[新聞] Pressure still on for a more relaxed Alex Rodriguez
很長的一篇文章....(希望有善心人士認養 ^^)
內容很豐富,建議可以點進去看USA TODAY精心製作的網頁
等一下送上邊欄A-ROD小檔案的翻譯
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Pressure still on for a more relaxed Alex Rodriguez
By Paul White, USA TODAY
http://tinyurl.com/2wwym3
ARLINGTON, Texas — Alex Rodriguez ran onto the field just as the New
York Yankees' stretching exercises began before a recent game in Boston.
The Yankees' star shortstop, Derek Jeter, already was bending sideways
with his arms over his head — perfectly exposed for Rodriguez to jab him
in the rib cage.
Both giggled, then went about their routines. Such silliness isn't unusual
for most ballplayers, but for Rodriguez — long one of baseball's most
scrutinized, image-conscious and guarded stars — it seemed to symbolize
something new: a player at ease and having fun.
The Yankees' third baseman just completed one of the most prolific Aprils
of any hitter in major league history. More than ever, he is being
embraced by New York fans who have seen him as a distant, buttoned-down
multi-millionaire athlete/entrepreneur whom they have alternately loved
and loathed.
As usual, questions surround Rodriguez, widely known as "A-Rod." In his
12th full season and fourth with a franchise that measures success only
by championships, he never has played in a World Series and has not done
well in the playoffs. Despite his fast start, the Yankees entered
Thursday's games last in the American League East.
And yet, in the only extensive interview he has granted this season,
Rodriguez tells USA TODAY he believes he finally has figured out how to
deal with the pressure of playing in New York. He also says he wants to
remain a Yankee even though the record 10-year, $252 million contract he
signed in 2000 — which in many ways has come to define him — would allow
him to become a free agent after this season.
"I'm more relaxed," says Rodriguez, who will turn 32 in late July. "For me,
relaxing has been one of the hardest things to do. It's one of the things
I'm trying to do a little better job at."
Getting used to playing in New York has "taken work," he says. "For some
people, it takes maybe a year in New York. Maybe for me, it's taken three
years. But once you get used to it, you realize it's not just about you.
There's more speculation, more eyes (on players in New York). Everybody
takes his turn. You have to develop thick skin. But it would be a dream
for me to finish my career there."
Rodriguez says he's put family ahead of baseball, fun ahead of angst, and
suggests he is worrying less about what people think of him.
Yankees manager Joe Torre says he's noticed a difference.
"For me, he always tried to do too much," Torre says. "You try to make
sure you say things right, handle things right."
For years, Rodriguez has been perhaps the game's most enigmatic superstar,
unusually sensitive to how he was perceived by the media and fans. For
example, he seemed to agonize last year about whether to play for the
United States or the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
(Rodriguez was born in New York to Dominican parents.)
Now he seems determined to shrug off such worries.
"I can't control what the masses think," Rodriguez says. "All I can do is
play baseball. At the end of the day, if some people like it, that's great.
If some people don't like it, that's just the way it is."
More important, it's working — for now at least. During spring training,
Rodriguez cleared the air about rumors of tension in his relationship
with Jeter, a favorite of Yankees fans who, unlike Rodriguez, is known
for his clutch play in the postseason.
Rodriguez told reporters he and Jeter were neither bosom buddies nor
jealous rivals. Both say they are friendly as teammates but are not as
close as they were earlier in their careers.
Since then, Rodriguez has kept his relationship to the media at arm's
length, giving cliche-filled answers during postgame interviews that
reveal little.
'I could walk away … today'
But spend some time with the Yankees and it's clear something has changed
this year.
Rodriguez is laughing more, engaging in more horseplay with teammates
and "just trying to have fun," as he says repeatedly. Despite the team's
troubles on the field, he said after a recent game that he probably
hadn't smiled so much since his daughter, Natasha, was born 2? years ago.
He's fiercely protective of wife Cynthia, whom he married in 2002, and
Natasha, but he says they have a lot to do with his new approach to
baseball and life.
"I could walk away from the game today and be so content with life,"
says Rodriguez, who previously had acknowledged it was difficult for him
to stop replaying his games in his mind.
"Being a father has brought great perspective to my life. It gives you
more of a balance, which I needed. If you go 4-for-4 or 0-for-4, you get
welcomed with a big old hug and a great smile. In our lives, even when
it's bad, it's pretty good."
In his baseball life right now, even when it's good, it's bad.
The Yankees' poor start, caused mostly by a series of injuries to their
pitchers, has led to speculation in the New York media that Torre, who
has led the team to four World Series titles, might be fired.
So far, though, only strength and conditioning coach Marty Miller has
gotten the ax. The team will need to get healthy and play better to
allow Rodriguez to prove he can be a leader in the playoffs as well as the
regular season.
The Yankees have lost in the first round of the playoffs each of the
past two years. During those playoff series, Rodriguez had a combined
three hits in 29 at-bats.
A Yankee's place in history, alongside icons such as Babe Ruth, Joe
DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, is measured in October, not in April. Jeter,
beloved in New York, has four World Series championships and a career
.314 postseason batting average, including a .405 mark (15 for 37) the
past two years. Rodriguez still has to pass that test.
"That's what I'm playing for now," he says of winning a World Series.
"It's pretty much the only thing left. That's why you play in New York."
He says a concerted effort to eliminate the distractions that dominated
his turbulent 2006 season — from the constant probing into his
relationship with Jeter to the wrath of New York fans about Rodriguez's
slumps and poor playoff performances — has as much to do with the best
start of his 14-year career as the winter work he did on his body and
his game.
"The whole outlook from the start was to keep things simple and not get
in the way of my talent," he says. "Obviously, less is more."
That's less of everything except baseball.
Less, though, can be nearly impossible in New York. What Rodriguez set
out to do this year requires as much skill as he needed to produce two
Most Valuable Player awards, a batting championship, five home run
titles and the sport's largest contract. The media attention won't go away,
especially if he continues his spectacular season. The clamor for chunks
of his time will be constant.
He has tried to manage the demand from the start of spring training in
February. That's when he explained his relationship with Jeter — and
then told reporters that would be the last time he would discuss the matter.
"It was important to have a fresh start," Rodriguez says. "To come out and
just be open and honest, set the tone for the year."
Jeter's response also set a tone.
"How would I characterize it? I would characterize it as it doesn't make a
difference," Jeter told reporters then. "What we do away from the field,
how much time we spend together, really makes no difference when we're
playing."
Rodriguez is as likely to be found hanging around with bullpen catcher
Mike Borzello, with whom he's developed a friendship, as with his famous
teammates.
But all of the Yankees have become as reluctant as Rodriguez to discuss
anything about him but his hitting.
"He's as hot as I've seen a player," Jeter said during April. "That's
beautiful, man."
They've noticed a difference, though. "He's definitely more calm," says
designated hitter Jason Giambi. "He's enjoying himself. He's not
stressed."
'I'm just happy for him'
He's even more willing to poke fun at himself.
Rodriguez recently did a segment for Late Show With David Letterman in
which he removed his shirt and let cast member Biff Henderson apply sun
screen, a spoof of a celebrated New York Post photo of Rodriguez
sunbathing in Central Park last summer.
Rodriguez changed his workout regimen in the offseason to reduce his body
fat by 9% and "become more athletic," he says, as a concession to moving
into his 30s.
He and Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long streamlined his swing. He spent
long days on the practice field all winter working on his defense, a
problem last year when he made a career-high 24 errors. He has three so
far this season, which projects to a little more than 20 for the year.
That was the easy part because Rodriguez always has been a workout maven,
even back to his childhood days when he spent countless hours with a tight
group of friends at the Hank Kline Boys Club in Miami. Now he says, he's
rediscovering that boyish zeal for baseball.
"I noticed right away in spring training," Torre says.
"He was having more fun. I'm just happy for him. He's endured a lot."
Regular season and postseason: A major difference
Alex Rodriguez has been at his best late in the season since joining
the New York Yankees in 2004, enjoying his best run production in
September and October. And he got off to his best start ever this year,
hitting 14 home runs and driving in 34 runs in April. However, he has
struggled in the playoffs. A look at his month-to-month production during
his first three seasons as a Yankee:
Month Batting Home runs RBI
March-April .276 18 50
May .339 24 72
June .274 13 47
July .288 22 53
August .300 22 57
September-October .318 20 78
Postseason .241 3 8*
*Includes 3-for-29 with no home runs and no RBI in nine games during
the 2005 and 2006 postseasons.
Source: USA TODAY research
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