Certainly, he's not the first great ballplayer to be treated like a bum by NY fans. As Jeter said last night, everybody gets booed. But it's starting to seem like the crowd wants Rodriguez to fail, like they're enjoying knocking him. Who gets their kicks this way? It's disgraceful.

Unfortunately, the only thing that's going to stop it is A-Rod. As I noted after the game last night, he managed to smile on the field celebrating the team's much-needed win. Perhaps the booing has become so senseless even the sensitive slugger can laugh it off.

The vitriolic booing of Alex Rodriguez at Yankee Stadium is asinine.

Alex Rodriguez is not only a great player, but a uniquely great player. By age 28, in only 8 seasons, he already had achieved a historically unprecedented career at shortstop. Without the steriod taint, he had 57 and 52 HR seasons, while fielding his position excellently. Because he WANTED to play for the Yankees, he was willing to abandon his position and to move to thirdbase. Last year, he produced what I think was the best season (along with Brett's 80 and 85 seasons) by an AL thirdbaseman.

It is our privilege as Yankees fans to watch this remarkable athlete perform in the prime of his career. Given time, we may have a chance to watch history unfold before our eyes, as he approaches the all-time HR record.

Those voicing their disdain are being herded like sheep by ignorant and/or anti-Yankees members of the media, and fans of other teams who despise the Yankees and Rodriguez.

This nonsense needs to stop.

But isn't this like the second day in a row (including an off day) that Proctor hasn't pitched? Is he hurt or just being a goldbricker. How are we going to find out if an arm really can fall off if Scott's just lazing away in the bullpen.

That being said, I have never, nor would I ever boo someone in pinstripes. It's completely incomprehensible to me how anyone who roots for this team could express their frustrations this way.

As you guys say, he's in good company. Everyone from the Babe through Mantle and Jeter have been booed. But Rodriguez is booed more viciously than Jeter has ever been--I think he gets the treatment Mantle used to recieve.

You are also correct in saying the only way out of this is for Rodriguez is produce. Perhaps getting away from the Stadium for a minute will help him get his groove back. (The boos on the road are different from the boos at home.)

Personally, I think booing a guy who hit 48 dingers and won the MVP last season and is one of the great players of all-time is retarded, but hey, people are entitled. I think it makes Yankee fans look like dopes. But as Judy Holliday liked to say in "Born Yesterday," "It's a free country."

I understand why Rodriguez catches grief. It is part and parcel of being a super duper star, part of what comes with inking that enormous deal. Even if I don't participate in that kind of thing (I just feel like it's bad karma), I understand that it is simply a part of the game.

But the thing that cracks me up is Yankee fans talking about who is a "true Yankee" and who is not. Ultimately, do you know who is a true Yankee to me? Any freakin' guy who wears a Yankee uniform. So long as they don the pinstripes, then, hey, they are a Yankee. Nevermind a player as great as Rodriguez.

Hey, unless their attitude and effort is lousy, I just can't get behind booing a guy who is struggling. I just don't think A Rod is a horsesh** player. If he's got any flaw it's that he tries to hard. That is something I can empathize with.

I know I spend a lot of time defending Rodriguez here, mostly repeating myself. I was thinking about Rodriguez the other day and it occured to me why I've rooted for him over the years (and I've liked him since his days with the M's). Part of it is his talent and skill. I've come to the point as a fan where I hate very few great players. Even if I don't particularly care for them, my admiration generally overwhelms any personal reservations I may have about a guy. But you know what the other part is? And this is a-b-c stuff.

It's cause we share the same first name. You've got to be a real jagoff for me not to root for a guy named Alex.

lol.

I guess if they're on the payroll, they're a true Yankee. The other Alex is probably a bad example, because he IS such a great player and a class act. But, I have never liked Sheff or Johnson and I'm sorry, I have a tough time rooting for them just because they're here. If they help us get #27, great, but I can't get behind them. Like I said, I'm old . . .

Every baseball player slumps. ARod's slump will be short-lived and he'll bounce back like a Superball.

I can not think of another situation where an MVP was rejected by the fans in his team's city. There may be instances of this, but I just can't think of any.

This has been simmering since day one, since the day he got to NY. This is not something new that just appeared in the past two weeks. When ARod is mocked for winning the AL MVP and for hitting two hrs vs. KC in May, there is nowhere to go when he actually plays poorly.

I'll give A-Rod a standing O, even from my living room. (the dog already thinks I'm nuts)

ARod's situation is unfortunate. I think he's a phenomenal player. I wouldn't want anyone else on the planet playing third base for the Yankees. He's having a rough patch, and I'm sure he'll get out of it.

However, as a fan with passion for the game and for the Yankees, what other choices do I have to express my displeasure with a crappy AB, four crappy ABs, or persistent hanging curves? Should I text the dude?

133.1 99 22 21 32 102 and 10HR

The cheers that Rocket got were more admiration and appreciation.

Paully got plain puppy love.

Jeter gets infatuation.

Giambi gets 55k thatta boy's.

Mo gets awe for a genius at work.

Jorge gets cheered but it just never seems intense.

Now the boos are tougher -

But A-Rod seems to be getting the 'angry failure' treatment. With the standards he's set, it's hard to expect otherwise. I seem to remember Winfield getting this treatment too. Mo got it at the beginning of last year.

But in all those expressions, there's never hate - just more like tons of peeps saying at once "What the hells the mattah wit you?"

Then of course there's the booing that the Sux got - former (Boggs, Rocket) and present (Papi) - the appreciation mixed in with the negativity.

Pedro circa 2002 - 2004 seemed to get something different - a mocking appreciation all in one. I seem to remember Jose Canseco in 1988 getting the same treatment.

It's just pretty cool - something as simple as "Yeah" and "Boo" can elicit a whole range of emotions depending on how it's amplified thorugh the crowd. Great stuff.

The best part about A-Rod though is he won't give up. So the moment when he makes it there, he'll have truly made it everywhere. Good times when it happens.

Like the song says, "No, it isn't pretty what a town without pity can do."

"Hi Alex"

Sheffield is blunt and mercenary, and blunt about being mercenary, good for him at least he's not a phony baloney media whore. I have no problem rooting for him.

The only baseball player I know of that under no circumstances would I root for, would have been Kevin Mitchell. The guy was a violent, dangerous, lethal psychopath. I'm sure there are other players who fit that bill, I just don't know who they are.

Even Barry Bonds, I think I could learn to root for.

15 Difference between an exasperated groan and orchestrated booing. Booing "lustily" at that. Dissatisfaction with ARod is not with 4 at-bats or even the last 29. Dissatisfaction with ARod is with his cumulative 2 1/2 years in NY. If you are personally dissatisfied with his 2 1/2 years in NY, then I beg to strongly differ.

I've always liked Damon, I just don't know what he'll have left in a year or two.

A friend of mine, Sox fan, used to say the name Johnny Damon sounded like a boxer from a 40's movie - - "That Johnny Damon, he's got a right like a freight train!"

The booing has gotten very old. At his current pace, A-Rod will end the season with:

132 runs scored (more than last year)
167 hits
21 doubles
3 triples
34 home runs
119 RBI
103(!) walks (more than last year)
145 K
16 SB

Those are some damn impressive numbers. Anyone want to bet he doesn't beat those? Me neither.

And give me a break with the steroid stuff, NOBODY has been forthcoming about their use of the juice. They'd be insane to be forthcoming about it.

I voiced my displeasure about the lustful boos of A-Rod on yesterday's thread. My question is this: If so many of us are so vehemently against the booing of A-Rod, who are the ones doing the booing? Are we at the Banter highly evolved or is it mob mentality congealing at the Stadium?

When I was a kid - and living in NY - my FAVORITE player was Winnie (I still have my 80's cartoon cariature T-shirt with Big Dave on it). And I can recall that, in one early-season game in '84 (the year he was runner up to Donnie for the batting title), he had a terrible game, striking out two or three times; and the boos were just relentless.

I cried.

Mike Schmidt.

I'm frustrated with A-Rod now and I expect big things from him in big spots so I understand some fans but I would never boo a Yankee.
I think A-Rod needs to get away from Yankee Stadium for a while b/c right now he's looking real bad.

32 I think all baseball hitters look overmatched at times. Especially guess hitters who tend to strike out looking, which the fans really hate. But even free swinging reigning MVP Vlad Guerrero was 1-for-20 in the ALCS last year. Jeter was 0-for-5 with 3 k's last Saturday. Oh, well.

I get a little bit miffed when Torre and others presume to tell ARod how to handle the game physically and mentally. (Torre will undoubtedy slip in a reference to his own 1971 MVP season.)

Point being, ARod is doing something right. If ARod puts pressure on himself, then this approach got him to 400 hrs quicker than anybody ever. It's kind of presumptuous to suggest that he'd have 500 hrs by now if he just relaxed.

Everybody knows he's not nearly the player he used to be, and there are a lot of hitters the crowd might rather see at the plate when Bernie steps up with runners on, but still they cheer him on.

Even funnier, if he hits into a double play or strikes out looking, Bernie gets the polite "well, good for you for trying" applause little leaguers get. It's like nobody wants to be the guy who boos Bernie. I love it.

28 Giambi was forthcoming and as far as I'm concerned, he deserves my respect far more than Sheff.

"uuuuhh.... i'm sorry... uuuhh... for uuuh.... i'm.... uuuhh... i'm sorry..."

But I don't think using steroids is anywhere near as bad as going in the tank. And thanks, RI Yankee - you're the only other person I've run into who still cares about that, as I do.

this is a nasty situation.. for soem reason, i think Jeter kind of wants this to happen..

Jeter has never gotten over some ARod's earlier comments with the M's

Even when they are high-5ing and laffing, i see a reluctance..

would it hurt to say.. hes our guy dont do this..

but the ARod boo'ers think they are right.. kind of stupid.. i cannot imagine our fans reading Lupica n watching ESPN and not filter it.. they drill u with the fact that Ortiz is clutch..

ofcourse they dont show u his K's and DPs..

its ESPN..

and this all adds.. we watch ARod every damn day and we get angry,

Ortiz went thru a 1-20 spell recently.. right no one knew it..

back to Jeter.. i think a statement wud help both from a team unity point of view and reigning in the rowdy fans..

He would have to go on that tear in the playoffs, leading to a Yankee World Series win.

Rather than make a direct and unsolicited statement, if he were asked by an enterprising young reporter like Phil Pepe how he feels about it that might be different and allow him the room to make a definite statement without undercutting A-Rod.

Perhaps Mr. Torre could say something directly and in an unsolicited fashion. It would carry some weight, it would not be a fellow player making the statement and it would be essentially a request from the team as a whole.

As I said on the previous thread, these people seem like morons and they sure as hell don't speak for me and it looks like from a quick read of the thread they don't speak for most of us. Is anything going to quell the blood lust this type of mob mentality breeds? We all have the right to say and do many things that good taste and common sense prevents us from doing. Carrying on this way about the reigning AL MVP and AL Player of the Month for May is simply, well, moronic. What it is doing to a member of our team is unspeakable. I am embarrassed but unfortunately not surprised.

And 57, I'll say one more time: Sheffield hasn't tanked for the Yankees - yet - but I'm not convinced he's a different person. He's made some very thinly veiled threats. If he's really different, a good way to show it would be to show some remorse about Milwaukee.

57If I may belabor this dead horse for just a few more sentences . . Schteeve, it's not about forgiving . . . I'm not his maker . . . I just don't like the guy and the fact that he plays for the team I've rooted for my whole life isn't going to change that. You can chalk it up to immaturity, I think it's his character. And to me, that still means something . . .

Farnswacker's brief appearance last night was a baby step back in the right direction for him, but Dotel getting ripped in the minors was a sobering reminder that his recovery from Tommy John could still take a while.

Has anybody heard rumblings whether Ramiro Mendoza is on the way? I'm surprised we haven't seen him already. What up?

Not literally any Yankee. Pick your spots. Nobody needs to vouch for Jeff Weaver.

I don't think ARod necessarily needs the support, but I've been waiting to hear it. Actually, since post-'04 when Schilling went after ARod and the Yankees were curiousy silent in response.

By the way, Torre merely repeats that ARod needs to relax and there is nothing Torre can do except help ARod relax. Give him a pat on the butt. Which may be true.

But then Torre said yesterday that ARod hasn't consistently produced as a Yankee. I almost drove my car off the road.

is it me or is Torre making some stupid ugly comments oflate..

this is the topper.. thats incredible

I hate the booing of ARod and admire a lot of what he's done as a Yankee. Great athlete, great hitter, all of that. The murmurs about him being a less than ideal teammate give me pause sometimes, but I mostly tune them out.

However, I can't deny that there is something about A-Rod when he fails that makes him look very helpless and swallowed up by the enormity of the moment. I know this is irrational, but I think it's weird how even I'm given to jumping to judgement on A-Rod in the heat of the moment...I'm thinking specifically about his error in Game 2 of the Angels playoff series, where he committed that ghastly error that opened up the floodgates for the Angels to come back.

There were so many team failings in that series, but for a few weeks afterwards, my mind kept flashing to A-Rod's game 2 error and this GIDP in Game 5. And this is from someone who doesn't hate A-Rod at all. I just wonder if it's his way of handling the spotlight that is making him so hated by the fans...and of course, that contract doesn't help either.

With all that said, I remember some incredibly vicious booing for Giambi last year, and he turned it around with weeks of hitting that saved our season last year. A-Rod is going to have to do the same thing, I guess. But it is weird and probably unfair to see how his successes are being minimized and subject to petty disputes (like that homer against Wakefield), while his failures are being magnified and broadcast with a megaphone.

Any takers?

Who's the asshole here. Someone who takes me up on my offer, or ME for offering so much money, for probably, my own personal reasons.

I repeat. Hicks offered ARod 25M/year when 20M would have done the trick. CV thought ARod would make 18M. Some spectulated as high as 20M... but that seemed like such a sick amount.

Tahada's in Baltimore.
Pudge is in Detroit.
Damon is in NY (for Christ's sake).
Clemens took the Spring off, doesn't travel and makes 22M/year.
ARod is not the first or last to go with the money. He saw his mistake and GAVE UP PLAYING SS, to be on the Yankees (didn't offer THAT to the Sox).

In terms of Bang for the Buck Production, there are many Yankees who are a worse deal then ARod. Consider that WE pay him about 17M. Same as Jetes, a little more then Randy, less then Moose.

Judge the athlete, not the athlete's bank account.

The booing is F'ed up. Lets hope he doesn't ask for a trade, because then you will hear what 50,000 crying at once sounds like.

Also, Shef's being Black has a lot to do with his behavior. Many Blacks in baseball feel there are still various forms of prejudice (I don't know enough to agree or disagree, but I believe it). Shef is very sensitive to that. Yes, he's a bit over the top, but there are deep internal feelings that sometimes have him with foot in mouth.

He was a warrior last year. He even finally took a cortizone shot this year, even though he didn't want to, because he knew he was needed. The guy's OK with me. I'll bet he's a good teammate.

http://tinyurl.com/ptxcv

He thinks kids who come up through the Yankee system, like Wang and Cano, do better than imports, if only because they've grown up in the crazy circus that is the NY Yankees organization.

It is kind of neat that last year's pair of rookies won the game for us last night, Wang on the mound, Cano at the plate.

As for A-Rod...at this point, I think any discussion of the booing will just make it worse. I wish the press would just drop it. They're only encouraging the boo-birds, and no doubt discouraging A-Rod the more attention they give the issue.

But the funny thing about the error is that it's the sixth inning of game 2 with Yankees leading in game and in series.

Is there a better time for ARod to make an error? It wasn't bases loaded bottom ninth or a tie game. Or is it just that he absolutely has to go every playoff series without ever making an error?

The floodgate it opened was one whole run. The Yankees lost by two runs. I don't quite see how a five-game series turned on one unearned run in the sixth inning of game #2. Because, of course, it didn't. It's just one error and it's just one run.

It's interesting you mention that specific play because I'm told quite often that Yankee fans should believe what they see (i.e., ARod is a choker and the stats don't tell the whole story). I think the opposite is occurring. I think people are seeing what they believe.

We could certainly use to see Good RJ.

84 I'm sure there's still a lot of prejudice in baseball, as everywhere else. There are a lot of black players; there were quite a few blacks on the Brewers that year. Sheffield's the only one who tanked. None of the other black players supported him.