Exactly, when we all know the ultimate result When were up or down by 5-6 runs hell do something good In a tight game dont expect anything froom him
That's not even an issue. Beckett had thrown like 20 pitches and thrown about 6 strikes and 14 balls. He should be looking for a pitch to hit, not wildly swinging in the strike zone.
Does anyone actually pay attention to at-bats? Or is everyone just waiting for the next A-Rod "mistake?" BTW: NICE play Melky. Matsui who?
I was at the Yankees Angels game on Sunday. In the 8th inning, i realized that if the Yankees continued to go down in order, Arod would make the last out. I was almost salivating at the opportunity to witness him strike out to end the game. Sure enough, Arod is the last batter of the game, and he does the second most predictable thing he does; hit a homer in a game in which victory is less than 0.5%. In hindsight, I should've seen THAT coming.
2-1 is a vastly different count than 3-0. On 3-0, it's almost a guarantee the hitter takes the pitch. That pitch was high and tight, no way A-Rod does anything with that. That pitch was destined to be a grounder.
I mean, I root for him to get a hit every single time he's up, but I can't say that I'm surprised or even upset when he hits into a DP with the bases loaded; because I expect it. How sad is that?!?!?!
That doesn't really make a difference. When a pitcher is struggling to find the strike zone like Beckett was, you take on 2-0, and then 2-1 you either take again or look for ONE pitch to hit, usually right down the middle. If you don't get it, you don't swing. That's what I was talking about earlier when I said he needs to do a better job waiting for the pitcher to make a mistake. He helped Beckett TREMENDOUSLY because of a very, VERY poor approach that at bat.
I understand your point, but to me, it still doesn't give him an excuse for grounding into the easiest double play in major league history. He continues to guess at pitches, and commit to them too early. He should be thankful he was ahead in the count to begin with, because every time i look up, he's behind 1-2 and swinging at the first 2 pitches.
And let's just forget that Giambi came up next and did the same thing, right? Come on. If people want to dog his fielding that's one thing. He has been playing a bad third base, and I realize why. He is playing too far in, and he lets too many balls go to his side, rather than play them straight up. Now if A-Rod had struck out, everyone would have shit on him for that. But he hits a homer to keep the game alive, and he still gets shit on. Seems to me, at this point, nothing he does will be good enough anymore. People who are on his side like me will see what he does and give credit where due. People who have decided to be anti-A-Rod will continue to nitpick every single thing he does.
But if the score was 2-1 he would never hit a HR, but yet the chances of winning are NIL, and he comes up and pads stats. Nitpick??? Come through in the CLUTCH FOR ONCE, and everyone will calm down
If the count was 3-1, I would agree with you. However, it was 2-1. It should have been 3-0. Those are vastly different counts. When it's 2-1, you are in hitting mode. You swing at pitches you feel could be strike calls. That's baseball. In a 3-0 count, or even a 3-1 as you said, the hitter holds the cards. You make the pitcher earn strike 2 and deal with the 3-2 strike you know is coming.
Giambi did the same thing, i know, but he's done plenty in the past to prove to me that I could have confidence in him. On the other hand, Arod has done nothing to earn that. Your second point about Arod, sadly, it has come to that. He was put in a lose/lose situation, but that is only because he has given the fans a double edged sword to chop off his own head. The fans see him striking out in big spots and hitting "meaningless" home runs, so he's giving us that opportunity. I'm not saying that hitting a homer in a 5-1 game is a bad thing. I'm just saying that it's sick that the successful at bats are more common when the game is out of reach than when it is when the tying runs are base in a big spot. The difference is staggering.
That homer, followed by Giambi's kept the game alive. Had Jeter and Abreu been on base, like they both should have, that homer would have been huge. You can't say he wouldn't have hit it either, since there is no proof one way or another.
