A-Rod chokes again...

Goalie · Post by **Goalie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:25 pm

With the USA tied with Japan in the 7th inning A-Rod struck out while only seeing one real strike in his at bat with Michael Young on 3rd and two outs. Two terrible swings at pitches that were not in the strike zone and the USA chance to take the lead was gone.

Rocco · Post by **Rocco** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:44 pm

Man, it's nice to be the team everyone wants to win- you get calls like that. There's no way the runner left early.

And no, I'm not shocked at all A-Rod screwed the pooch. He grounded into a double play in the 1st with runners on. The US's execution with runners in scoring position is Pirates-esque. And no, that's not good.

Goalie · Post by **Goalie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:51 pm

Rocco wrote:
Man, it's nice to be the team everyone wants to win- you get calls like that. There's no way the runner left early.

And no, I'm not shocked at all A-Rod screwed the pooch. He grounded into a double play in the 1st with runners on. The US's execution with runners in scoring position is Pirates-esque. And no, that's not good.

Yeah I have no idea what it is like to get a call like that in baseball, I am still not sure what to make of it. At regular speed, the first PIP replay, it looked like he left early but as they slowed it down he was definetely on the bag while the catch was made. On a side note though Japan caught a break on the check swing that was ruled a ball but definetely should have been a strike.

I was willing to forgive A-Rod for that first inning at-bat if he would have made up for it in the 7th but that was obviously out of his capabilities.

BTW, nice throw by Randy Winn on that play, he should have just rolled it into the infield and saved everyone the trouble.

Goalie · Post by **Goalie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:18 pm

The reaction of Griffey's kid when Griffey swung at ball four which if he let go would have won the game for the US was priceless.

I wonder how many times Ken Jr. has reminded little Griffey not to swing at pitches like that.

A-Rod up now, this should be good.

Rocco · Post by **Rocco** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:19 pm

A-Rod in the 9th with the bases loaded and 2 out- a bleeder up the middle. I think it may have been his first clutch hit in his lifetime.

Goalie · Post by **Goalie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:21 pm

A-Rod comes through!

He fought off a tough inside pitch for a single up the middle that won the game for the US 4-3.

Bowser · Post by **Bowser** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:51 pm

or God forbid anyone criticize the biggest team killer in baseball.

Rocco · Post by **Rocco** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:57 pm

Sorry, but I'm not a fan of A-Rod, and his past performance in tough situations isn't very good. There's a reason that Rangers fans called him A-Fraud. He hit .133 last postseason. In 2004, he hit .258 against Boston, including 0-7 with runners in scoring position. He'd been a mess in big spots earlier in the WBC. His reputation for struggling when it matters. Don't confuse dislike for a player and recognition of past struggles for some sort of anti-patriotism.

Bowser · Post by **Bowser** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:05 pm

When I lived in Spokane and watched A-Rod fail time after time for the Mariners, I knew he wouldn't do a thing for the Rangers and even worse in New York.

He's a great talent, no doubt but like Barry Bonds, he's a ME first guy.