Comments on: Alex Rodriguez: Tragic Hero? (Final Thoughts) http://pitchersandpoets.com/2009/04/02/alex-rodriguez-tragic-hero-final-thoughts/ both have their moments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:25:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Beth http://pitchersandpoets.com/2009/04/02/alex-rodriguez-tragic-hero-final-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Beth Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:34:38 +0000 http://pitchersandpoets.com/?p=236#comment-17 Like most Mariners fans I hated Rodriguez at first. Not for leaving the team when he was, arguably, at his peak as a player, but for the hypocrisy. He said he didn't want more money, he just wanted to be part of a winning team but then he went to the Rangers for the biggest paycheck in baseball at the time. Then, of course, he went to the Yankees and, as a Mariners fan, it's hard not to hate him for that too. However, now it's hard not to see him as a person instead of a uniform and a box score. It's somehow easier to like him when you hear him talking openly and (at least somewhat) honestly about his past failings on ESPN. If anything the doping (and the marriage troubles) make him more likable (or at least more relatable). Of course, I see him in that Yankee uniform and I can't help but still hate him a little...but not any more than the rest of the Yankees. Like most Mariners fans I hated Rodriguez at first. Not for leaving the team when he was, arguably, at his peak as a player, but for the hypocrisy. He said he didn’t want more money, he just wanted to be part of a winning team but then he went to the Rangers for the biggest paycheck in baseball at the time. Then, of course, he went to the Yankees and, as a Mariners fan, it’s hard not to hate him for that too. However, now it’s hard not to see him as a person instead of a uniform and a box score. It’s somehow easier to like him when you hear him talking openly and (at least somewhat) honestly about his past failings on ESPN. If anything the doping (and the marriage troubles) make him more likable (or at least more relatable). Of course, I see him in that Yankee uniform and I can’t help but still hate him a little…but not any more than the rest of the Yankees.

]]> By: Yo Alex http://pitchersandpoets.com/2009/04/02/alex-rodriguez-tragic-hero-final-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Yo Alex Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:09:01 +0000 http://pitchersandpoets.com/?p=236#comment-14 I don't know if A-Rod is a tragic hero or not but I do feel people treat him unfairly. The truth is, he is a great player, perhaps one of the best but he is flawed, he is human and that is what makes him so fascinating and why people care and write so much. He is interesting. Jeter is not interesting, he is a marketing robot, he goes out, plays well, says all the things you expect him to say, never a single surprise and people praise him for that. Fuck that Jeter is boring. A-Rod is insecure, so what, lets crucify him for that. I think the fact that it bothers him that people don't like him is cool. For the most part, it bothers everyone when someone doesn't like them as much as we never want to admit it. ARod chokes, when have we never choked, ARod cheated on his wife, when half of all marriages end in divorce, ARod cheated in baseball, and we all cheated at some point in our life, Arod wants everyone to like him, thats pretty common too. I think the fact that we have ARod and his insecurities and flaws - his humanity makes the MLB a much better league. Jeter and et al may be the heroes, but give me the human any day. I don’t know if A-Rod is a tragic hero or not but I do feel people treat him unfairly. The truth is, he is a great player, perhaps one of the best but he is flawed, he is human and that is what makes him so fascinating and why people care and write so much. He is interesting. Jeter is not interesting, he is a marketing robot, he goes out, plays well, says all the things you expect him to say, never a single surprise and people praise him for that. Fuck that Jeter is boring. A-Rod is insecure, so what, lets crucify him for that. I think the fact that it bothers him that people don’t like him is cool. For the most part, it bothers everyone when someone doesn’t like them as much as we never want to admit it. ARod chokes, when have we never choked, ARod cheated on his wife, when half of all marriages end in divorce, ARod cheated in baseball, and we all cheated at some point in our life, Arod wants everyone to like him, thats pretty common too. I think the fact that we have ARod and his insecurities and flaws – his humanity makes the MLB a much better league. Jeter and et al may be the heroes, but give me the human any day.

]]> By: BenDiddy http://pitchersandpoets.com/2009/04/02/alex-rodriguez-tragic-hero-final-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-13 BenDiddy Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:50:29 +0000 http://pitchersandpoets.com/?p=236#comment-13 You are giving Alex Rodriguez way too much credit in calling him a “tragic hero.” That suggests there is something actually tragic in his plight. I agree that he puts too much effort into caring what other people think, but at the same time his actions don’t exhibit a person who gives a fuck about his legacy. That is his biggest problem, and it all really boils down to him being an idiot. Look at Albert Belle. That guy was a grade A asshole, just an awful person. Yet, he didn't inspire anything close to the universal hatred that Rodriguez has accrued. Belle just didn’t give a shit what people thought about him. He did what he did, and for the most part, people really didn’t care. Meanwhile, Rodriguez tries to be the perfect citizen on the outside. He tries to be Derek Jeter. But at the same time, he uses steroids, hooks up with Madonna while still married or weakly tries to slap the ball out of the glove of a Red Sox first baseman in the ALCS. Everything he does screams 'hate me!' And yet, it bothers him so much. Being from Seattle, I remember when A-Rod left town. Sure he lied, saying it wasn't about the money, but still, he left as a free agent. Players do that all the time. However, when Ken Griffey, Jr. left town, he held the Mariners hostage, forcing them to trade with the Reds and only the Reds. Yet here we are nearly 10 years later and Junior is being welcomed back with open arms while fans at Safeco Field still drop monopoly money and throngs of "boos" onto Rodriguez comes into town. The only thing tragic about it is that we waste so much time thinking, writing and caring about Rodriguez. You are giving Alex Rodriguez way too much credit in calling him a “tragic hero.” That suggests there is something actually tragic in his plight. I agree that he puts too much effort into caring what other people think, but at the same time his actions don’t exhibit a person who gives a fuck about his legacy.

That is his biggest problem, and it all really boils down to him being an idiot.

Look at Albert Belle. That guy was a grade A asshole, just an awful person. Yet, he didn’t inspire anything close to the universal hatred that Rodriguez has accrued. Belle just didn’t give a shit what people thought about him. He did what he did, and for the most part, people really didn’t care.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez tries to be the perfect citizen on the outside. He tries to be Derek Jeter. But at the same time, he uses steroids, hooks up with Madonna while still married or weakly tries to slap the ball out of the glove of a Red Sox first baseman in the ALCS. Everything he does screams ‘hate me!’

And yet, it bothers him so much.

Being from Seattle, I remember when A-Rod left town. Sure he lied, saying it wasn’t about the money, but still, he left as a free agent. Players do that all the time. However, when Ken Griffey, Jr. left town, he held the Mariners hostage, forcing them to trade with the Reds and only the Reds. Yet here we are nearly 10 years later and Junior is being welcomed back with open arms while fans at Safeco Field still drop monopoly money and throngs of “boos” onto Rodriguez comes into town.

The only thing tragic about it is that we waste so much time thinking, writing and caring about Rodriguez.

]]> By: Yo Alex http://pitchersandpoets.com/2009/04/02/alex-rodriguez-tragic-hero-final-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Yo Alex Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:15:34 +0000 http://pitchersandpoets.com/?p=236#comment-12 I love how you call out Nate Silver. I love how you call out Nate Silver.

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