A-Rod Injured
Via David Waldstein -
A distraught Alex Rodriguez spoke briefly in a barely audible whisper late Tuesday night, knowing his season is in jeopardy. It was shortly after he was given the report of an X-ray of his left hand, and the news was not good. Rodriguez had broken the fifth metacarpal bone and will probably miss at least a month.
“It’s difficult,” he said after a long pause. “Tough break.”
Rodriguez was hit on the side of his hand by an 88-mile-per-hour changeup from Seattle Mariners starter Felix Rodriguez in the eighth inning of the Mariners’ 4-2 victory. He immediately dropped to the dirt in agony, his face contorted by pain, and after being looked over by the trainer Steve Donohue, was taken out of the game.
Rodriguez will travel back to New York with the team after Wednesday’s game and see Dr. Christopher Ahmad, the Yankees team physician, on Thursday. Before that the Yankees will not have a clear sense of how long Rodriguez will be on the disabled list, but Manager Joe Girard said a displaced fracture would mean more time on the D.L.
Rodriguez’s replacement at third base, Eric Chavez, said he broke the same bone in his hand on a fastball from Damaso Marte in 2004. He recalled that he was out for two months, but in fact he missed a little more than a month and 33 games.
This will now be the 5th season in a row that A-Rod has failed to play more than 138 games for the Yankees. And, I guess this pushes his 3,000th career hit out to some time late in 2013 or early in 2014.
How dare he allow this to happen.
clintfsu813 wrote:
Yeah, he couldn’t get out of the way of a 88 MPH pitch.
Steve L. wrote:
Steve, this is low. I mean, really low. Suzuki couldn’t get out of the way of a slider down and in, and Hernandez had lost all command by the top of the 8th as he beaned Jeter just two batters earlier.
As if multiple players don’t get knocked onto the DL every year getting hit by pitchers, several with broken bones. As if this has ANYTHING to do with A-Rod’s injuries in year’s past.
OK, you want something to really twist your bowels? Here it is:
Jeter gets hit by a pitch and waives off the trainer and trots to first base. End of story.
A-Rod gets hit by a pitch and drops to the ground, rolls around in a hissy fit like a 3-year old who just lost his balloon, and then holds out his hand to the manager and trainer as if he’s hoping that they will kiss it and make it better.
Yes, Jeter did not break a bone. I guess his bones are not as brittle as A-Rod’s?
OK, now, flame away…
Steve L. wrote:
You just did.
Wasn’t Jeter hit on the tricep? Getting hit on a muscle and directly on a hand bone are two different stories.
Additionally, how is A-Rod’s injury issues the last 5 years different from the injury problems (back & wrist) that plagued Donnie Baseball the last 6 years of his career?
Jeter has been peppered by pitches throughout his career since he dives into the plate. I don’t ever recall him rolling around on the ground and crying when hit.
Mattingly had a back condition. A-Rod is a PED-body breaking down…like Juan Gonzalez and Giambi did. It’s hard to have sympathy for someone who brought it on, compared to someone who had it happen to him.
@ Steve L.:
Yes, but last night’s injury had nothing to do with PED use.
@ 77yankees:
Yeah, like I said, it was the inability to get out of the way of a 88 MPH pitch.
@ Steve L.:
Wow Steve, I am not a big A-Rod fan but your hatred of him is beyond sanity. Well, at least now you won’t have to watch him go out and underperform every day. Now we get to see what life without A-Rod is like (again).
@ LMJ229:
A-Rod played only 99 games in 2011 and the Yankees finished first.
A-Rod has played only 94 games this season. No reason why the Yankees can’t finish first this year without him.
@ Steve L.:
throw about 88 mph… let me throw one up and in at you and see let you see how easy it is to get out of the way… and getting hit on the hand hurts like you wouldn’t believe… imagine getting you’re whole hand caught in a car door just 5x worse… and with Jeter I remember when he got hit in the hand by Pedro and he was jumping around and holding his hand out and what not and now he has a pad built into the back of his glove to protect his hand
Steve L. wrote:
But I thought they were a crappy, mediocre .500 team? How could they finish first if your general, overarching premise is true?
The rest of the A.L. East is more flawed.
@ BOHAN:
88 MPH is not 95 MPH or even 91 MPH.
It was not a tough pitch to recognize and react to…or, at the least, it should not have been so hard.
Steve L. wrote:
Or he could’ve broken a wrist. Let’s see how Jeter reacts when he breaks a wrist. Much better I imagine than getting carted off the field in Toronto in 03.
Steve L. wrote:
Mattingly’s back injury could’ve been avoided.
Raf wrote:
Doubtful, because everyone knows Mattingly’s injuries weren’t selfish. Rodriguez’s broken hand, however, was an act of pure selfishness.
Stupidity, not selfishness.
Steve L. wrote:
Agreed
Steve L. wrote:
Ditto
Someone on the Yankees needs to grow a pair and send a few Mariners to the deck. Ichiro, Jeter, then A-Rod, then Raul got buzzed. Then Jeter gets plunked last night. The M players need to know when their pitchers “lose one inside” that often, they better stay loose at the plate. Shame on Girardi. Shame on Nova.
Steve L. wrote:
I don’t even know what you’re trying to say here. This makes no sense.
#15 wrote:
Anyone else see him get plunked by an 88 mph pitch yesterday? Anyone else see him limping after that?
Me neither.
@ MJ Recanati:
Makes no sense. I don’t care if it’s a 78MPH pitch… if you are looking away, guessing cureball, or the guys delivery slot is a bit different, or he is attempting to get in your kitchen….. a pitch riding up and in is tough to get clear of.
With respect to A-Rod’s reaction… Not everyone is Thurman tough when it comes to getting hit…. “Never even rub it.” Tex is almost comical when he gets plunked. I seem to recall Jeter jumping out of the way and shaking his hand when the replay showed he never got touched. I’ve always felt A-Rod was a bit ball shy. The way to pitch him is to push him back and then throw sliders down and away. Usually works if you can execute. Overall, he’s not a tough guy. But to question the instantaneous reaction when you get your hand broken by a ~90MPH rock is, well, a stretch to say the least.
I still think Joe G. needs make sure the hitters know that their own pitchers have their back. I’m not saying to bean anyone, but some bruised ribs and dirt on the back of the uniforms were in order before they left Seattle. Other teams and other pitchers are watching.
@ #15:
To be clear, I was being sarcastic. I don’t have any issue with a player — any player — showing pain when being hit by a pitch. Being hit by a pitch hurts, especially when it’s not on a part of the body with much padding.
Steve’s absurd criticism of Rodriguez’s demonstrable pain was shown to be even more absurd when, one day later, Jeter also showed demonstrable pain after being hit by a pitch thrown at the same speed.
#15 wrote:
Personally, I agree. AJ Burnett was always good about that in 2009. But, really, going all the way back to the Joe Torre days, it’s just not something the Yankees do a lot of (other than Roger Clemens, Joba Chamberlain and the aforementioned AJ Burnett).
Steve is now officially trolling us all and having a good laugh. There is no other reasonable explanation. He’s mad that A-Rod couldn’t get out of the way of an inside pitch? It happens to MLB players multiple times over the course of the season, but when it comes to A-Rod, it’s stupidity. Right.
We’re being trolled. Period.
JeremyM wrote:
Agreed.
MJ Recanati wrote:
Randy Johnson got ejected for throwing high and inside after Posada got plunked in 2006. I was at that game, it was probably the most cheers Randy got in his time as a Yankee.
Brent wrote:
I can’t say I specifically remember that incident but I certainly do believe that RJ would’ve been another to go tit-for-tat on HBP’s.
MJ Recanati wrote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/15/sports/baseball/15yanks.html
It was only 6 years ago but it feels like a relic from the way the Yankees handle hit-by-pitches now. Seemed the Indians understood why he threw the pitch too.
Even more of a relic: Andy Phillips hit a home run in this game. Wow.
Brent wrote:
LOL, I remember there was a little Andy Phillips fan club out there for a short period of time around ’05-’06.