Where were you when Alex Rodriguez buried his choker label into the left field corner of Citizens Bank Park? Perhaps he was wearing the road gray New York uniform, but on Sunday night, A-Rod earned his pinstripes once and for all.
By now, you all know the story. A-Rod went 2-for-15 in the '05 ALDS against the Angels. No homers, no RBI, and grounded into a costly double-play in the ninth inning of the final game. They lost in five games. In '06, he managed to top himself, 1-for-14 and down to eighth in the batting order. This time, a loss in four games to Detroit. In '07, he hit a somewhat respectable 4-for-15 (that's .267) against the Indians, but still no homers or RBI, save for a meaningless solo shot in the ninth inning of the final game when they trailed by 3. This meant another loss in four games. As A-Rod failed, so failed the Yankees.
Of course, in this year's Twins and Angels series, A-Rod played like the MVP of the '05 and '07 regular season would have, hitting one game-changing clout after another and racking up some impressive RBI totals, as well.
Just as his demons and critics had reappeared after the first two games of this 2009 World Series thanks to his horrid line of 0-for-8 with 6 strikeouts, Alex regained his composure in the City of Brotherly Shove. Suddenly, he has everything to do with the Yankees startling 3-1 lead over this impressive Phillies team.
Yes, he still consistently swings and misses at that first pitch down and away and out of the strike zone and the Phillies' staff knows this. Yet the psychological impact of his past struggles seem to have been sent violently away like another line drive off his mighty bat.
It was once thought that if A-Rod would ever wear a-ring, he would have to be carried to the championship by his Yankee teammates in spite of him. But with 15 postseason RBI and counting, Alex continues to carry them.
His two World Series hits statistically do not outweigh his 6 strikeouts or his paltry .143 batting average over these first four games, and yet they make all the difference in this series. His first one took out the security camera for a Mission Impossible-style home run and 2 key RBIs. His most recent one came in a 4-4 Game, two-out in the ninth and the winning run on third; the biggest spot for any hitter in this 2009 World Series. Who knew 2-for-14 in the World Series could ever be considered clutch?
Making the victorious double down the left field line off closer Brad Lidge more satisfying for Rodriguez was the fact that this Phillies pitching staff had now drilled Rodriguez on three separate occasions by three different pitchers over the past two games. On the first late Sunday night of November, Rodriguez returned the favor and drilled a Lidge offering right back.
It appears that in this postseason, at least one game in each series would qualify for a Yankee Classic; and in each of these classic games, Rodriguez has gotten the big hit off the other team's closer, be it Joe Nathan, Brian Fuentes, or Lidge, to either force extra innings or decide the game.
Game 4 of the World Series did not have the makings of a memorable contest to begin with. C.C. Sabathia vs. Joe Blanton was supposed to be a mismatch, and when the Yanks scored twice in the top of the first, things seemed headed that way. Yet Sabathia has never really gotten comfortable in this series, and the Phils came back to tie the game by the bottom of the fourth. Chase Utley continued to be a thorn in Sabathia's hefty side with a long double off the top of the wall that begged for a protruding camera to no avail, and another long solo home run to cut the lead to 4-3.
While Blanton wasn't great, he pitched better than expected to a Yankee lineup that had hammered him in the past. Joe the Pitcher, as he is affectionately referred to in Philly, kept his team away from the dreaded big inning and kept his team in the game while his offense battled back from two deficits.
Joba Chamberlain seemed to be on his way back to 2007 form with a dominant eighth inning performance until Pedro Feliz finally caught up to a hard fastball he liked with 2 outs and 2 strikes and sent it into the Philly night to tie the game at 4. The Phillies now had all the momentum and the valuable last licks at home in what had the potential to be an extra inning game.
Had A-Rod made the final out in the top of the ninth, the Yanks would have been in the dreaded position of knowing any one pitch to the unnerving Phillies' lineup could end up in the seats and end the game. Had the Yanks given this game up, the series would have taken a very similar form to the '03 Fall Classic, when the Yanks let the Marlins up off the mat in an extra inning thriller on the road in Game 4 to tie the series at 2. Florida capitalized to then win Games 5 and 6 to finish out the series and they weren't half as scary as this Phillies team.
This is not to say that there have not been many other heroes in the Yankees 3-1 series lead over Philadelphia. Many will write columns about the play of Johnny Damon and his gritty ninth inning at-bat followed by the brilliant one-man double-steal routine. Others may appreciate the clutch RBI of Posada or Hideki Matsui's 2 home runs, or even how many home runs (7) the Phillies have been hitting despite their 3-1 deficit. Yet after we, the media, have been killing A-Rod for so long about not coming through in the postseason, this column has been a long time coming.
While the Phillies are not dead, they are certainly on life support. The Yankees may clinch this championship number 27 on Monday night in Philly, or perhaps Wednesday or Thursday night in the Bronx. Once that happens, Alex Rodriguez, not unlike Peyton Manning a few years ago, will be remembered first and foremost for being one of the great talents and great players of his generation, and not for his failures when it matters most.
As you know, the series is not yet over. The Yanks still need to win one more game, and it may be up to Alex Rodriguez to drive in one more important run in a tight game to clinch the title, maybe even earn one last glorious Yankee Stadium pie courtesy of A.J. Burnett.
I like his chances.
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