Praise for A-Rod?

by arnec on Sep 19, 2009 5:10 PM PDT Comment 43 comments

I run the 1995mariners.com site that's included in the Mariners Blogs section. Back in March I talked with Kevin Kalal, longtime Tacoma Rainiers pr director and front office man, about what 1995 was like for the Rainiers. Kevin had really nothing but praise for Alex Rodriguez playing with Tacoma in '95. A-Rod's Seattle days are slipping farther and farther away, but obviously a lot of us still love to hate him. He got booed yesterday, he'll get booed tonight, tomorrow, next year. I think that'd be true if he was with the Rangers, the Red Sox, the Mets, whoever. I'm wondering if you guys remember A-Rod back then—'94, '95, in Tacoma and Seattle—and have opinions on his personality before he was a superstar.

Here's what Kevin said:

He was a real phenom. The first time you saw A-Rod he was 17, playing for Calgary [in 1994], and I said, “That’s something special.” You could see he was in the league of a lot of big-time guys.

He was such a special player. It’s so hard to understand all this stuff about the performance enhancing drugs, knowing how hard he worked. He was a great player, but he really, really, really worked hard at it. He was very likeable, not phony, not saying look at me. Level-headed. I think Scott Boras was a great guiding influence.

There were a couple times Rodriguez would go on an 8-game road series against someone and get 6 homers, 13, 14 RBI in the series. He went to and from Seattle four times in ’95, and he didn’t sulk after he came back down, he didn’t say, “Oh, they don’t know what they’re doing.” You just knew there was something special there.

I have fond memories of Alex as a player and person.

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I'm a Yankees fan

And I agree with you. I don’t think it’s fair all the criticism A-Rod gets. I mean, is he ever not booed when he’s not playing at Yankee Stadium? The steroid stuff was sad. He didn’t need them. He was a great player without them. But I do like that he seems to have learned his lesson. He hasn’t used them as a Yankee, or Mariner (or at least it hasn’t been proven. I believe in innocent until proven guilty). I think the steroids were just a stupid mistake and that he’s learned his lesson. I mean, A-Rod gave an anti-PED speech to a bunch of young athletes when the Yankees were in Baltimore at the beginning of the month. What other user has done that? Most of the criticism he gets is for things he’s done in the past, and half of the criticism isn’t true, or isn’t fair. He’s really changed this year. He’s been quiet (or as quiet as A-Rod can be. Other than Kate Hudson he really hasn’t been in the news). He’s been a great teammate. And he’s been clutch. I mean, he came back 2 and a half months early from surgery and is playing hurt. If he only cared about money he would have taken his time (see Carl Pavano). Hopefully for the Yankees, this is A-Rod’s year in the postseason and he can finally get a ring.

by nyyrocks29 on Sep 19, 2009 6:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully, the Yankees don't win another championship in my lifetime.

We all have rather different perspectives on that.

by cwel87 on Sep 27, 2009 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

.

...and now I'm here

by Librocrat on Sep 19, 2009 7:30 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs

Kate Hudson so wishes she was that mirror

Oh wait, she is.

Sad life some ‘celebrities’ lead.

by cwel87 on Sep 27, 2009 8:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alex Rodriguez is a Yankee and 1995 was 14 years ago

Nice Guys Finish Third - My semantics are a waste of time.

by pdb on Sep 19, 2009 7:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

so ... ?

I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Ugh

by HitKing69 on Sep 19, 2009 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So, he may have done things in those intervening 14 years to negate any good feelings amongst the people in Seattle.

Hard work never killed nobody, but I won't take my chances.

by JAH on Sep 19, 2009 10:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So he has spent the vast majority of his time with other teams.

No one really cares what he was like with the Mariners, since his tenure here was barely a footnote on his long career. Even if he was an amiable guy, he has since transformed into the fuckdiculous douchebag that he is today. What he meant to us back then is meaningless at this point, because he has spent ample time doing much more with other teams during the peak of his career. Caring about how we felt about him back then is like reminiscing about Darren Bragg’s time with the Mariners if, after he left, he too became a raging moron.

...and now I'm here

by Librocrat on Sep 19, 2009 11:45 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

I am thrilled that I had a chance to see the man play and his HR in the 2000 ALCS is a great sports memory for me.

With that being said, I don’t give a shit because he’s been gone for a long-assed time and while I don’t care about his douchiness he’s just another superstar at this point.

by acblue on Sep 20, 2009 12:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

All I remember from the 2000 ALCS is Clemens throwing at his head and him pissing himself.

by Sec 108 on Sep 21, 2009 8:24 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rec'd

for ‘fuckdiculous’.

Fuck Anaheim.

by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth on Sep 20, 2009 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So we need to get the fuck over it.

Seriously, 1995 was great but we underachieved in 1995, we underachieved in 1997 and the fact the best we could do with that group of talent was two playoff appearances is borderline shameful. I don’t want 1995 to be the legacy of this team. Not considering that the 2001 Mariners happened.

And also all that shit I said about Alex down below.

by acblue on Sep 20, 2009 12:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you really think about it, it's pretty fucking pathetic that 1995 is the legacy of this team.

If I were just a strictly DBacks fan(or a fan of any other team that has been to or won a World Series) I’d regard Mariners fans as laughable for continuing to hold onto it. Oh you guys won 79 games, won the ALDS and then got manhandled in the ALCS. Awwwww good for you!

FUCK THE ANGELS! FUCK THE ANGELS! FUCK THE ANGELS!

by Goose on Sep 20, 2009 12:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

1995 was great, but it's nothing to hold up as a crowning achievement of your franchise.

Especially when your franchise won 116 fucking games.

by acblue on Sep 20, 2009 12:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Royals fans should laugh at us more often.

by ThundaPC on Sep 20, 2009 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As a newcomer

it pleases me to hear this from the long-term fans.

Fuck Anaheim.

by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth on Sep 20, 2009 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So 1995 was great but hanging on to 1995 is ridiculous

I was at the one-game playoff. I was at all the home ALDS games. i went as crazy as anyone during the whole thing. But in 2009, still celebrating 1995 is like getting excited to go to your sixth-grade reunion; it was a looooong time ago, many things have changed, and 2001 is a far better season to want to hang one’s Mariner fan hat on anyway.

Nice Guys Finish Third - My semantics are a waste of time.

by pdb on Sep 20, 2009 6:15 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs