky
Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 10:10 AM
I’d ask how anyone can think about signing someone so egotistical and disruptive as Alex Rodriguez, who interrupted the World Series to announce that he is a free agent. But ever since Terrell Owens started pulling in millions of dollars by making everything all about his wonderful self, I’ve given up such inquiries.
A-Rod will get his bazillions. So we might as well get over it.
But the timing of his announcement was as low and tacky as it gets. He didn’t do it just during the World Series, but in the middle of Game 4, because, after all, he’s more important than baseball’s biggest showcase.
Rodriguez is the kid who makes flatulent noises during school assemblies – just because he’s not on stage. He’s the one who’s always doing something that screams: “Hey, everybody, look at me!”
Yeah, A-Rod can hit like few others in history, but I’m going to fall back on the argument that he’s never won a ring. And one of the main reasons is because when he finally gets his wish and the entire nation – well, that part of it that cares about what guys in knickers do with a ball and bat – has focused its attention only on him, he can’t perform.
The New York Post said goodbye to A-Rod with a headline that wasn’t up to “Headless-Body-In-Topless-Bar” standards. “A-Bomb,” blared the Post. We’ve all seen better.
But The New York Daily News nailed it with the zinger: “Get Lost!”
I’ve taken my shots at A-Rod. You can’t write a column and not be critical of his attitude and actions over the years. But I’ve also tried to defend him and understand him as the needy little boy he is.
No more, not after he made himself more important than the World Series and Boston’s remarkable postseason. And as much as I am impressed with Scott Boras’ ability to wring money out of owners as an agent, I’m through trying to find reasons to respect A-Rod’s agent and paid apologist. Boras approved this disgustingly classless announcement if he didn’t author it. (My guess is that Boras picked the timing. I’m not sure A-Rod is devious enough to have hit on the idea of calling the Associated Press in mid-game, knowing that the story would spread through the Coors Field press box quickly.)
An agent’s job is to get the best possible deal for his clients. Boras’ problems is that he thinks that’s where the job ends. If he’s aware that the best agents are just as concerned about protecting their clients’ images, it doesn’t show.
Before Boras sank his hooks into A-Rod’s expensive hide, Rodriguez was a young, highly popular player. But Boras made it about A-Rod and money, money and A-Rod. In the process, he destroyed Rodriguez’s image with the fans.
A-Rod is anathema in New York, an excommunicated apostate who will never get a warm welcome again. He’s also toast in Boston, where fans are outraged by his effrontery. How dare he break in on their moment of glory? They hated him as a Yankee. They’ll loathe and despise him now.
Yeah, like T.O. he’ll get the bucks and the microphones and cameras will be there to record his observations on life and the infield fly rule. But if he thinks that’s what life is all about, he’s more pathetic than any of us have ever imagined.
