Tag: Alex Rodriguez (Page 13 of 13)

      AskMen.com’s Top 49 Most Influential Men

      October 22, 2008 /

      BoltToday, AskMen.com released their list of the world’s Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2008. Over 200,000 voters participated to help determine which men in the public eye most influenced the way they bought, dressed, and thought in the past year. Athletes made up 25 percent of the list, the most of any other category (music, politics, fashion, etc.). Their respective rankings are below:

      46. Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees

      45. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins

      41. Lewis Hamilton – Formula 1 Racing

      40. Brett Favre – New York Jets

      30. Rafael Nadal – Association of Tennis Professionals

      25. David Beckham – Los Angeles Galaxy

      21. Usain Bolt – 2008 Olympics gold-medal sprinter

      20. LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

      18. Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

      9. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United

      3. Michael Phelps – 2008 Olympics gold-medal swimmer

      While I’m not sure how much Michael Phelps affected how males bought, dressed, and thought over the past few months, these athletes have certainly garnered interest for what they represent, their sport. Although the criteria might have to be worded differently next time around (at #48, David Simon, creator of The Wire, definitely affected how our culture thinks), I agree that these individuals have helped sports in general more than their peers. For example, Lewis Hamilton broke Formula 1’s color barrier, Rafael Nadal has reinvigorated tennis, and both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps momentarily united the world in celebration with their success in the Olympics.

      It’s pretty interesting to see how much sway Kobe and Favre still have while sports such as golf, UFC, and boxing lacked a representative on the list.

      General Sports

      Has their free-spending ways caught up with the Yankees?

      October 3, 2008 /

      Harvey Araton of The New York Times wrote an interesting piece about the current state of the New York Yankees and how their erratic spending has caught up to them. (Or will catch up to them in the near future.)

      Alex RodriguezThe most common contemporary take on the Yankees is that their deep pockets do not guarantee championship success, just the ability to withstand expensive mistakes (Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Roger Clemens in 2007) that would level lesser-endowed clubs. But given higher stakes and increased risk, for how long?

      With a personnel infrastructure almost as old as the stadium they are vacating, with an overhyped or underachieving farm system, how do the Yankees meet the terms of their aforementioned deal with their fans without sending the newly re-signed general manager, Brian Cashman, on a pressurized spending spree that would compromise the financial restraint he preached in passing on Johan Santana last winter?

      “A $40 million mistake four years ago could be a $120 million mistake today, like Barry Zito and the Giants,” Ganis said. “And by the way, if you’re the Yankees and you’re paying the luxury tax, it’s $175 million.”

      Yankee tax dollars subsidize smaller markets. The more the Yankees spend without optimum return, the greater the odds of a Tampa Bay rising up against them. The richer and longer a contract the Yankees hand out, the more they are stuck with the status quo, for better or worse.

      Take A-Rod. He’s a force of nature now, but if his skills erode sooner than later, the Yankees may want to say, “Take him, please.” At the price they paid, good luck with that, and with selling those overpriced seats long term in their expensive new house if safer, smarter investments are not soon made.

      Excellent points all the way around. People want to bitch about how the Yankees can buy every player they want, but fail to see that it’s only hurting them in the end. The strategy of buying and trading for every All-Star on the market has worked for NY in the past, but they didn’t make the playoffs this year. What happens when they go hog wild in spending next offseason and miss the postseason yet again? They’re only digging themselves further and further in finical hell and not getting anything out of it.

      Here’s a shocker – maybe the Tampa Bay Rays had it right all along. Don’t overspend (not that they could anyway with the market they’re in, but that’s besides the point), harvest their young talent and build a winner for the future. Well guess what? The future is now for the Rays while the Yankees continue to get burned by the past.

      MLB

      Top 10 Active MLB Windmills

      August 23, 2008 /

      Many power hitters in baseball also have a penchant for swinging and missing. While batters have evolved over the years into more complete players, and Dave Kingman types aren’t the norm anymore, there are quite a few that we can classify as “windmills.” Here is a list of the Top 10 active players in strikeouts in baseball today.

      1. Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox (2155)—Even though Mr. High Socks has a career batting average of .280, his 533 home runs are tempered by the air created when he swings and misses. Thome has struck out 2155 times in his 17-plus seasons, or roughly 30 % of his at-bats. Yikes.

      2. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (1701)—Sitting comfortably behind Thome is Mets’ first baseman Carlos Delgado, who is a cool 454 strikeouts behind Jimmy. Delgado has clubbed 457 home runs, but he has now struck out 100 or more times for the thirteenth straight season.

      3. Ken Griffey Jr, Chicago White Sox (1669)—Around the time Griffey was tearing up the American League in the late ‘90’s with 209 home runs over four seasons, he also tallied 454 strikeouts. And with 1669 career windmills, Griffey strikes out about as often as he smiles.

      4. Jim Edmonds, Chicago Cubs (1656)—Edmonds has quietly amassed 378 career homers, and has also compiled 1656 career strikeouts. But he’s currently in one of the two places (other than Colorado) where his power more than makes up for his K’s.

      5. Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (1643)—Will someone tell me how a career .313 hitter averages 102 strikeouts per season? Wait, let me guess — Manny being Manny?

      6. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (1614)–$22 million for a guy that fans 107 times per season and doesn’t produce in the postseason? Am I missing something?

      7. Mike Cameron, Milwaukee Brewers (1605)—Mike Cameron is a six-tool player—speed, average, power, glove, arm, and a penchant for missing the ball with his bat. That’s a very odd combination.

      8. Jeff Kent, Los Angeles Dodgers (1515)—Ripping on Vin Scully? In Los Angeles, that’s like the priest ripping on the pope. Yeah, Jeff….you are 40, and even though Manny Ramirez now hits behind you, you still have almost as many career K’s on the scorecard as he does.

      9. Andruw Jones, Los Angeles Dodgers (1468)—Seriously, now…..three of the current top ten windmills play for the L.A. Dodgers. No wonder this team can’t seem to catch the Diamondbacks.

      10. Frank Thomas, Oakland Athletics (1394)—Mr. Thomas has 521 career homers, and though he’s only struck out more than 100 times three times in his career, he has landed here mainly because of his longevity (currently in his 19th season).

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

      Canseco claiming he introduced A-Rod to roids

      March 25, 2008 /

      Jose Canseco is in the public eye again and this time he’s claiming he introduced New York Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez to a steroids distributor.

      Jose Canseco says in his new book that he introduced Alex Rodriguez to a steroids distributor and that A-Rod pursued Canseco’s wife, according to the Web site of freelance writer Joe Lavin.

      Lavin says on his Web site that he obtained the book, “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball,” on Monday from a bookstore in Cambridge, Mass. The book is due to be released April 1.

      Lavin writes Canseco’s book discusses A-Rod, Roger Clemens and Magglio Ordonez.

      He says Canseco claimed he didn’t inject Rodriguez but “introduced Alex to a known supplier of steroids.” Lavin also says “Canseco claims that A-Rod was trying to sleep with Canseco’s wife.”

      Canseco is an absolute coconut, but he’s been right about his steroid claims in the past. Hmm…

      MLB

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