Wow. At least that Fitzy guy was joking when he made a video telling us all to leave Bill Belichick alone. Joel Sherman of the NY Post — not so much. The Sherminator has outdone himself this time. On Thursday, he decided to plead with the public to stop picking on Alex Rodriguez. No more talk about steroid use. No more teasing over popcorn feeding. That means you too, Hank Aaron. Just leave the guy alone.
“At some point legitimate critique of Rodriguez has been usurped by something close to piling on,” Sherman argued. “He is the fish in the barrel and shooting at him has become a hard-to-break habit. It feels like the fun, easy game that anyone can play.”
Somebody call the whambulance. Apparently Sherman got a hold of the upcoming ESPN Player X article before its release (what a special guy!), in which Player X argues that Albert Pujols deserves to be paid more than A-Rod because Pujols is a better player. The argument is fair, and I’m sure plenty of people would agree with it. I guess Sherman has an issue with it because A-Rod never came out and said he was better than Pujols, and the Yankees chose to pay him the amount he gets so we shouldn’t accuse him of being overpaid. What a stretch.
Sherman’s main point is basically that regardless of how many dumb things Rodriguez has done off the field, his commitment to the game should not be called into question. Even Scott Boras said so! From what I can see, he was just waiting for someone to say one more negative thing about one of his favorite players so he could start the rally cry. After all, A-Rod has the “mentality of a baseball gym rat.”
To me the Player X column seems like it’s going to be more of a compliment to Pujols than an insult to Rodriguez. There was absolutely no need for Sherman to get his panties in a bunch. Superstars are criticized simply because they’re superstars, but that has never been the case with A-Rod. Why is it that Derek Jeter isn’t constantly harassed by the media? He doesn’t ask for it. A-Rod does, and it’s way too late to start convincing the public to like him.
