A-Rod - bad rap in the playoffs?

Question

Let me start off by saying, I'm a Red Sox fan - so I don't really like Alex Rodriguez, due to many incidents the past 4 or 5 seasons.

That being said, I do believe he's gotten a bad rap for not being a good post season player. If you look at his post season numbers next to those of all-time baseball greats, he actually compares quite favorably:

A-Rod - 39 games, .279, 7 HR, 17 RBI, 21 runs

Joe DiMaggio - 51 games, .271, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 27 runs

Willie Mays - 25 games, .247, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 12 runs

Stan Musial - 23 games, .256, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 9 runs

Frank Robinson - 35 games, .238, 10 HR, 19 RBI, 25 runs

Willie Stargell - 36 games, .278, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 18 runs

Jackie Robinson - 38 games, .234, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 22 runs

All of these players are Hall of Famers. Would you call them post season chokers too?
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I left Barry Bonds off this list because he carried the Giants in 2002, having probably the best World Series in the history of the game.

7 games, .471, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 8 runs, 13 BB's
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Gene, while I agree with most of what you wrote, I must stick up for Ted Williams on this one - he only reached the post season once - in 1946. 7 games is too small of a sample set to get an accurate depiction of how a player does in the post season.
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Answer 1

People will always scrutinize him because they do not like him, has he been lights out...NO, but there are a lot of players that do not perform as well in the postseason as they do in the regular season, the postseason is about the timing of your hit and a lot of people expect that hit will hit the bases empty grand slam every at bat because he was paid so much. I think that he is not the only one that people can point to as an under performer. Bonds was a choke artist until he strapped a team to his back and lead them to the WS; then people backed off that and attacked him for everything else. Most of the ones on your list also get a pass because they did win the WS; whether it is fair or not people look at someone who has trophies in a different light. But the same people fail to see that most of them had one round of the playoffs to go through, the series, that was it for most of their careers.

Answer 2

I go with your point, saying that a lot of Hall of famers do, do terrible in the Post season. Alex Rodriguez is always getting pumbled on by MLB fans, and I don't blame them. For a player who hits 30 Homeruns and 100 RBI's a season needs to have a good post season, and he can blame himself for not ever winning the pennant.

Me (Being a Red Sox fan) Do not like Alex Rodriguez, due to the incidents that you can probably remember.=]

Answer 3

Joe Dimaggio - 9 World Series Championship TEAMS
Stan Musial - 3 World Series Championship TEAMS
Frank Robinson - 2 World Series Championship TEAMS
Willie Stargell - 2 World Series Championship TEAMS
Willie Mays - 1 World Series Championship TEAM
Jackie Robinson - 1 World Series Championship TEAM
Alex Rodriguez - 0 World Series Championship TEAMS

obviously the fact that none of A-Rod's teams have won a world series isn't entirely his fault, he has certainly not helped himself in recent post seasons to shake the choker label. He is clearly a first ballot hall of famer, but until he gets over this hump (which i hope he never does) he will be perceived as a post season choker

Answer 4

Yes, his post season work is unappreciated. But so what? So is his regular season work. The Yankee fans boo him and the pundits here dislike him because he's the highest paid player (I'm still trying to see the logic in that). Cerberus Steinbrenner has never appreciated the talent they have. Alex Rodriguez can't win. Torre is stupid for not taking the money. Alex is bad because he did. Ryne Sandberg was criticized for NOT testing free agency, A-Rod is criticized for testing it. Ted Williams and Dave Winfield REALLY sucked in the post season, and A-Rod is so so. And on and on it goes. No one puts up numbers like A-Rod, but 'he sucks'. Yes, he's getting a bad rap for the play offs. What's new?

Answer 5

I can best sum up my feelings by printing another poster's words that I thought really hit the nail on the head.

"A-Rod is the best player in baseball...PERIOD! He has just never played on any team that was any good. Seattle, Texas, New York? Why does he get all the blame for entire teams that suck? Especially from you Yankee fans. That team is loaded with supposed superstars (no team players, just selfish individuals) and A-Rod gets blamed for their failures? What did Jeter, Posada and all your wonderful pitchers do? Your team is over the hill, and you will not be in the playoffs again for many years to come. I just hope A-Rod gets to go to a good team for a change when he breaks every offensive record in baseball history."

Answer 6

If it weren't for A-Rod, the Yankees wouldn't have even been in the play offs. That man earned every dollar of his 27 million carrying them on his back April and May.

Because of his salary it is expected of him to hit ten home runs and drive in thirty runs in the play-offs.

I'm a Tiger's fan-love to see him in 2008 at third base for Detroit. Won't happen and I'm a huge fan of Brandon Inge.

Answer 7

The difference is that all those guys got RINGS while little Alex has yet to appear in a World Series.

If his teams failed in the WS despite his great effort, he'd be given more of a pass as you did for Bonds.

Things are expecially glaring for Arod now that he is saying he is leaving NY because of the Yankees failure to win a WS. That puts him on the all-time putz list.

Answer 8

All of the things the A-Rod haters say they don't like about him they would certainly love to see in their favorite players. All of the facts you point out are meaningless when it comes to A-Rod, he should have 39 homeruns if he has played in 39 post season games. If he doesn't perform to unrealistic standards, that no other player could possibly reach. than he is garbage. It is a "self fulfilling prophesy" he didn't hit 39 homeruns in 39 games so, therefore, he must not be any good. I am not a fan of A-Rod either but how could any of us not give him credit for the monster numbers he puts up year-after-year?

Answer 9

I feel the same way about Arod and your right his number overall aren't really all that bad. In the Playoff you are facing off against the best pitchers for the most part so it's surprising some players actrually hit as well as they do. He was actually starting to get his stuff together at the end against the Indians but time ran out.

Answer 10

The playoffs are all about pitching, which is why New York couldn't have hoped to win. A-Rod gets this bad rap, because, a) he hit .350 something in the regular season, and compared to that, .279 looks like crap. b) A-Rod spent the first 27 years of his life as a shortstop (depending on when he started playing) and suddenly he's supposed to be the third basemen? You see a bunch of errors, and of course, "it's his fault". But the biggest reason I see for A_Rod getting such bad pub, is c) he is the highest paid professional baseball player in the world. (and is trying to get more money) That kind of contract, "should come with a guarantee". And of course, the Yankees were so dominant before, that he should have made them more dominant, despite their lack of pitching.

The one thing I've noticed about A-Rod, despite his skill, is he doesn't really care that much about his team. This was true in Seattle, with Griffey, Buhner, and Johnson, it was true in Texas with Pudge, and Juan Gonzalez, and true in the Bronx. Wherever he winds up (for $35 million), will likely see the same polarizing figure once he begins to play for them.