Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez has finally played a significant role in helping his team win the World Series.

Until this season, many in the media fostered the belief that Alex Rodriguez was the major reason the Yankees had not been World Champions since 2000, which is patently false.

Solid Pitching Wins the World Series

The Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series because they had solid pitching.

Alex Rodriguez is one of sports' most talked about icons. A man hated and loved by millions. Red Sox fans loved him during trade talks until he became a Yankee. Yankee fans hated him for becoming Yankee. New York is the toughest place to play sports—has been and always will be. It's Gotham. It's one of the world's most famous locations ever. If you think playing in New York is easy, ask Carl Pavano, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Stephon Marbury, or Mark Sanchez.

I recently took a written beating for saying that I thought Joe Mauer was helped greatly by being a catcher, in his recent naming as the American League's Most Valuable Player for 2009.

With that being said, is Mauer not only the best catcher in the game, is he also the best player in MLB? Let's not throw pitchers in this mix, I would like to be able to compare "apples with apples."

Remember 1997? Spice Girls. Titanic. The Simpsons (back when it was still good). And Ken Griffey Jr.

Ok, so maybe Griffey wasn’t a pop culture icon like Baby Spice, Leo, or Homer J(ay), but he was the unquestioned king of baseball.

He hit home runs. He made great plays. He smiled. He had fun playing. We had fun watching.

Griffey was the type of superstar professional sports yearn for. Yes, he was a little cocky with his home run strut, but what star athlete isn’t?

Griffey had a presence.

Ever since 2004, Alex Rodriguez had to listen to the criticism, hatred and talk of under-performing in the biggest games.

The, "You're a bum, A-Rod, you strike out in the biggest spots," or the "you're never going to be as good as Jeter is," o ther "we won't win a championship with you because you suck."

On and on. 2004. 2005. 2006. 2007. Failed Octobers with the Yankees.

In 2008, the Yankees didn't even make the playoffs, though A-Rod signed a new 10-year, $275 million dollar deal the winter before the season.

Unthinkable!

After the New York Yankees won the World Series of Baseball for the first time since 2000 I had a chance to sit down with some of the players, namely Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez (herein referred to as A-Rod), and World Series MVP Hideki Matsui!

What followed was an honest interview between three celebrity baseball players dosed with champagne and one serious reporter with a mission to expose the truth.

_________________________________________________________________________

Drew: So guys, how does it feel to be you ?

The New York Yankees have been a team on fire during 2009. The Yankees' success can be seen through their 2009 World Series appearance. But there is always that saying, "Behind every successful man, there is a beautiful woman," the Yankees hold true to this saying. The women behind the New York Yankees give a whole new meaning to 'on fire.' These women are hot! I'll let you see for yourself in this presentation.

Begin Slideshow

The most recent interruption that had the media criticizing a single man was rapper Kanye West's during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

The most recent interruption that had the media criticizing a single man in baseball was when Alex Rodriguez had a Kanye-like moment in the 2007 World Series. That year, he decided to announce to the world that he would be opting out of his contract with the New York Yankees to pursue a more luxurious one. 

As a follow-up to my recent article about Alex Rodriguez's productivity in the playoffs as a Mariner, here are some portions of an interview I did early this year with Kevin Kalal of the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners' AAA affiliate, in 1995. The excerpts deal with Kalal's impressions of A-Rod back then.

Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez provided the heroics for the Yankees in their 8-5 win Sunday night in Game Four of the 2009 World Series, but when there are heroes in the game of baseball, there also must be goats.

Unlike other sports, baseball is mostly a zero sum game.