Slumping Rodriguez gets an earful
NEW YORK -- He's no longer doing his Chuck Knoblauch impression -- that ended after five throwing errors in five games in July -- but Alex Rodriguez's problems have not ended. The embattled Yankee third baseman arrives at Fenway Park today with his play hitting lows previously unthinkable for the game's highest-paid player, and the pressure won't let up.
``I think Alex has been there enough times now to sort of know the drill," Yankees manager Joe Torre said before the Orioles defeated the Yankees, 12-2, yesterday, dwindling New York's lead to 1 1/2 games over the Red Sox in the American League East. ``As far as I'm concerned, everything he does is under a microscope. Playing baseball in his skin is certainly different than a lot of people have to deal with."
With boos muffled yesterday, fans at Yankees Stadium thought Rodriguez made another error when a pop up ticked off his glove and fell to the ground in the sixth inning. Rodriguez initially did not move on the pop because shortstop Derek Jeter called for it. The error was later given to Jeter for ``impeding" the catch. One run scored on the play and, the next batter, Fernando Tatis, homered off Mike Myers for the Orioles' third home run of the game and their fourth and fifth runs of the inning. The fans, however, got their boos out in the bottom half of the inning when Rodriguez popped to second base.
On the error, Jeter said, ``It was dropped. It was hit, I was calling it. I guess he didn't hear me. I thought he had it. Then he said to me, `You got it?' I thought he was playing around, so I started running off the field because I didn't touch it. Then it was on the ground."
Rodriguez has struggled in the field and at the plate. The day after his fifth error in five games in July, he struck out four times in a game for the first time since 1995. And after yesterday's game, in which he went 0 for 3 before being removed after the sixth, his average is .285, 20 points below his career average. And with 21 errors (he had 24 with Seattle in 1997 playing shortstop), he's tied for fourth in the majors.
``It was a goofy play all around," Rodriguez said. ``Kind of epitomizes the whole day."
