Rodriguez, whose fielding error led to the tying run for the Angels in their Game 2 victory, certainly didn't leave much of an impression with his bat.
He was hitless in Monday night's 5-3 loss that sent the Yankees home for the year, and finished the five-game series with no RBI and a .133 batting average.
He felt he let his teammates down.
"I played great baseball all year, and I played like a dog the last five days. I can't put it into words. This is as low as it gets. I felt good, I saw the ball well," Rodriguez said. "If I would have contributed some, maybe we would be moving on to Chicago.
"I've got to take a long look in the mirror because I didn't do my part. I mean, you win and lose as a team, but I didn't show up."
He wasn't the only one.
Gary Sheffield, quiet most of the series, had three hits in Game 5, but all singles. He didn't have an extra-base hit in the series and drove in only two runs.
Hideki Matsui had a similar five games.
In the Yankees' final at-bat of 2005, Matsui grounded out with two on. Rodriguez had already grounded into a double play earlier in the inning.
Of 11 runners the Yankees left on base, Matsui stranded eight. He was 4-for-20 in the series and had only one RBI, on a home run.
More evidence of my minority opinion that you cannot buy championships. The Yankees use to have clutch hitters and scrappy players that came through in big games. Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill along with Bernie, Jeter and Posada use to come through in tight situations.
The Yankees either traded for those players or developed them. Of that group, only Jeter is a Hall-of Famer, but they're all more dedicated players than the bunch New York has now. Sheffield, Rodriguez and Matsui played like a bunch of Hessians. Giambi did slightly better this year but he's been a bust for the most part since his signing.
Instead of paying big money for Brown, Pavano, Johnson and Wright, the Yankees would have been better keeping Pettite and Clemens and maybe even gulp. . . David Wells.
4 comments:
ARod could have erased it all with his last AB. You just have to contribute once to be a hero and erase all the ohfers. Instead of waiting for a pitch to drive, he swung at a tailor-made double play pitch.
If they couldn't even get through the Angels rag tag pitching, even a hit by ARod would have only prolonged the inevitable against the ChiSox.
On ESPN radio yesterday, Erik Kuselias invited listeners to come up with some reason, any reason, why it was a good thing that the Yankees and Red Sox had been eliminated. Without a team left in the playoffs that fans outside the home cities can feel passionate about one way or the other, there is no draw, no compelling reason to watch. I did not hear anyone come up with anything better than "It's been since 1917 for the White Sox" which is not very compelling. The remaining teams do not have any kind of broad appeal.
I agree with Steve that the NLCS could be the series to watch. You've got the Rocket on the Astros, plus the Biggio/Bagwell sentimental thing. Oswalt gets his due, Berkwell raises his profile. Wily Taveras is the likely ROY. Cards put Pujols in the spotlight, who is the game's reigning superstar. Carpenter is the likely CY; Edmonds is a joy to watch; Walker on his last legs.
The ALCS can't compare unless fans can learn to appreciate how guys like Scot Shields and Adam Kennedy produce championships.
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