2 outs, runners in scoring position (remember, this doesn't even include the home run last night). 1.611 OPS. Yes, it's 27 at bats, so it's a ridiculously small sample size, but he's regressing back to the mean. His weak stats in other postseason series were even smaller sample sizes.
The biggest stat I saw last night was that ARod had something like 9 Ks in the ninth inning last year, this year, zero. He's falling into the groove that made him the player we believed we were getting from Texas.
You've had that player for about 3 and a half years now. Hell, in 2005 he was better that he'd ever been in Texas.
I probably should have wrote more to explain what I meant. He's come around in terms of the total package. He's put up great numbers, but had difficulty with the glove. Or he's had brilliant play at third, but suffered at the plate. Or he's choked in an important situation, whether by K'ing, or grounding into a DP. It's always been his confidence in himself that has hurt him. He's finally let all that mental crap go, and remembered that he's arguably the best player in the sport. It's exactly what I said most of last year, until I finally turned on him, and then started repeating again right before Spring Training started. Once he got his confidence in his own ability back, he was going to tear shit up. He did, and he is. As far as numbers, it's impossible for a player of his caliber to not be gaudy. Again, like we were discussing about Abreu, it's got a lot to do with perception. Right or wrong, it's the life of a guy in pinstripes. There's a reason many guys who are great fail here.
