Alex Rodriguez in pinstripes and October.
Except for one unforeseen miracle (see: Alex's 2009 postseason), they go together just about as well as a Budweiser and breakfast.
It's quite an anomaly, really. In 13 playoff games with the Seattle Mariners, Rodriguez managed to hit an impressive .343 with three home runs and eight RBIs. Compare that to Alex's career .249 batting average with the Yankees in the postseason, and you can begin to comprehend just how underwhelming Rodriguez's October performance has been since being traded from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees in 2004.
Couple his postseason shortcomings with his $275 million contract, and it becomes quite clear why Rodriguez turns into public enemy No. 1 when the Yankees' playoff runs go sour.
So now with Alex hitless thus far in the Division Series and the Yankees one loss away from elimination, the Yankees need their third baseman to revert to his 2009 postseason form. They need their highest paid player to, well, perform the way the highest paid player on the New York Yankees should.
But this year is different. This year Alex has an excuse – a crutch, if you will.
A-Rod missed 38 games this season after July, as he had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Upon his return, Alex saw his average decrease steadily, bottoming out at .276 on the regular season's final day. Rodriguez was hitting .295 before suffering the injury.
So where does that leave Rodriguez? Does he get a pass for this year's atrocious October performance due to his "physical limitations?"
In this columnist's humble opinion, absolutely not.
The bottom line is: Alex declared himself fit and ready to return to action following his surgery and the subsequent rehabilitation. Not to mention that it's quite obvious Alex is hardly battling any lingering effects as his defensive range has looked as good as ever thus far in the series.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, that quality performance with the glove hasn't translated to Alex's bat.
As a result, the Yankees find themselves staring elimination dead in the eye. And it isn't a result of their shallow pitching staff, believe it or not.
Sure, Freddy Garcia was less-than-stellar in his game 2 outing, surrendering three earned runs over 5.1 innings of work. But the Yankees' vaunted offensive arsenal should be able to scratch out more than two hits over six innings against a run-of-the-mill pitcher such as the Tigers' Max Scherzer.
The Yankees need their clean up hitter to step up. The NY offense goes as Alex goes. Look no further than 2009, the only year since Alex has been in pinstripes that the Yankees have reached the pinnacle of the baseball world. Rodriguez hit .378 during that postseason run, resulting in World Series title No. 27 for the Yankees. Coincidence? I think not.
So with the season on the line and his reputation once again hanging in the balance, it's time for Alex Rodriguez to show up.
This isn't a reality that Alex can escape from. He's under contract with the Yankees until 2017, meaning you can bet he'll appear in the postseason quite a few more times in pinstripes.
It's time to finally shut the naysayers up (myself included) and produce the way the clean up hitter for the New York Yankees should. He needs to finally get the monkey off of his back, and prove that 2009 was no fluke.
If not, Alex will have a long list of questions to answer over this offseason.
At the top of that list will beg the most pertinent inquiry: "Where were you, Alex?"
Email: scott.resnick@ubspectrum.com
