A-Rod makes Twins pay for misunderestimating him

It was a great sports night for me (more on that in a sec) but the best moment of the evening was seeing Alex Rodriguez make Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire look like a fool.


In one of the more head-scratching moves I've seen in recent years, Gardenhire not only intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to load the bases for A-Rod (which was crazy enough, given that Alex's numbers going into last night's game after a Tex intentional walk were "3-for-3 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, a home run and 10 RBI in five plate appearances," writes Minnesota columnist Jim Souhan.

Then Gardenhire brought in Matt Guerrier to face A-Rod. Bad move. As Souhan notes:

Rodriguez, in his career, was 4-for-6 with three homers, a double and a walk against Guerrier. It's hard to hit that well in batting practice or tee ball, much less against a quality big-league reliever.

And the strangest thing is, Gardenhire knew these numbers, and still went with that matchup!


Of course, A-Rod, the guy who killed the Twins in the playoffs last year, with his game-tying homer in Game 2, and his big homer to tie Game 3, destroyed Minnesota - again - with a grand slam. From MLB.com:

"That's what Alex Rodriguez does," Teixeira said. "He's done it so many times in his career. Nineteen grand slams? That's ridiculous."

When asked if the free pass to Teixeira gave him with any extra motivation, Rodriguez was quick to respond.

"No question," he said. "That's why I hit fourth."

Rodriguez hasn't gotten off to a great start so far, but maybe last's night's results will be the start of a terrific year for him.

And you know, even I didn't know that A-Rod had had so many grand slams in his career. But gee, I thought he was totally unclutch and all! Maybe he was just stat-padding with those homers. Showoff!

One other thing - I like that the scorer gave the win to Joba Chamberlain (who struck out the side in the eighth) as opposed to Damaso Marte (who blew the lead.) That type of scorer's decision should happen more often!

* * *

The Yankees' victory wasn't the only sporting event to put a smile on my face last night:

* Hideki Matsui hit a three-run homer off Dallas Braden to beat him and the Athletics. "It was a breaking ball," Braden said about the pitch he threw. "I felt like I almost told him it was coming. He Godzilla'd it right out of the ballpark."

* Oliver Perez had another Ollity start - as in the opposite of quality - for the Mets. Much gnashing of teeth ensued.

* And, most importantly, my beloved Philadelphia Flyers (I've been following them for a whole two days now!) beat the Boston Bruins after being down 0-3 in Game Seven (and 0-3 in the series), to win the game - and the series! Squawker Jon asked me to name a Flyer, and the only name I could come up with was Kate Smith! Nonetheless, I love to see Boston fans miserable. I saw that they threw stuff on the ice - again. Classy!


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Dallas Braden Week? Who's the "individualistic" player now?

I guess everybody in the sports media is too busy promoting all things Dallas Braden to notice that the very person who complained about Alex Rodriguez being too "individualistic" is now being feted with an unprecedented lovefest, with everybody from Sports Illustrated to NPR (!) rushing to interview him. And now the Athletics are devoting an entire week to celebrating Braden's perfect game. So I wrote an article for The Faster Times decrying this state of affairs.

Aside from the fact that I think it's funny that the team of Billy Beane, the GM who literally couldn't be bothered with interrupting his workout to watch the perfect game in person in the first place, is doing all this, I think the irony of Braden being the object of this affection is hilarious. I thought he was all about team!

Lou Gehrig had to retire due to ALS. He got one day honoring him. Babe Ruth was dying. He got one day honoring him. Dallas Braden gets a week honoring him for his perfect game. Isn't that overkill!?

Anyhow, check out my article, and let me know what you think.

New York Times reporter thanks the heavens for Dallas Braden

Have you had enough already of the Dallas Braden media lovefest this week? Check out how the New York Times continues their hatred of all things A-Rod. Look at New York Times writer Lynn Zinser's "Leading Off" column from earlier this week:

Sports needed Oakland’s Dallas Braden in the worst way. In fact, if he hadn’t stumbled along on his own, we might have had to make him up. But while Hollywood would have cast Kevin Costner as his manager and Betty White as his feisty grandmother, I’m not sure even screenwriters could have come up with the right details: his up-from-nowhere career, his setting up his climactic scene by popping off at the game’s premier prima donna a few weeks ago, his mom’s dying from skin cancer when he was in high school, his perfect game coming on Mother’s Day.

Why did "sports need Dallas Braden in the worst way"'? So the A-Rod-hating writers have another excuse to berate Rodriguez, the "game’s premier prima donna"? Please. 

It's also odd to hear a New York Times reporter say that if Braden hadn't existed, "we might have had to make him up." Didn't the Times get into a whole heap of trouble with Jayson Blair doing just that?

Also, hearing a journalist, let alone a New York Times writer, complain about "prima donna" behavior is amusing in and of itself. You want to see prima donnas in action? Just make the mistake of sitting in the wrong seat in the press box!

Then again, I guess I can understand Zinser jonesing for an A-Rod scandal fix. Because no other ballplayer sells papers - or gets page views - the way A-Rod does. And that goes even for the highfaluting New York Times. But until the Braden thing, Rodriguez hadn't really done anything controversial this season to give the press something to write about. (Yes, there's the Anthony Galea story, but if you bring that up, it also taints Mets stars like Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes. And you know the media doesn't really want to go there!)

Also, thanks to Rodriguez being was the biggest reason the Yankees won the World Series last year, the media can no longer do their "A-Rod is not teh clutch" meme they were so fond of. They can't say he's mentally weak anymore, so forget all their armchair psychoanalyzing. And they can no longer rely on Joe Torre to feed them negative stories on No. 13. Plus, now that Rodriguez is single, his social life is no longer scandalous.

Anyhow, the next time you read a sportswriter proclaim that the media just reports the facts without any bias, remember what that New York Times writer said about how "sports needed Dallas Braden in the worst way" - to give them something to bash Alex Rodriguez with!

What do you think? Tell us about it! 

Is baseball boring? Or are these baseball stars just sleepwalking through life?

One of my brothers continually complains that baseball is "boring." And given the recent actions of Keith Hernandez, Billy Beane, and Ken Griffey Jr., it sounds like those baseball figures might be in agtreement with his opinion!

I wrote a piece for The Faster Times about how two of the three were caught literally napping last week during games, and one was figuratively asleep at the wheel. Keith Hernandez was snoozing during a broadcast, Ken Griffey Jr. slept during a game, and Billy Beane was so intent on his workout that he chose paying attention to that (and to listening to soccer podcasts, arguably a sport considered by Americans to be even more boring than baseball) than to watching Dallas Braden pitch a perfect game. (Not that I have any love for Braden, but still.)

Read all the details on these snoozers in my article.


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Subway Squawkers is FoxSports' Blog of the Day!

Check this out - the article I wrote about Dallas Braden and his "classy" grandmother got featured as part of FoxSports' Blog of the Day feature!
Very cool! Check out the link here, on their MLB page. (That's the graphic showing our link.)

As for the Braden Bunch, I'm afraid they're going to end up with a reality show after this. Wacky grandmas (think Betty White) are hot right now, even if Braden's grandmother is more likely to be yelling about A-Rod on Jerry Springer than performing on Saturday Night Live. I could totally see somebody giving Dallas and his grandmother a platform with a reality show on Spike TV or something. Never underestimate the media's hatred of all things A-Rod, after all!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

How to fix Oliver Perez: Have him talk trash about A-Rod

It's going to take a miracle to fix Oliver Perez, the sort of thing that would turn a pitcher recently described as a "nobody" into the author of a perfect game.

It's time for Oliver Perez to start spouting off about Alex Rodriguez.

In Dallas Braden's last two starts before today, he allowed nine earned runs and 19 hits in 11 innings. One of the teams that shelled him was Tampa Bay. Then Braden, weeks after the initial confrontation, started talking trash about A-Rod.

Presto - a perfect game, against the same Rays that beat Braden, 10-3, just two starts ago.

Even for Ollie, he was putrid today against the Giants, not making it out of the fourth inning while walking seven. Sure it was cold, but unless the Mets suddenly move into a dome, there won't be any weather guarantees for Ollie's starts. It's time for drastic measures. It's time to do things the way they do them in the 209.

This year's first Subway Series is only 12 days away, so now's the time for Ollie to start warning A-Rod to stay off his mound. Or else.

Braden warned A-Rod about how they settled matters in the 209, the area code for Braden's hometown. Ollie can start muttering about how they do things in whatever area code Ollie's home planet has.

Ollie doesn't seem like the confrontational sort, so if he's squeamish about threatening a three-time MVP, the Mets can reassure him that the way the rotation is currently set up, Ollie won't face the Yankees in two weeks anyway.

And if the rotation does change and Ollie's turn does come up, the way he's been pitching, he might be out of the rotation by then.

Because if Ollie doesn't get his act together real soon, it's going to be Jerry Manuel and Dan Warthen telling the floundering lefty, "Stay off my mound!"

Dallas Braden's perfect game - and his "classy" grandmother

If I didn't already have a stomach ache already, I'd certainly have one now. I just heard about how Dallas (Get Off My Mound) Braden just pitched a perfect game. Wonderful. Only bright side I can come up with is that it was against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Oh, and his grandmother, who was at the game,  is apparently just as obsessed with Alex Rodriguez as her grandson is. Peggy Lindsey told reporters, "Stick it, A-Rod." You stay classy, grandma!

I mean, really. With his perfect game, her grandson actually had a great achievement on the field, something that's only happened 18 times before in major league history. And what's on her mind? A-Rod! Guess that's how they do in the 209. Good grief.

For A-Rod's part, he told reporters, "I've learned in my career, it is much better to be recognized for all the great things you do on the field," Rodriguez said. "Good for him, he threw a perfect game. And better yet, he beat the Rays."


Yankee pitcher A.J. Burnett had the best line about Braden's grandmother's presence at the game. As A.J.  saw the broadcast showing Braden hugging Grandma Lindsey on the pitcher's mound, Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com reported that Burnett "said out loud, to no one in particular, 'Grandma, don't cross my mound.'" Heh!


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Why was Josh Beckett so out of control against the Yankees?

Squawker Jon came over last night to watch Yankees-Red Sox with me (we had the Mets game in the picture-in-picture, and DVRed it as well). We were both surprised over Josh Beckett. But not for the reason that you might think.

When I was on the Larry Milian Show Thursday, I told him that if the Sox were struggling this weekend, a Yankee would get hit. I mentioned that the ball always seems to get away from the Boston pitchers in situations like that.

But I didn't expect anything like what happened with Josh Beckett. He started out great, but in the sixth inning lost his control. He reminded me more like a wounded animal lashing out than a headhunter in that inning, starting with hitting Robinson Cano. Now you can't really say it's a full out "intentional" plunking when you hit Derek Jeter with the bases loaded, and pitch inside to Francisco Cervelli and Mark Teixeira, also with the bases loaded. It almost seemed like Beckett just wanted out of the game or something.

What surprised Squawker Jon and me was how long Terry Francona kept him in the game. Beckett faced, what, 111 batters in the inning (or, at least it seemed like that!) Why did Terry keep him in so long - did he did into some of Joe Torre's green tea supply or something? It was just strange. Just when you've seen it all with Yankees-Red Sox, something like this happens.

At any rate, the Yankee dugout was positively peeved at Beckett by the time Jeter was hit. CC Sabathia and A-Rod apparently were the most angry. So I'm expecting CC to enact a little retribution today. As is the Boston Herald. John Tomase writes:

If and when Dustin Pedroia or Kevin Youkilis gets drilled by CC Sabathia this afternoon, they’ll have Josh Beckett to thank....

The Yankees were not happy.

And why should they have been? While it would be nearly impossible to make the case that Beckett hit either batter intentionally, it’s not about intent. Cano’s throbbing left knee and the welt on Jeter’s back could care less what Beckett intended.

I don't want anybody to get hurt. But let's just say I am glad that the Mike Mussina Years are over, and that CC is on the mound today. Especially if Cano, the Yankees' best hitter, ends up missing today's game.

Sabathia is an interesting combination - he's both laid-back and fierce. Did you see what he said yesterday about Dallas Braden flapping his gums again about A-Rod?

“He's a clown,” CC Sabathia said of Braden. “Guy says he's from the 209, what the [bleep] is that? That's where I'm from and I don't know what he's talking about. Two-oh-nine. He needs to just calm down - put that in the paper. That's just tired.”

This fan from the 718 (originally from the 201) applauds CC!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Lighten up, Francis: Dallas Braden threatens physical violence against Alex Rodriguez

Enough is enough. How much trash talk is this clown Dallas Braden going to get away with before MLB steps in? As I noted in a piece for The Faster Times (hat tip to Was Watching), Braden is now threatening to settle issues with A-Rod with knuckles!

Right now, I'd have to classify Braden as somebody clinging as ferociously to the spotlight as the likes of Levi Johnston or Kate Gosselin. And as a pitcher who more resembles Francis (aka Psycho) in "Stripes" than a professional ballplayer. Lighten up, Francis!



Anyhow, check out my Faster Times piece on the situation, and tell me what you think!

A-Rod, K-Rod, and the Melky Way

After yesterday's whole A-Rod to-do, I tweeted Bay Area writer Jeff Fletcher, after the AOL Fanhouse writer wrote about the feud, noting my point about the "unwritten rule about nobody pitchers not getting to call out superstars." Jeff followed up by asking "Baseball Codes" co-author Jason Turbow about the "hierarchy of unwritten rules," specifically that one.

Turbow seemed to think that what Braden did was fine, saying on Fletcher's Bay Area Baseball site that "I might have a problem with a young hothead trying to intimidate a star, but that isn’t this. Braden wants only what’s rightfully his, and he has every right to do so."

I disagreed, of course, comparing A-Rod's dismissive reaction to Pedro Martinez's takedown of Karim Garcia with the "Who is Karim Garcia" line.

And while I may be biased towards A-Rod, I also believe that nobodies shouldn't lecture superstars on baseball etiquette. Which is why I supported Francisco Rodriguez in his argument with Brian Bruney last year, even though K-Rod gets on my last nerve, and even though Bruney was a Yankee then.

You may remember that feud. After Bruney called Rodriguez a "tired act" last year, the closer responded several times, first saying:

"He needs to keep his mouth shut and do his job,” Rodriguez said. “If he was a big guy, I’d probably pay attention. If he was somebody big like Mariano, I’d respect that. But if I don’t know who he is, I just don’t listen.”

Then later on responding:

“Instead of sending a message through the paper, next time when he sees me at Citi Field come up to me and say it to my face. Don’t be sending a message through the media. I don’t even know who that guy is. Somewhere in Double-A? I believe he hasn’t even pitched one full season. He’s always been on the DL. That’s all I know right now.”

See, I don't remember any handwringing in the media about how K-Rod should have just kept his mouth shut, stayed classy, and let what Bruney said go, the way people are saying today that A-Rod should have done with Braden.

In fact, pretty much everybody back then - including myself - thought the Met was completely justified in saying what he did. As I wrote, "Even though he's my least favorite Met, I gotta give Rodriguez credit here. Both quotes are classic. He was able to make Bruney look dopey just with these rejoinders."

The only thing K-Rod erred in was in having to be restrained from physically attacking Bruney when they saw each other before a game. Rodriguez already won the argument with those lines; he didn't need to take it any further and threaten a physical fight.

Speaking of the Mets, Squawker Jon and I are showing up at Shea...err, I mean Citi Field! tonight. I'm wearing one of my 2009 World Series shirts and rooting for Eric Hinske and the Melky Way! I fully expect boos - from Squawker Jon!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

A-Rod, Dallas Braden, and baseball's unwritten rules

I've decided who to blame for the Alex Rodriguez-Dallas Braden war of words at yesterday's game - Ken Singleton!

The Yankee broadcaster made the mistake of saying during yesterday's game that everything was quiet around A-Rod this year. An inning or so later, A-Rod's supposed breach of baseball's unwritten rules ensued, and we got a bona fide A-Rod controversy again, for the first time this regular season.

Hasn't Singleton learned by now that just when you think everything around Alex is smooth sailing, that something else will happen? I learned this lesson a few years ago, when I wrote a Squawk about how controversy-free A-Rod had been. I even made a joke wondering what he would have to do to get some front page tabloid headlines. Literally just a few hours later, Squawker Jon called me to tell me the breaking news of the day - A-Rod was dating Madonna!

Anyhow, I can't believe people - including a few Yankee fans - are defending Braden, a guy who told ESPN that he was taught at Texas Tech (it figures!) that the mound was in the center of the diamond because the pitcher is "the center of the universe."  Geez, and people think A-Rod's ego is out of control!


Braden reminds me of the jerks you see everyday, who start fights when somebody innocently brushes against them, screaming about being disrespected. What a clown.

As it happens whenever A-Rod is involved, everybody around baseball seems to have an opinion. I loved what Greg Cohen of "Sliding Into Home" had to say:

Next time these two teams play I hope the entire Yankees team stands, spits, does jumping jacks and cartwheels on his mound before his first inning of work, and then continues to do so throughout the game. See how he feels after that.

Heh!

Fack Youk ran a collection of quotes (and included yours truly!) Bill James was particularly outspoken:

I've never heard of such a rule. To be honest, people are always coming up with unwritten rules that you're not supposed to do something that they don't happen to like, but usually, it's some old manager who is upset about a kid bunting to break up a no-hitter or something. THAT'S annoying, but when it's a fairly anonymous player springing an unwritten rule on a 34-year-old Hall of Famer who has been on the All-Star team since Dallas Braden was in the 6th grade. . .well, what can you say?

And here's a shocker - Joel Sherman had something smarmy to say about A-Rod:

Look, at this point, I want to see Alex Rodriguez combine his greatest hits and really show us something. Next time he is on base and there is a pop up around the mound, why doesn’t A-Rod cut across the field, step on the rubber, scream at the opponent trying to catch the popup and – if that doesn’t work – slap at the glove. No wait, don’t scream, belt out a Madonna tune.

Hmmm, maybe Joel Sherman can do his own "greatest hits," like how he dug the graves of Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Curtis Granderson after their first Opening Days as Yankees. Or how he unprofessionally made numerous A-Rod centaur jokes on Twitter while in the workplace. Stay classy, Joel!

Back to Braden. He threatened retaliation against A-Rod in the batter's box the next time he faces him. And that's okay? Can you imagine the outrage if, say, Joba Chamberlain had said something like that to an opponent? Unreal!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Shocker: A-Rod gets into yet another controversy - with some nobody named Dallas Braden

It had been a while since some no-name MLB player took offense at something Alex Rodriguez did. Until today, when Dallas Braden, the pitcher starting for the Oakland Athletics, decided that he was going to police the game - and the game's highest-paid player. The 26-year-old pulled the old man "get off my lawn" card with Alex, griping when A-Rod apparently walked on "his" mound after running from 1st to third on a foul ball.

Apparently, A-Rod violated some unwritten rule there. Well, so did Braden. Namely, that no-name pitchers shouldn't be calling out superstars. In the immortal words of Billy Wagner, know your place, rook.

Yeah, I know Braden technically isn't a rookie, but he's still a nobody. Plus, this Texas Longhorn notes that Braden went to Texas Tech. It figures, although I would have guessed he was an Aggie, given his behavior! (This isn't just a gratuitous Texas football slam - Texas A&M students physically attacked Longhorn students for celebrating on their field a few years ago after a big win against the Aggies. Yes, I'm still bitter.)

Braden, who I wouldn't have been able to pick out of a police lineup until today (now I would - just look for the clown puffing himself up like a blowfish trying to look all fierce, like he is in the pic above), has become  the self-appointed arbiter of unwritten rules nobody even heard of until today.

"It wasn't exactly, 'Yes, sir, have a good day,'' an animated Braden said in the post-game clubhouse. "The guy ran across my mound. He had his foot on my pitching rubber. "Any kind of disrespect like that has got to be handled and that's what I did. If my grandmother did what he did, I'd tell her the same thing.''

Good grief. Might want to try decaf instead of Red Bull, dude. Poor Grandma Braden!

He continued:

"It's not about me starting anything (with the Yankees),'' Braden said. "It starts and ends with today. Nobody's ever done that to me when I pitched in the big leagues. I had to get my point across in terms of the unwritten rules, the little intricacies of the game, how the game's supposed to be played, how we expect it to be played, how we play it over here, and I did that.''

Dude's played in a grand total of 65 MLB games, and all of a sudden, he's the enforcer of all the unwritten rules of baseball? Please.

I liked the way A-Rod dismissively waved at him when he was throwing that temper tantrum. I also liked Alex's bemused response to reporters after the game:

"He just told me to get off his mound,'' Rodriguez said. "I thought it was pretty funny, actually. I'd never quite heard that before, especially from a guy with a handful of wins in his career.''

I thought A-Rod's response was funny - especially the way he delivered it. (Is there anybody more animated than Alex talking to the media? The expressions he makes while talking are hilarious. The grimacing, the tight smile, the over-the-topness. It's a hoot!)

But Braden missed the point of the burn:

"He's right. I don't even have a handful of wins. I have three. Do the math A-Rod."

For some strange reason, media people like Wally Matthews (shocker!) think that Braden did some sort of burn with his line. Oh no, he didn't. For one thing, saying the number three does not equal a handful doesn't even make any sense. Is three that different from a handful? I don't think so.

What's even dumber is that Braden has 17 career wins, with three of them this year. That would have been more of the math burn against A-Rod, about him having more than a handful of career wins. So maybe Braden ought to get out a calculator before telling others to do the math. And all the A-Rod hating mediots high-fiving Braden for his "burn" ought to look at Baseball-Reference.com and Braden's career numbers.

Oh, and a half-inning after Braden's hissy fit, A-Rod started the first Yankee triple play in over 40 years against Oakland. Yeah, Braden really showed Alex who's boss, alright!

Braden also thought he'd burn A-Rod by suggesting that he act more like Derek Jeter.Well, I think Dallas Braden ought to act like Steve Carlton and shut the bleep up!

What do you think?  Tell us about it!