09/20: The Saga Of Rodriguez 2006 Continues...
Posted by: Jason
At the behest of compelling comments from both Alex B. at Bronx Banter and Steve L. at Was Watching, I surfed on over to SI.com to read Verducci's latest and was immediately confronted with this beauty:
1) If you were the youngest person to hit 400 home runs IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL, would you not be proud of that achievement? (Spare me in advance all the "winning is all that matters" sentiment, because you know you'd be proud).
2) If you were having a job interview and wanted to make a good impression that you were going to be a polished, professional employee, wouldn't you wear a tie? Regardless of the time? If a person is wearing a tie at 1AM, that would signify to me that he cares enough to make an extra effort, something that I'd want in an important employee.
Verducci conveniently omits when he received that "impression" from Red Sox brass. Was it after they lost Alex and had embarked on an effort to downplay both a) their mistake and b) his talent? (I live in Boston...I heard this campaign on sports radio and other outlets with my own eyes/ears).
I stopped reading the article after that point. Tom Verducci is not a mind reader. His attributions of the motivations and mindset of Giambi, Torre, Alex and other Yankees may or may not be true. One thing is true: They are Verducci's opinions varnished with the gloss of Sports Illustrated and his "intimate access" and "extensive journalistic experience."
In other words, almost 100% meaningless blather. If some schmoe (me) writing for a blog can identify 2 massive holes in his "portrait" of Rodriguez in the first paragraph, the whole thing is not worth your time.
One aspect of this is important to point out, however: if you're not important, they don't talk about you.
For 11 summers Rodriguez had been the master of self-sufficiency, a baseball Narcissus who found pride and comfort gazing upon the reflection of his beautiful statistics. His game, like his appearance, was wrinkle-free. Indeed, in December 2003, when the Red Sox were frantically trying to acquire Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers, several Boston executives called on Rodriguez in his New York hotel suite after 1 a.m. Rodriguez answered the door in a perfectly pressed suit, tie knotted tight to his stiff collar. The Red Sox officials found such polished attire at such a late hour odd, even unsettling.
1) If you were the youngest person to hit 400 home runs IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL, would you not be proud of that achievement? (Spare me in advance all the "winning is all that matters" sentiment, because you know you'd be proud).
2) If you were having a job interview and wanted to make a good impression that you were going to be a polished, professional employee, wouldn't you wear a tie? Regardless of the time? If a person is wearing a tie at 1AM, that would signify to me that he cares enough to make an extra effort, something that I'd want in an important employee.
Verducci conveniently omits when he received that "impression" from Red Sox brass. Was it after they lost Alex and had embarked on an effort to downplay both a) their mistake and b) his talent? (I live in Boston...I heard this campaign on sports radio and other outlets with my own eyes/ears).
I stopped reading the article after that point. Tom Verducci is not a mind reader. His attributions of the motivations and mindset of Giambi, Torre, Alex and other Yankees may or may not be true. One thing is true: They are Verducci's opinions varnished with the gloss of Sports Illustrated and his "intimate access" and "extensive journalistic experience."
In other words, almost 100% meaningless blather. If some schmoe (me) writing for a blog can identify 2 massive holes in his "portrait" of Rodriguez in the first paragraph, the whole thing is not worth your time.
One aspect of this is important to point out, however: if you're not important, they don't talk about you.
