First Tek, now Trot...

[Cyberlibrarian]

According to Yahoo sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpcDBuM2RlBF9TAzk1ODYxNzc3BHNlYwN0 aA--?slug=ap-redsox-nixon&prov=ap&type=lgns), there's more A-hole bashing going on:

Trot Nixon added fuel to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry on Tuesday by criticizing Alex Rodriguez even before the first spring training workout for either team.

Boston's outfielder praised Rodriguez's playing ability but said New York's third baseman wasn't the ``Yankee type.''

``I don't look at him as that. He might be in a lot of people's eyes,'' Nixon said. ``He's done some great things on the field. He's one of the best baseball players in the game and probably will be when it's all said and done.


``But when people ask me about the Yankees, I tell them about (Derek) Jeter and Bernie Williams and (Jorge) Posada. I don't tell them about Rodriguez. ... He can't stand up to Jeter in my book or Bernie Williams or Posada.''

...Nixon also criticized Rodriguez for slapping the ball away from Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo along the first-base line during Game 6 of the AL championship series and then complaining when he was called out.

``You're the one that swung the bat and hit that little nubber down there,'' he said of Rodriguez.

...He didn't say that A-Rod had criticized his workout regimen. But Nixon but did say that Rodriguez boasted about his own regimen.

``Like Rodriguez says,'' Nixon said, ``his running stairs at 6 in the morning while I'm sleeping and taking my kids to school. I'm like, well I'm not a deadbeat dad, Alex.''

On Nov. 18, Rodriguez's wife gave birth to a daughter.

``He's got a kid now, too, so I guess he'll have his limo driver take her to school,'' Nixon said. (editorial comment: :laff: )

...``I don't feel sorry for Giambi but I do have a great amount of respect for him, for what he's done in this game, the kind of person he is,'' Nixon said. ``He's a superstar and he doesn't act like it.

``A lot of people have lost respect for people like Giambi. I can't judge him for what he did,'' Nixon added. ``I don't even know him that well but I enjoy talking to him over at first base. He's a very good ballplayer. He plays hard. He plays with passion and what's happened to him right now is (that) he seems to be the bullseye'' for steroid critics.

[I Are Baboon]

GEEEEEEZ! That funny thing about all this is that Trot could totally kick A-Rod's ass in a fight. :)

You've got to think there is a reason all these Sox players have nothing but bad things to say abut A-Rod and no other Yankees.

[PissedPrincess]

I could kick AROD's ass. I bet AROD wishes he kept his ass in Texas. :laff:

[Thedatch]

thing is, trot shouldnt really be talking cuz he didnt play at all last year...not very much at least...

[BayStateBabe]

thing is, trot shouldnt really be talking cuz he didnt play at all last year...not very much at least...
But he still has one thing Arod doesn't...a ring.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but:

1. The Yankees are the third team he was supposed to bring a championship to and failed. The Mariners and Rangers even got BETTER after he left.
2. He's the highest paid and most hyped player in the game.
3. He's a whining little priss who is easily flustered.
4. He's talked about how "painful the ALCS was" to him ( :loser: )
5. He's been challenged by George

Is it possible the Sox are deliberately playing mind games with him?

[Thedatch]

But he still has one thing Arod doesn't...a ring.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but:

1. The Yankees are the third team he was supposed to bring a championship to and failed. The Mariners and Rangers even got BETTER after he left.
2. He's the highest paid and most hyped player in the game.
3. He's a whining little priss who is easily flustered.
4. He's talked about how "painful the ALCS was" to him ( :loser: )
5. He's been challenged by George

Is it possible the Sox are deliberately playing mind games with him?

thats not a conspiracy theory, its a fact...if you pay too much money on one player, then you wont be able to pay for the rest of your players, and everyone knows you cannot win with just one player. Thats for the mariners and rangers anyway...the yankees we will see about, hes only been there for a year.

[Blue56]

seriously guys, i know I hate A-rod but i'm kind of tired about hearing A-rod this A-rod that. And he said this and he did that. A-rod's a moron lets leave it at that.

[I Are Baboon]

Blue speaketh the truth.

[Liter22]

It's just so much easy to call A-Rod names like asshat. But Blue is right. *props given to Blue*

[BayStateBabe]

Tis true...that DOES sum things up perfectly.

[Cyberlibrarian]

:hail: Blue!

[Liter22]

But can we also agree that on the asshat scale A-Rod is right there with Conseco?

[Timberwolf]

seriously guys, i know I hate A-rod but i'm kind of tired about hearing A-rod this A-rod that. And he said this and he did that. A-rod's a moron lets leave it at that.

I agree with you. I am not sure why Trot Nixon would open his mouth for. A-Rod is a punk. I think players and fans know that. Why excaerbate the situation for? Why open up a bonfire?

[Timberwolf]

But can we also agree that on the asshat scale A-Rod is right there with Conseco?

Of course.

How about Canseco calling Pay-Rod as a fake and a politician in his new book.

[cxlx]

Yankee Circus: No End In Sight
by Michael J. Ryan of BostonHerald.com
The Yankees head to spring training with a ton of talent and some serious off-the-field issues. The ‘roid questions will continue to propel the media frenzy during March and no one is really sure what kind of impact it will have on the team.

This kind of circus stuff happened before, but the Yanks could always count on beating the Red Sox and playing deep into October to halt it. That superiority no longer exists, though. New York is now trying to take the World Series back from Boston. Ultimately, that’s what makes the spring training scrum in Tampa so hilarious.

In the latest news about the Vaunted & Storied:

-- Gary Sheffield is making a list and checking it twice. If you didn’t vote for him in the 2004 MVP balloting, he’s not interested in speaking with you.

-- It took NY print reporters 30 minutes to ask a non-soap opera question to manager Joe Torre.

-- The Big Unit arrived but did not check in. He plans to be there today.

-- Don Mattingly is in BALCO All-Star Jason Giambi’s corner.

-- The Empire seems to be publicly supporting Jay-G. Let’s wait and see if that’s still the case if he’s hitting .216 on Memorial Day.

-- No matter what, Trot Nixon still has one more World Series ring than A-Rod.

[Cyberlibrarian]

[B][SIZE=3]
-- No matter what, Trot Nixon still has one more World Series ring than A-Rod.


And Curt Schilling still has one more than Randy Johnson. :D

[Cyberlibrarian]

Get this (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/sports/baseball/17roberts.html?oref=login) from today's NY Times. This one's worth breaking the law for:

February 17, 2005
SPORTS OF THE TIMES
Rodriguez Is Getting Hits, to His Glowing Reputation
By SELENA ROBERTS

TAMPA, Fla.

SOMEHOW, the sheen that once graced the perpetually glistening facade of Alex Rodriguez has morphed into a repellent of sorts.

These days, few peers want to be near Rodriguez, a star increasingly strapped with authenticity issues. Phony was the description Jose Canseco chose in his best-selling tell-all book when chiding Rodriguez for speaking as if he test-runs his thoughts through "some kind of focus group beforehand."

"Alex, in particular, leaves most corporate spokesmen looking unpolished and overly sincere," Canseco writes in "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big."

True, overdosing on steroids has probably left Canseco loony, but what about everyone else? On Tuesday, Boston's Trot Nixon singled out Rodriguez for failing to be a genuine Yankee like the true-blue Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams.

He also mocked Rodriguez for bragging about his workout regimen in the off-season. "Like Rodriguez says, he's running stairs at 6 in the morning while I'm sleeping and taking my kids to school," Nixon told reporters. "I'm like, well I'm not a deadbeat dad, Alex."

Nixon's hit streak continued as he added this kicker concerning Rodriguez's entrance into fatherhood: "He's got a kid now, too, so I guess he'll have his limo driver take her to school."

That's got to leave a mark, even on A-Rod's pristine veneer. But certainly, Rodriguez would be able to take comfort in teammates who would give him a kiss on the head and a spray of Bactine for the boo-boo, right? Certainly, his reputation would be valiantly defended by everyone assembled at the Yankees' spring training facility - except that it wasn't.

"That's between them," Jeter said of the Nixon flap. "I have nothing to do with that one. That's Trot and Alex."

But wasn't Jeter offended by the brazen swipe taken at his fellow infielder?

"Alex will be here soon," Jeter said. "Ask him if he's offended by it."

To be fair, Jeter never engages in mudslinging, but he didn't have to trade barbs with Nixon in order to defend Rodriguez's Yankee virtues. Demeaning an opponent and supporting A-Rod can be mutually exclusive, but Jeter's curiously passive tact was the boilerplate response from many of the Yankees.

Even an old Yankee turned new again, Mike Stanton, revealed the level of A-Rod's clubhouse status by unwittingly validating Nixon's comments. "When you talk about the Yankee organization, it's Derek Jeter, Posada, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams," Stanton said. "The rest of us are just the supporting cast."

Somehow, A-Rod has been reduced to a sale-rack item. In the off-season, even George Steinbrenner decried the pedestrian state of his superstar when, as Sports Illustrated reported last month, he used select language in challenging Rodriguez to assert himself.

How did the mannequin become human? Maybe it was the Slap, when a catty Rodriguez pawed the ball out of the glove of Boston's Bronson Arroyo in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series last season? Or was it the Slump, when Joe Torre had to move Rodriguez up to a cushy spot in the batting order to induce productivity? Perhaps it was the Trade, when the Red Sox were unable to broker a deal in December 2003 to acquire Rodriguez from the Rangers, only to dance with serendipity when they were happily stuck with the batty Manny Ramirez.

"He's a lightning rod for a lot of things that took place for them last winter," Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said of Rodriguez's relationship with Boston. "And they're focused on it."

That may explain some of the A-Rod backlash, but the Contract is at the root of Rodriguez's plunge from perfect. It's not how others handled his $252 million deal, but how A-Rod responded to his riches.

In December 2000, Rodriguez was handed the record-breaking deal by the naïve owner of the Texas Rangers, Tom Hicks. In February 2001, Jeter signed the second-biggest deal, for $189 million with the Yankees.

At that point, Jeter began wearing his contract as a responsibility, while Rodriguez started to treat his deal as a stamp of superiority. Once they began playing side by side, the differences between those two philosophies began to surface, with Jeter doing the small things that count in big moments, with A-Rod pulling off big moments at insignificant times.

All of this makes Steve Phillips's "24-plus-one" remark in 2000 seem clairvoyant instead of crazy. The Mets general manager that courted A-Rod that year, Phillips pulled out of the race, citing the excessive perks requested by the agent Scott Boras. Like a billboard presence in the city. Like a private plane. Like a separate marketing staff.

"I just hope the people in New York don't believe that silliness," Rodriguez said at the time.

If New Yorkers believed Rodriguez then, they may be wondering now. Not because of any diva-like fits, but because A-Rod has yet to reveal himself as the real deal.

Many people have noticed - from Canseco to Nixon - and even his teammates seem to be struggling with whether Rodriguez is an authentic Yankee.

E-mail: selenasports@nytimes.com

tee hee :laff:

[I Are Baboon]

Geez, no one is coming to his defense. That really says a lot.

There is a similar article at The Daily News' website (I think??).

[Obri]

Wow, Julie, you really have to stop whining about A-Rod and focus on your own team, the Boston Red Sox. Or is it someone else, I can never remember.....

[PissedPrincess]

Wow, Julie, you really have to stop whining about A-Rod and focus on your own team, the Boston Red Sox. Or is it someone else, I can never remember.....

If this thread was in the Yankee forum, you would have a point. But it's not. It is here in the Red Sox forum. So back off............:smokin:

[Cyberlibrarian]

Wow, Julie, you really have to stop whining about A-Rod and focus on your own team, the Boston Red Sox. Or is it someone else, I can never remember.....

Who's whining? I read this article and had a good laugh (hence the "tee hee :laff:"). You're the one coming here with the sour grapes attitude.

As for which team I root for, it's really none of your business, but I've been a Mets fan since 1962 and a Sox fan since 1975. Is that alright with you?

[Cyberlibrarian]

Geez, no one is coming to his defense. That really says a lot.

There is a similar article at The Daily News' website (I think??).

Ask, and ye shall receive:

Lone ex-Ranger A-Rod gets no support among Yanks (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/281611p-241324c.html)

This one's got some good stuff in it too:

TAMPA - Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon called Alex Rodriguez a "clown" twice on Tuesday but the Yankees didn't respond in kind yesterday. Actually, they didn't respond much at all.

...Maybe the Bombers were just trying to avoid another Red Sox-Yankee war of words, but the lack of support for A-Rod was noticeable. Numerous members of the organization have gone out of their way to stand up for Jason Giambi recently, and the Bombers have also stood by other players in the past - like Roger Clemens during the Mike Piazza beaning flap of 2000.

..."I've been here my whole career, so the Yankees, you go out there and do things the right way. You take into consideration the team before you take into consideration yourself. We're all about winning."

Jeter was speaking generally, but some might perceive it as a subtle shot at Rodriguez's back-and-forth with Sox pitcher Curt Schilling this winter, a tiff that heated up after A-Rod's infamous "slap play" in Game 6 of last fall's ALCS.

...Nixon's comments were inspired by a recent interview A-Rod did in which he talked about his intense offseason workout program which starts at 6 a.m. and lasts six hours - a routine he follows faithfully, despite the birth of his first child in November.

"He said he's doing all this while 600 players are still in their bed," Nixon told reporters. "I said, 'What's wrong with me taking my kid to school? I'm not a deadbeat dad, you clown. I work out for three hours in the weight room, and I hit for another two or three hours (later in the day). What makes you so much better?'"

It says an awful lot to me that they would rather defend the Rockette and Giambi than A-rod.

I repeat: tee hee :laff:

[cxlx]

If this thread was in the Yankee forum, you would have a point. But it's not. It is here in the Red Sox forum. So back off............:smokin:

I LIKE Dan, SO I was trying to think of a nicer way of saying what you just said. But I guess you summed it all up. ;)

[Obri]

You're the one coming here with the sour grapes attitude.

God forbid I should take exception to something you say, when you are the one who has had sour grapes since I started posting here, with your tiresome moaning about whatever is happening with the Yankees, regardless of it's importance.

This could have been a long post, and believe me, there is nothing I'd like more than to "discuss" this further with you, but like Jacqui said, this isn't the place, so for the sake of everyone else here, I'm gonna drop this now.

Nice talking to you as ever.

[PissedPrincess]

I LIKE Dan, SO I was trying to think of a nicer way of saying what you just said. But I guess you summed it all up. ;)

Me too, but after having spent 2 months of hearing trash in the football forum, I'm out of niceities. :D

[cxlx]

Me too, but after having spent 2 months of hearing trash in the football forum, I'm out of niceities. :D


We need more love around here. :lust:

[rockin500]

I love you, you love me, we're all one happy family. :D

[I Are Baboon]

http://i.cnn.net/si/2003/baseball/mlb/specials/postseason/2003/10/04/athletics.redsox.game3.ap/p1_nixon_ap.jpg