http://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/hc-arod0313.artmar13,0,7381583.story?coll=hc-headlines-baseballA-Rod The Yankee: It's Been Unreal
Criticized As A Phony, His Image Has Taken A Hit
By DOM AMORE
Courant Staff Writer
March 13 2005
TAMPA, Fla. - It was a brief break during batting practice, a moment most players would use for a quick swig of Gatorade or maybe a quick tip for a teammate.
"Come on, man, lead us to the promised land," Bernie Williams told Alex Rodriguez as they reached the dugout together.
"You've already been there, Bernie," Rodriguez answered, "I'm following you. You've been there six times, you've got four flags, we've got to get back. You have no idea how bad I want that ring. ... You have no idea."
This was one of those A-Rod moments that his critics, most notably Jose Canseco and the Red Sox, love to hate. There were reporters nearby, obviously in earshot. Was Rodriguez revealing himself? Or was he putting on a show, trying to craft an image? Instead of "How you doing, man," or "You're swinging good today," the moment played corny, like a scene out of a Disney movie.
"He's better at politics than any politician I've ever seen," Canseco wrote in his book "Juiced." "... When it comes to dealing with the press, Alex and the other politicians in baseball know just how to say the correct thing. It'll be pure drivel, but it sounds like baseball talk and that's what matters."
To be certain, he is not the only professional athlete given to mouthing clichés and platitudes, but for some reason the tags of "disingenuous" and "conceited" stick hard on Alex Rodriguez. A year after joining the Yankees amid a torrent of fanfare, he has gone from being one of the most popular players in baseball, one routinely called the best player in the game, to something like a bull's-eye after archery practice - this despite movie star looks, fluency in English and Spanish and seven consecutive seasons of 35 homers, 100 runs and 100 RBI. And he has never been mentioned in any controversy damaging to the game.
"I think he's getting some really bad coaching, and I don't mean on the field," says Lauren Solomon, founder and director of LS Image, a New York-based image consulting firm. "He seems to be giving a lot of thought to what person he thinks he should be. I think people want to see a real person there. If a you're talented and people see you as nice, there's no way to go farther in this country."
Since leaving Seattle as a free agent after the 2000 season, Rodriguez, 29, has done certain things that appeared aimed to set him above other players. His agent, Scott Boras, put together a thick book extolling his virtues and tried to market him as a world-famous athlete on the level of Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. Rangers owner Tom Hicks bought in, and anted up a 10-year, $252 million contract that has not been approached since.
In three years in Texas, Rodriguez put up great numbers and was an occasional golf partner of Hicks, further separating himself from everyday players. The team finished last each season and Rodriguez facilitated a trade. He was willing to give back money to go to the Red Sox, but the players association wouldn't allow it. Then Rodriguez agreed to move from shortstop to third base to join the Yankees. Though he hit .286 with 36 homers and 106 RBI and played a strong third, much of the focus was on his lack of production with runners in scoring position (.248).
"When you're as talented as Alex is and you make the money he does, you're a natural target for people," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Alex knows where his support comes from."
In the glare of New York, and in the middle of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, Rodriguez was involved in a brawl in Boston last July after pitcher Bronson Arroyo hit him in the elbow. The Red Sox felt Rodriguez was trying to intimidate a young pitcher. In the ALCS, Rodriguez tried to slap the ball out of Arroyo's glove on a play at first base. He was called for interference and the Red Sox called him unprofessional. Players also grumbled about Rodriguez putting his hand in second baseman Mark Bellhorn's face as Bellhorn attempted to turn a double play.
Said Rodriguez this spring: "We live in a world where not everyone is going to like you, and that's never going to change."
In January, Rodriguez invited a reporter from The Record of Hackensack (N.J.) to his home in Miami to work out with him, and during the course of his interview he said he was up early each morning while other players were "sleeping in or taking their kids to school." This tore it for the Red Sox, and one player after another, starting with Trot Nixon ("I'm not a deadbeat dad, you clown") took shots at him when they reported to spring training.
"People who say things about him are people who don't really know who he is," Williams said. "A lot of players who have his kind of ability are very cool about it. They act like `it's just what I do every day,' like it comes very easily for them. Alex shows a lot of emotion. He really enjoys it when he has success, and maybe this is something that rubs people the wrong way. I don't know."
Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, a Yankees special adviser, talks to Rodriguez frequently about handling New York, handling stardom. Jackson was outspoken about his ability, and was sometimes resented for it.
"It's more of a problem in baseball than it seems to be in other sports," Jackson said. "Baseball is considered more gentlemanly; golf is similar. Tiger Woods is a guy who has more admiration than he has envy. Michael Jordan has more admiration than he has envy. I remember hearing him say, `I dominated in every facet of the game.' To me, he's just speaking the truth, but maybe some people
are uncomfortable with something like that."
Solomon said Rodriguez's image would have recovered quickly from most of the issues, but compared the remark about his workouts to Hillary Clinton's barb at the classic country song "Stand By Your Man" during her husband's 1992 presidential campaign.
"It happens all the time in every profession," Solomon said. "You work hard at building a good reputation, and then you say one thing and it's gone. Now that he has , I want to hear him say that changing diapers and cleaning up spit is more important than pressing another weight. A little humility would go a long way."
When he reported for spring training, Rodriguez said he was "proud of his workouts," but that he would not make the mistake of talking about them again. He has referred to Arroyo as "Brandon," which has been taken as a put-down, rather than a slip of the tongue.
Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, once close friends, now have a cooler relationship. After signing with Texas in December 2000, Rodriguez made remarks downgrading Jeter's importance to the Yankees. Many saw Rodriguez's move to the Yankees as engineered to steal Jeter's thunder, though Rodriguez never once indicated he wanted to play shortstop. When none of the Yankees players, including Jeter, the team captain, made a strong statement supporting him in the wake of the Red Sox's comments this winter, it lent credence to the perception that Rodriguez was not well liked in his own locker room.
"A lot of times a player will seem like a hot-dog on the field, but then his teammates will defend him by saying, `Oh, he's really a great dude. He's nothing like he is on the field,'" said one member of the Red Sox Saturday, requesting anonymity. "But you never hear any of say that about him."
Williams, the senior member of the Yankees, said the team's silence should not be misinterpreted.
"Alex knows he has our support," Williams said. "He understands that it's just the way we handle things here. You don't hear us responding through the media or saying things about other teams. You don't really know , but I think his approach was that if he didn't say anything it would die down."
That "above-the-fray" strategy made Rodriguez seem even more distant to some in the media, but it was effective. Red Sox players have stopped commenting on the record about Rodriguez, possibly because manager Terry Francona was bench coach in Texas when Rodriguez was there, and had expressed high regard for him.
"I would prefer our guys talking about our guys," Francona said. "I think that's the right thing to do. We talked about it."
Jackson said his main concern is A-Rod's relationships with George Steinbrenner, Torre and the team, not how opponents perceive him.
"You don't let lightweights into your ring when you're a heavyweight," Jackson said. "He shouldn't respond at all. His answer should sound like this: `Bang! Pow! Slam!' He has more skills than 99 percent of the guys playing, and that's always going to be Alex's trump."
Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant 
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