Alex Rodriguez comes up short only by '96 standard
Posted in the Seattle Times on August 22, 1997
By Blaine Newnham
Alex Rodriguez sat in front of his locker opening mail. He was tired. Tired from last week's road trip with two doubleheaders, tired from a stretch heading into last night's game in which he got only 11 hits in 65 at-bats.
This wasn't 1996 anymore.
"Last year," he said, "everything I did was right."
Last year was so good it is hard to remember how good. At 21, he became the third-youngest player to win an American League batting championship.
Older only than Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.
He led the league in five categories, his batting average of .358 the highest by a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio.
Last night, batting No. 5 in the lineup in the wake of the trade for Roberto Kelly, Rodriguez slugged a second-inning home run.
The night before, with Rich Amaral on second base, he had hit the ball similarly hard, only to have a drive to center run down by Marquis Grissom and a line drive behind Amaral snared by Tony Fernandez.
"Can't hit the ball any harder than those," he said. "If I try any harder, I'll just foul things up."
Last year the balls would have found their niche in history, not the opponent's glove. Rodriguez wouldn't have thrown his bat all the way to the backstop in disgust.
Indeed, on this day a year ago, he became the fifth-youngest player to hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs in a season. He was en route to 36 homers and 128 RBI and overwhelming selection by The Sporting News as major-league player of the year.
He would lose the league MVP voting to Texas' Juan Gonzalez by three points.
The notion that there would be other seasons in which he could win the MVP was, well, naive. No shortstop might ever have the season Rodriguez had last year. It should have been appropriately recognized.
One man's wonderful season casts an interesting light on this one, in which Rodriguez is hitting .295 with 19 home runs and 66 RBI.
Last season was both aberration and celebration. This year is reality.
"I'm having a solid season," he said. "I think I'm a better player than I was last season."
Rodriguez ranks among the American League leaders in four categories, including stolen bases, of which he has claimed 22 of the 26 he's gone after.
He is third in doubles, 10th in total bases, eighth in extra-base hits and seventh in stolen bases.
Last year the comparisons were with Cobb and DiMaggio. This year they need be with his shortstop contemporaries, Derek Jeter of the Yankees, Omar Vizquel of the Indians, and Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Sox.
Rodriguez bests Vizquel, for example, in every category but stolen bases and errors. He has nine times as many home runs and almost twice as many RBI. Garciaparra, on the other hand, leads the league in runs, hits and triples and is third in extra- base hits.
"I said last year when I was hit ting .375 that you shouldn't measure a player by one season," Rodriguez said. "Look at me after 15 years, and then make your judgment.
"I'm 22 years old. I see myself just getting better. I've improved my baserunning, and I've increased my range defensively."
Rodriguez acknowledges he caught the league by surprise last season.
"For many pitchers I was just someone to get out before they had to face Ken Griffey Jr.," he said. "This year they are pitching me with a lot more respect. They're more cautious about falling into patterns with me.
"There's no doubt that it is tougher this year."
Rodriguez has played with various injuries. A collision with Roger Clemens bruised his chest and cost him 14 games.
The theory behind batting him fifth is that once on base he'll be a base-stealing threat that will keep pitchers from throwing Jay Buhner nothing but off-speed pitches.
Rodriguez has such amazing versatility; he is able to bat just about anywhere in the lineup, delivering power and average to go with range in the field. His plays behind second base in the eighth and ninth innings to throw out Fernandez and Jeff Branson last night contributed as much to the victory as anything.
For a 22-year-old shortstop, his season is outstanding by any standard other than the one set last season by a 21-year-old shortstop.
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