I grew up in Seattle so I was always a Mariners fan. But I tend to watch more minor league games now. they actually play with some heart as they are trying to get in/back to the majors
I grew up in Brooklyn, and I've been a Yankees fan since birth. I'm currently going to college in Maine, but being surrounded by Sox fans builds character.
1. A-rod is awesome, and I get to say that sincerely because I never booed him last year. 2. Even though we just got swept by the Sox (as of about 20 min ago), I still think that a 5-game sweep beats a 3-game sweep. Besides, if the Sox don't take an early lead, how will we come from behind to blow them out of the water and win the division at the end of the season...again? 3. Did I mention A-rod is awesome?
Favorite player: Alex Rodriguez, he will retire as the greatest baseball player of all-time
Favorite college team: Oregon State, nothing like getting the majority of your players from within your state and winning a national championship. I played against a lot of those guys in high school, so it was great watching guys I know win a national championship.
I'm not real hardcore about baseball at all, but, it has always seemed that the Yankees were generally d-bags... I don't get the A.Rod obsession either. Nor the Jeter.
I'm also not real into baseball, so take my opinion with a grain of salt :)
So the Yankees only like A-Rod if he doing well? Otherwise they boo him when he's up? That doesn't sound right. The only think I like about the Yankees is Jeter . Only because hes hot.
I don't understand why Yankee fans boo A-Rod. The same season that A-Rod was constantly booed and Jeter won the MVP, A-Rod still had better stats in almost every category. It doesn't make sense to me. Jeter is overrated. Surround me with that same lineup and I could produce just as well.
I think it's a combination of things. First, you have to keep in mind that Jeter has spent his entire career with the Yankees. Second, Rodriguez signed that monster contract (though, in fairness, Jeter signed a similarly-huge deal around the same time). With a $25-million-plus paycheck comes ridiculous expectations. Jeter's ~$18-million salary pales in comparison. Third, it does warrant mentioning that A-Rod has had a tendency to, let's say, come up short in the postseason during his tenure in New York. Meanwhile, Jeter has his share of terrible series, but the mystical allure of what he's done there over the past ten years overrides it.
Of course, I should note that, by almost any statistical measure, Jeter is overrated. He tends to excel in batting average (a long-outdated tool) and performs well in so-called "clutch" situations, but that hardly makes up for his increasingly poor defense. In fact, one defensive analysis (I want to say it's Bill James') rated Jeter as the worst shortstop in the majors, while Rodriguez was middle-of-the-pack at third.
For what it's worth, though, if I were facing the Yanks with a runner on third and two out in the bottom of the ninth, I'd much rather have A-Rod up there, if only because he's shown a willingness to chase breaking pitches out of the strike zone. Jeter, on the other hand, will reach out and poke the pitch into right-center, if he swings at all. So, to an extent, it's justified. But still, Rodriguez is one of the three or four best players in the game, and for him to be villified because Tom Hicks is an imbicile and overbid every other team by about $75 million is ridiculous.
I think, after having spent three-plus years at third, Rodriguez would be no better than Jeter, and, in fact, probably a tick worse. And I think the fact that Texas is on the hook for $7 million is pretty much irrelevant; at the end of the day, A-Rod is still banking $25M while Jeter's only getting $18M. Actually, this year, it works out to be $27.7M and $21M respectively. So, really, the Yankees are paying roughly the same amount to each. But, again, that's not really the issue at hand.
