A-Rod: What, Me, Worry?
From mlb.com:
“I think the ability to laugh at yourself is something that I haven’t been good at my whole life. I laughed at myself more this year than I have in my career. It’s been fun laughing at myself and the guys having fun with me.”
The Yankees’ AL Division Series matchup looming, A-Rod’s new approach is one that he believes will help him erase last October’s bitterness.
For long periods of time, Rodriguez made a conscious effort to cut down on his availability to the media, providing clipped responses to queries before darting for an exit. As one scribe put it, he led the Yankees in walk-off interviews.
But it worked, as the baseball-focused Rodriguez led the AL with 14 April home runs. He liked the approach so much that even when the batteries on his perpetually carried iPod ran low, he kept the ear buds in, just to ward off the intruding microphones and cameras.
“I realized that I’m going to let my baseball do the talking,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not going to talk. It’s baseball, baseball, baseball. If I screwed up, I screwed up. If I did well, I did well. I didn’t need to explain it.”
Rodriguez’s next center stage moment is soon to arrive. What he does with it will surely be the fodder for discussion and scrutiny leading into the winter months. But if he stumbles out of the gate, goofs up a throw or an at-bat, Rodriguez insists he won’t be listening to any of the negativity that may result.
“Honestly, I don’t even care about reaction,” Rodriguez said. “I care about playing baseball and I care about winning. I haven’t cared all year, so why am I going to start now?”
For the most part, the great ones do seem to be unencumbered. Smart move by Alex to make the change in his approach – and, it’s obviously working for him.
