"Overall, Torre said he thought Rodriguez was 'terrific,' but the manager added this qualifier: 'Knowing that there'd be an adjustment period. Rodriguez batted .286 with 36 homers and 106 RBIs during the regular season. He played well in spurts in the postseason, though he had two hits in his final 17 at-bats (.118) in the ALCS."
Alex Rodriguez did not do what a clutch player does. The Yankees were leading the playoff series, three games to one. They were leading the game, 4-2 in the top of the eighth inning with a runner on second, one out, and Rodriguez batting. He struck out.
David Ortiz hit a home run off Tom Gordon in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Yankees' lead to 4-3. A Kevin Millar walk was followed by a Trot Nixon single, sending Millar to third with no one out. Mariano Rivera relieved Gordon, Jason Varitek hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Dave Roberts, who went in to run for Millar, and the game was tied until Ortiz singled home Johnny Damon in the fourteenth inning to give the Red Sox a 5-4 victory.
After the game, Rodriguez was quoted as stating, "Looking back now, a three-run lead would have been better than two, but hindsight is 20-20. We had a two-run lead, but I should have gotten that run in."
Alex Rodriguez has not been "terrific," as Yankees' manager Joe Torre believes (does he really?). He has not been the force the Yankees thought they were getting. When Rodriguez comes to the plate, pitchers don't cringe the same way they do when Bonds, Pujols, Ramiriez, Guerrero, Ortiz, or a young Ken Griffey Jr. or a 1998 Mark McGwire comes to the plate. It is difficult to remember that Rodriguez, with 36 home runs in his first season with the Yankees, hit 52 in 2001 and followed that with 57 the next year.
While it is true that the significance of hitting 57 home runs has been diminished because in the last few seasons, one player has hit an outlandish 73 home runs in a season, another hit 70 and followed that with 65, and a third player hit 66, 63, 50, and 64 home runs WITHOUT EVER LEADING THE LEAGUE IN HOME RUNS. Maybe that is why Rodriguez' 36 do not seem extreme, but in Game 5, a home run wasn't necessary. A fly ball was.
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