The New York Yankees continue to have problems on -- and off -- the field. Yesterday's cover of the New York Post featured a picture of Alex Rodriguez and a "busty blonde ... making thier way to his hotel."
A few buddies of mine (who are die-hard Yankee fans) make the following humorous arguments:
--We have no idea whether or not Alex Rodriguez has family in Toronto, or who those other two guys were. There are many missing pieces here.
--Since she went to a strip club with them, she may very well not be interested in men at all – in which case ARod may be doing valuable outreach to raise interest in baseball among LBGT communities.
--His play hasn’t been the problem for the Yankees, so whatever he’s doing, he should keep it up. Perhaps Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi, and Doug Mientkiewicz should start frequenting strip clubs and going out on the town. (YES Network, say hello to your newest reality show.)
Right.
Even if you don't care about A-Rod's behavior, the fact is he's getting paid millions of dollars to play for a team -- and then he goes out and stays out all hours of the night. Putting the moral stuff aside, doesn't he have a fiduciary responsibility to get a good night's sleep (Look, I know Babe Ruth did this stuff -- but he had the numbers to back it up. When A-Rod starts playing like Ruth, maybe the fans will overlook his behavior).
Even last night, when the Yankees finally snapped their losing streak, A-Rod was involved in a controversial play ...
The Yankees' desperation to win a game was so great, Alex Rodriguez reasoned, that he was willing to try anything to make it happen -- even yelling into the ear of an infielder trying to catch a pop fly.
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Of course, the knock against A-Rod has always been that he doesn't perform in the post-season. I suspect that if he did -- New Yorkers wouldn't care about his behavior (and it wouldn't have been a front-page story).
Dean is starting a "Dead Pool." Well, I'm putting my money on both Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez ...
Update: 10:28 - My friend, Jim Eltringham (an expert on the Yankees), disagrees with me. Here's his email:
David Wells pitched a perfect game hung over...
It is a good point. Alcohol is actually a big part of the game – in fact, 59 of the 60 clubhouses in MLB stadiums (home and visitor in each of 30 parks) serve alcohol after games. I was shocked to hear that happens in professional athletics. The only one that doesn’t is the home clubhouse of the St. Louis Cardinals (who had a player die in an alcohol-related car accident last month). But Busch Stadium does still serve it in the visiting clubhouse.
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