Dumb, dumb A-Rod

[NOTE: If you don’t care about baseball, just skip this post entirely.] Alex Rodriguez reported to spring training for the Yankees today. Over the past week multiple members of the Red Sox have bashed A-Rod to varying degrees over comments he made in the offseason and his on-the-field altercations with the Red Sox during the regular season — and most infamously, in Game 6 of the ALCS (go to this link and then click on the “Plays of the Game” for the 10/19 game vs. the Yankees). Here’s what he had to say about that play today:

Rodriguez was the face of the Yankees’ ALCS loss to the Red Sox, with his “slap play” against Arroyo in Game 6 serving as the frozen moment for fans on both sides of the rivalry. A-Rod laughed when asked about that play on Sunday, saying he still thinks it was the right move for him to make. “I thought it was a brilliant play — and we almost got away with it,” Rodriguez said. “It took a lot of guts — and was the right call by Jim Joyce — to make that call in Yankee Stadium in that environment. I was stuck in an alley, boys. There was nowhere to go. “I gave my best karate, even though I only got to a yellow belt,” he added. “I think Brandon [he meant Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo–DD] is a great pitcher. I played with him in high school. It’s just one of those things. If that game was in June, I probably don’t do that. But in Game 6, you do silly things. Perhaps it was a silly thing, but at the time I thought it was pretty smart.”

To which I can only say, “Huh?” Recall the situation — the Red Sox were leading 4-2 with one out in the bottom of the 8th inning and Derek Jeter on first base. A-Rod hits a weak squibbler to Arroyo, and tried to slap it away. For his troubles, A-Rod was called out and Jeter was sent back to first base. If A-Rod doesn’t slap at Arroyo’s glove, he’s advanced Jeter into scoring position with Gary Sheffield at the plate. It sounds minor, but having Jeter at second rather than first makes it much easier for Sheffield to drive in a run. What A-Rod did wasn’t silly — it was downright stupid. UPDATE: Speaking of A-Rod, Karen Guregian has a piece in today’s Boston Herald excoriating the Red Sox players for bashing A-Rod so much. This is a bit rich — as Murray Chass points out in today’s New York Times, it’s the media trying to keep this story alive:

In this new version of “Get the good guy,” the Red Sox are blameless. One player, Trot Nixon, ignited the game with negative comments about Rodriguez last week and a torrent of teammates have followed. But the teammates’ comments have not been unsolicited. They were at the urging of reporters eager to inflame the game to incendiary levels. They were all but handed a script. Athletes have long accused reporters of creating stories, and, sadly, this is one of those instances. It has become one of the most distasteful instances I have witnessed in 45 years of covering baseball…. Every player who spoke with reporters last week was asked what they thought of Rodriguez, whether they agreed with what Nixon said. Extended the invitation, some players replied with negative comments, but most of what they said in response to the invitations was far less severe than the resulting articles reflected.

Hat tip: David Pinto.