Despite MVP Year, Blame It on A-Rod

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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Let this column serve as a necessary corrective: because Alex Rodriguez has the highest salary and the highest expectations, because our culture of envy says that he must be challenged on character if performance won’t serve, commentary continues to surface suggesting that somehow the Yankees’ third baseman is an illusion.


Despite his strong numbers, he’s not clutch, he’s not a true Yankee, Derek Jeter doesn’t like him, he takes candy from babies, kicks orphans when no one is looking, and is a source of greenhouse-gas emissions.


Apparently, because Rodriguez is only third in the American League in RBI, a thoroughly excellent season has been completely discarded. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz of the Red Sox trump him with 108 and 101 RBI respectively. If they have more RBI, the reasoning goes, they must be better, right?


Well, hold on there. Sigmund Freud said that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. In this case, an A-Rod is just an A-Rod. The third baseman has been the most productive offensive player in the American League. He leads the league in home runs, is second in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage, first in OPS (on-base plus slugging). As per VORP (Value Over Replacement Player, or how many more runs the player has produced than the typical scrub would have been able to contribute), Rodriguez is the most fecund hitter in the league with 69.9 runs above replacement. David Ortiz ranks fourth with 55.8; Ramirez is 10th with 45.1. Rodriguez also beats them on a per-game basis, chipping in .6 runs above replacement per game, versus .5 for Ortiz and .4 for Ramirez.


Rodriguez has been no pushover in RBI situations. Though he is doing his best hitting with the bags empty (.346/.447/.668), he has batted .296/.397/.558 with runners on base. With runners on and two outs, Rodriguez has hit .295 with 10 home runs.


The shortfall, if it can be called a shortfall, is not a matter of Rodriguez having a bad season for clutch hitting, but of Ramirez and Ortiz having great ones. Ramirez is hitting .343/.429/.751 with runners on. Ortiz is hitting .335/.447/.598 in the same situations.


Dismissing Rodriguez on this basis requires an unrealistic understanding of how runs are scored. Offense in baseball is not just about finishing things. A hitter not only has to move runners around the bases and send them to the plate, but also has to be on base himself so the next batter can do the same for him. Starting things is just as valuable as finishing things.


As New York’s cleanup hitter, Rodriguez spends quite a bit of his time leading off the second inning – every time the Yankees go out in order in the first, Rodriguez becomes the leadoff man for the second inning. In those situations, A-Rod has given the Yankees every opportunity to start something, going 32-for-89 with 17 walks. He’s also hit six home runs when leading off a frame. The percentages – .360/.467/.607 – speak for themselves. Manny Ramirez, Boston’s cleanup hitter, has led off an inning almost as often as Rodriguez has, going 19-for-83 (.229/.340/.470).Ortiz has actually been excellent when leading off, batting .330/.392/.592. Rodriguez has been better.


You can argue about that with Ortiz hitting almost as well as Rodriguez when leading off and better with runners on – he’s the most valuable player – but it wouldn’t be a strong argument. Overall, taking all situations in which a hitter might bat, Rodriguez has been the better, more consistent hitter. Further, there is the not inconsiderable defensive value added by Rodriguez. After an early case of the yips, Rodriguez has again shown himself to be one of the best hot corner men in baseball.


As far as Yankees’ third basemen are concerned, Rodriguez has been outright historic. With the notable exception of Graig Nettles, most Yankees’ third basemen have not been big power hitters. Only two, Nettles and Mike Pagliarulo, hit as many as 100 home runs during their pinstriped careers. As such, the team records in the third-base department are skimpy. Nettles set the single-season home-run record with 37 in 1977, became the only Yankees third baseman in team history to drive in 100 or more runs that same season (107), and posted the highest slugging percentage with .496, just eclipsing Red Rolfe’s .495.


Last year it appeared Rodriguez had a poor season by his own standards. Actually, he did about as well as could have been expected given the differences between Yankee Stadium and his previous home park, the Ballpark at Arlington. Yankee Stadium is a much tougher hitter’s park than is the Ballpark at Arlington; even though the left-field fences are no longer their historic 10 leagues from home plate, the park still doesn’t do righty hitters any favors, whereas the Rangers’ ballpark gifts right-handers (and for that matter left-handers) with a lot of home runs.


At home, Rodriguez hit a good-but-not-great .280/.365/.492. On the road, he batted .293/.386/.534, which is what he had been doing in neutral parks all along. As a Ranger in 2003, he batted .282/.384/.577 on the road but bulked up to .314/.407/.652 at home. Yankee Stadium doesn’t do that for anyone. A-Rod suffered the Joe DiMaggio story writ small.


Perhaps what is most amazing about Rodriguez’s season is that he has been able to make the Bronx ballpark his friend. This year he has hit .366/.467/.696 at home. This is a truly astounding accomplishment for a right-hander. Even the great Don Mattingly himself never came close to hitting this well in the Bronx, and he had the advantage of being left-handed in the House that was Built for Ruth.


With the subpar production the Yankees have received from key positions all season long, Rodriguez’s season has been a key reason why the Yankees are still very much in the postseason hunt. He would be a very worthy candidate for the American League Most Valuable Player award. It would be a shame if a misplaced emphasis on a few RBIs got in the way of that.



Mr. Goldman is the author of “Forging Genius,” a biography of Casey Stengel, released this year.


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