THERE was a game yesterday, so Alex Rodriguez hit a homer. That seems to be all it takes right now. Game. Pitcher. Ball. Bat. Homer.
TONIGHT’S PREVIEW: Orioles at YankeesHARDBALL BLOG
TONIGHT’S PREVIEW: Orioles at Yankees
This should be tougher for Rodriguez considering that a significant hip surgery is still in his rear-view mirror. And that he is as much a creature of routine as any major leaguer and his spring routine was totally disrupted due to that tear in his hip. And coming up fast in the left lane is his 34th birthday.
Except A-Rod is now waging his own personal home-run derby. He has seven hits since his return. Five are homers. Who needs stinkin’ singles? And every one of those homers has come not only in a Yankee victory, but been vital in securing that win. So let’s put the choke stuff away for now.
Yesterday’s contribution came after he fell behind rookie Brad Bergesen 0-2 in the first inning with two outs, a man on and the Yanks down a run. Rodriguez battled back, winning an eight-pitch showdown by obliterating a 91-mph fastball into the left-field stands. CC Sabathia made that two-run blast hold up until the Yankees broke the game open with a seven-run seventh inning en route to a 9-1 triumph.
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It was the Yanks’ seventh straight victory, and they are 9-2 since Rodriguez returned, which moved Joe Girardi to say, “He gave the club a big lift. I don’t think [the better play] is a coincidence.”
Here is what it moved me to say: I hope he is doing this clean. That is near impossible to know since, for example, HGH is not tested for. But if he is doing this clean — and, again, let’s hope so — it would reassert how foolish he was to ever play dirty and raise doubts about all of his accomplishments, including those in the present tense.
After all, he is thriving now despite the hip surgery, disrupted spring and birth certificate realities. If he is clean, it is a reminder that his prodigious talent did not need artificial assistance.
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Rodriguez, more than some quadruple-A hanger-on hoping for a major league career, had the advantage of outrageous skills. He fell victim to wanting more and/or the peer pressure of the game, and didn’t need to heed those calls. He had the right formula clean: Talent plus work ethic equals greatness.
To that extent, Girardi suggested that the hip injury has been a blessing in disguise because it temporarily both robbed the game he loved from Rodriguez and also gave him time to re-assess the messy state of his day-to-day existence.
“We really missed him,” Girardi said. “But over the long haul he got a chance to think about things in his life.”
Rodriguez decided to re-invest fully in the game again and to shed excesses. That includes talking too much and brandishing his ego for public consumption. In the aftermath of another meaningful homer, Rodriguez re-directed every answer toward the subject of winning and the joy that it is bringing him.
“I am divorcing myself from individual things,” he said.
Those around the team say this is no act, that Rodriguez does seem less burdened than in recent years, more light. He never will fully integrate into a clubhouse. His personality and talent never will allow that. Rodriguez stands out. But there is no reason he cannot co-exist more seamlessly.
What has been discovered in the short run is that both sides need each other; Rodriguez is re-learning that he is happiest playing the game and the Yankees clearly are best when he is batting cleanup (insert Cody Ransom joke here). Just ask No. 3 hitter Mark Teixeira, who is hitting .341 with six homers and 15 RBIs during A-Rod’s 11 games back.
But Rodriguez’s impact is clearly team-wide. Happy and healthy, he is delivering might and — for now — no unnecessary drama. He is keeping his promise to let his bat speak loudest, and we are all being reminded just how loudly that bat can speak. We are being reminded that even at thirtysomething, with a rebuilt hip and a disjointed spring, A-Rod can be a one-man home-run derby.
Let’s hope he’s clean.