Alex Rodriguez Thinks He Is Entitled
 

I don't vent much, but when this article "Alex Rodriguez doesn't understand why Yankees haven't retired his No. 13: 'It bothers me" came out recently, it definitely hit a nerve with me. I've been an Alex Rodriguez fan and collector since 1995. What irks me about him, even after all the negative crap that he has done, is his constant narcissistic and self-entitled attitude.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/alex-...retired-number

Arod lied about doing PEDs, got caught, then did it again; being suspended for the entire 2014 season (that sure helped the Yankees; great job Arod). He initiated a lawsuit against Baseball, Players Union, over PED investigation (which he was guilty of), which he later dropped. He sued the Yankees Doctor, which he later dropped. His negative conduct, at times, as a player with the Yankees, wasn't something to be proud of.

After all of the above, and more, he doesn't understand why Yankees haven't retired his No. 13. And to top it off, admits feeling slighted when Joey Gallo was allowed to wear the number during his disastrous run with the team. Yes, slams Gallo in the process.

Here's my advice to Arod, "keep your mouth shut! You're not entitled to anything!"

He's also a lousy announcer. I don't understand why ESPN hired him for their broadcasts. Before they moved him to ESPN2 (I think with Michael Kay), if I ever wanted to watch the game he was announcing, I would mute the sound so I didn't have to hear him.

I can understand self-centered people but he’s diluted on top of it. The last thing anyone remembers A-rod for is NOT hitting 700 home runs and getting suspended for an entire season. Why would the Yankees celebrate him in any way?

More full of himself than anyone I have seen in my lifetime.

For all his "all about me" BS stats, he is the most un-clutch hitter I ever saw.

Coasting on past glory is not the worst strategy for a franchise when your current team kind of sucks...

The Yankees are a mere shell of their former franchise.

As a life-long Yankee fan, this bothers me the most.

100% agree. They are a shell that has gotten by on branding alone. They don't even need to be the world beaters they used to be, to print money.

Totally. I still can't get over the fact that they trot out guys like IKF and Josh Donaldson while ostensibly trying to win baseball games.

According to fans of the Cincinnati Reds, the most unclutch hitter of all time is Joey Votto.
And as for shell of former glory, this makes me feel good. They have won 4 titles since Reds last won in 1990. However, I'm sure they will figure out how to right their ship. Yankees owner is still better than the Reds owner.

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I think A-Rod might be the most insecure "elite" athlete in history.

I'm still shocked after all these years that he even agreed to move over to 3rd base from SS, to accommodate Derek Jeter, when he came to the Yankees to begin with.

That was the only way that trade was ever going to happen, so it also shows how much he wanted to be "loved" by New York.

I'm a Yankee fan, and even I'm surprised at the accumulated statistics that A-Rod put up while with the Yankees...so a part of me says he may have a point.

A bigger part of me says "hell no", for many of the reasons already illustrated in this thread.

He might be more popular if he actually owned up to his "villain" status, but his need to be loved, adored, and paid attention to by everybody in his orbit...just makes him all the more insufferable.

I'm pretty convinced the only reason he only dated "celebrities" for so long, was because he thought it kept him "relevant"...not because he was ever in love with any of them...and I think they all figured that out about him at some point.

Both A-Rod and Clemens were likely taking PED's of some sort, while with the Yankees...but I believe most Yankee fans have much more positive thoughts about Clemens.......who was also a bit of a villain, but never pretended to be a good guy about it.

Clemens was kind of an asshole...but A-Rod was a vain, insecure, backstabbing asshole, and nobody really likes that in a personality.

I think the next number will be CC but never A-rod. Maybe Matsui down the line.

A-Rod
 

Fun! I rarely miss out on an opportunity to bag on this douche (that HAS
to be worth some points)... A-rod is the emperor with no clothes! Amazes me
when people cite him as a player who should be HOF. His entire career is
PED driven, the whole thing! What a tool.

Trent King

They hired him, paying him a lot of money, and even extended his contract. Somebody likes him at ESPN
And for all he has done wrong some how he still always on the news, is an astute businessman making loads of money and he is an owner of a basketball team.

That's what I do every time John Smoltz starts talking.

I hadn't seen Arod in years and saw him when watching a playoff game recently. He seemed to have by far the darkest tan I have ever seen on him. Is this something new?

Last year, I think Smoltz announced most of the Phillies games and by the end of the World Series, I had heard enough from him. This year he hasn't done any of their games so I haven't had to listen to him until the Phillies (hopefully) get back to the World Series. Still, I would take him any time over ARod.

Asshole? Absolutely. One of the most unlikeable players ever? For sure. Still unlikeable? Yep. Overrated as a baseball player? No.

Without knowing how long he was really on PEDs and what the true impact on his playing ability was, I think it's hard to say if he's overrated or not. If he was using them his whole career then how do you really know?

You could say that about almost anyone except Derek Jeter. How do we really know many more guys who didn't get caught weren't using?

A Rod
 

Peter- you just can’t stay on topic, can you? Keep it between the lines? No sir, gotta be different…the topic HERE is A Rod, not “other players”. “Other players” aren’t lamenting one of their former teams’ lack of interest in retiring their numbers, in some feeble attempt to stay relevant. That’s A Rod, and this is somewhere in the neighborhood of his one thousandth display of jackassery. He was a carpetbagger his entire career and his stat line is an asterisk- all of it. Any defense of him is you just playing games. Trent King

Agreed I am not a John Smolz fan either

It was a perfectly fair question in response to Jay's, because it brought up the difficulty with evaluating anyone during the steroid era including ARod, but I am sorry it triggered your OCD about going off topic. Hope all is well with you.

The Yankees retired Andy Pettitte's number in 2015; years after it became public knowledge that Pettitte was a steroid user and got dragged into the legal problems of that time over it.

The Yankees determined that steroid use is not a disqualifier for number retirement, nor is bad publicity in regards to it.

So... why wouldn't A-Rod's be retired, if the Yankees will retire the numbers of Steroid users? He was a far better player than Pettitte.

Seems like common sense that he would, thus, both qualify and merit number retirement.

Arod seems to do some serious triggering, LOL.
He was still a generational talent, that happens to be a douche.
I think there are many of those out there, that likely weren’t/aren’t as talented.

You know the answer. When a nice guy does it, they forgive it.

I would never ask a leading question I damn well know the answer to is corruption, hypocrisy or indefensible double standards.

There's a lot to be said when a media- and image-savvy person like A Rod publicly expresses resentment for his number not being retired and, even worse, that someone who didn't end up having a great year got to wear his number.

That's exactly why his number hasn't been retired by the Yankees. I don't think it's either necessary or sufficient for a player to have the greatest individual stats to get their number retired by their former team. Look at Gooden and Strawberry for the Mets. On the other hand, if a sizable part of the fan base uses words like "douchebag" and "self-centered" to describe you, it's going to be an uphill battle. Why? Because the fans don't want to see the jersey of a self-centered douchebag hanging from their rafters.

I don’t know why Pettitte got brought up. He pitched 16 seasons for the Yankees, won 5 titles, and was one of the most recognizable players on the championship teams. There were only two other Yankee pitchers with retired numbers when they retired his. He’s an all time Yankee. Alex Rodriguez was not.

ARod
 

Good morning net54ers-

bk400- perfectly put.

Peter Spaeth- I've said it before, bears repeating. People who dive behind
words like "triggered" have surrendered their legitimacy at the starting gun.
The mere fact that I called out your extraordinarily short attention span
doesn't mean I'm triggered- it's called discernment, and mine is based on
example after example. Truly, I'm stunned you didn't shoehorn an insult
about SGC while you were attempting to move the goalposts-again- on a
topic. The topic is ARod, not Pettitte, "other guys", etc.

Bottom line- ripping on ARoid is FUN low hanging fruit, which is entirely on
him. His 12 years with NY produced 1 Series win. He consistently feuded
with their front office, was suspended an entire season, and generally made
everything he possibly could make, about him. He admitted to steroid use
as far back as 2001, and Biogenisis clearly coincided with his prime Yankee
years later. He was a constant distraction who cared only about himself. I'm
no Yankee fan- an understatement- but their history is rich enough that they
can say "thanks, no thanks" to retiring this clown's number.


Trent King

Well said! Even after baseball, Arod continues to do everything he can to stay relevant, which is just more annoying to me. He takes his gum disease, like it's something new he discovered, and goes on shows to share his story, wanting to warn everyone, so he can save the world. Freakin annoying! It just never ends with Arod. It truly is difficult to like the guy.

I will say this. Putting all of his bull crap aside, I still always loved watching him play baseball.

He also opted out during the World Series. Nine out of ten memories a Yankees fan has of A-rod are about BS like that.

There is no reason to look at stats or accomplishments for A-rod. This is about being a Yankee fan and considering whether or not he really has any place in any discussion about the greatest Yankees. I can't imagine there are many of us who think he does.

You will also not see anyone wearing a number 13 jersey at the stadium.

Because, as very directly said, Pettitte is the clear and obvious proof PED’s are not a disqualifier and was less impressive numbers wise. A-Rod is the #1 Yankee 3B, and it’s not particularly close even. He’s an “all-time Yankee” by math if not emotion.

Why would there not be emotion involved? This is about retired numbers not stats or WAR. Pettitte is a fan favorite beloved Yankee and has nothing in common with Alex Rodriguez. Fans will never link them so there’s no reason to say because fans love Pettitte they must love someone else.

Because this thread was pretending it was about his PED use and scandal, which is a complete fiction with Pettitte as the obvious proof of that. The claim that Pettitte is an all time performing yankee and Rodriguez is not is laughably absurd. The real answer is that A-Rod is cast as a villain, and this has nothing to do with merit, consistency, or fairness. That’s the entire point.

Arod
 

Packs- good luck now that 1911 is weighing in. He’s never been wrong, just ask him. The #1 rule for 1911- he’s always right, and for heaven’s sake don’t question it… Now, for actual reality. Your point about emotion being part of number retirement- which again, Arod himself made news- is spot on. He is NOT an “all time” anything. His entire offensive output is asterisk- all of it. Trent King

Retiring a number is all about fan service. Talking about stats is meaningless to the conversation. Alex Rodriguez is a not a beloved player for any of the franchises he played with. The Yankees retiring his number wouldn’t make any more sense than the Mariners retiring it, which I highly doubt they’ll ever do.

Fundamentally, retiring a number is about fans saying goodbye to the player. No one is holding a candle for Alex Rodriguez.

All equivalencies are not the same. False equivalencies are neither pragmatic or logical. One guy being an asshole, doesn't cancel out another guy being a much bigger asshole. (There, I just said the same thing 3 different ways, for anybody who doesn't understand my point)

Yankees have no obligation to A-Rod...and A-Rod played out his contract as if he had no obligation to New York or even his own Players Union, whom he tried to sue when they couldn't overturn his well deserved suspension.

Most team union heads wanted to kick him out of the union after he pulled that stunt. He has no respect within the league, never mind within the Yankee organization.

A simple Google search shows his scumbaggery knows no bounds. Baseball related, and non-baseball related.

I don't care if David Ortiz has a PED strike against him or not. I don't care that I've rooted against David Ortiz for a large part of my adult life as a Yankee fan. Every time he subtly (or un-subtly) emasculates and embarrasses A-Rod on National Television, it brings a little smile to my face every time.

Don't care how much A-Rod's laughing (or crying) all the way to the bank. That doesn't garner respect from me. That doesn't mean he's "doing something right". :confused:

Call it hypocritical if you want, but I've long ago come to terms with the fact that "hypocrisy" is one of the most overused and misused terms in our language. We're all hypocrites in some way shape or form. Some more-so than others. Best to just acknowledge it and move on.

ARod
 

Packs- sounds like we are on same sheet of music here and saying it differently. ARod has one thing to hang his hat on in his one man effort to get a number retired- that’s personal achievement. That one thing has been rendered null and void by his own stupidity. There is NOTHING great about ARod, so the team sees no need to retire a number at his request. Trent King

Then make that argument in the first place. From post #1 this thread largely pretended it is about steroids; which is demonstrably false. You chose to make the argument the difference is that Pettitte is an all time Yankee but the far and away greatest 3B is not and this is not meritous is also demonstrably false.

If the argument is now (take 3) that yes, it has nothing to do with merit and is about narratives of heroes and villains independent of ascertainable fact, then we actually agree lol.

Again, why would it not be? Retiring a number has nothing to do with stats. It's fan service and something that is typical reserved for the most beloved players a franchise has ever had. There is no magic number for having your number retired. Nobody cares what your batting average was.

You brought up Pettitte like he informed the conversation, but he doesn't. Because unlike A-rod, Pettitte is someone fans loved.

Yankees should just start handing out his number randomly to no-hoper September AAA call-ups...see if they can get him to start crying on air, while Big Papi loudly laughs at him just off camera.


:D:D:D:D


My last post on this matter.







Probably not. ;)

I don’t choose the arguments other people make. I didn’t choose the canard of an argument that Pettitte is an all-time team Yankee and A-Rod isn’t. I didn’t choose the complete fiction that it’s about PED’s. Surely you can understand that Pettitte is the proof the original claim of the thread is untrue. PED scandal is not the line keeping him out, because they put in a worse player with PED scandals. No shit Pettitte informs that argument, because he’s the proof it’s false. I said from the get go media and fan narratives independent of fairness or fact is what it’s about. You seem to believe the same thing.

The first post was about why someone doesn't like A-Rod and did not include any references to anything the Yankees have said about A-Rod. If you're saying it's impossible to discuss retiring numbers at any point after that without talking about Andy Pettitte, that is not fact either.

I also have no idea what your beef is with Pettitte or why you're pretending he's not an all-time Yankee. He so obviously is and is so obviously beloved by everyone who follows the Yankees. I mean, what are you suggesting about him when you say things like it's a "canard of an argument" to talk about him being one of the all-time Yankees? How is that false at all?

.... I don't know how to make this any simpler. None of these words are complex. PED's is not the line; we know this because Pettitte was another PED user caught up in scandal over it they retired. That is why Pettitte is relevant; he is the undeniable proof that claim is false. This is incredibly simple.


I have given no opinion whatsoever on Pettitte, despite this lie of a claim. I liked him as a teen, he was a fun pitcher. It's just completely irrelevant.

I did not say talking about Andy Pettitte as an all time yankee is a canard, I say putting him and not A-Rod is a canard. A-Rod is far and away the all-time Yankee 3B. Pettitte is probably one of the starting pitchers. Your argument that Pettitte is a good retirement choice because he is on the all-time Yankee team is ridiculous, because so is A-Rod. Never did I "pretend" Pettitte is not, it's just that so is A-Rod so this is an absurdist argument.

You do a lot better if you argue against what was actually said and not bullshit you completely made up and is nowhere in the transcript.

Here is what your post said "I didn’t choose the canard of an argument that Pettitte is an all-time team Yankee and A-Rod isn’t."

Here is what your recent post said: "I did not say talking about Andy Pettitte as an all time yankee is a canard,"

I have bolded and enlarged the clause you are completely ignoring, so maybe you can figure it out.

You are still treating subjective things like they're provable facts or something. I said Pettitte was an all-time Yankee because he is. How do I know that? Because the franchise retired his number and put a monument of him in Monument Park.

You took that to mean there is some kind of starting nine or something that A-Rod belongs to and it's absurd to say he doesn't. But that has nothing to do with who fans consider to be all-time players for their franchise. Because once again, something like retiring someone's number or seeing them as an all-time player for your team is determined by the fan base and not stats.