[新聞] A-Rod fantasy lives on
這篇文章很有意思 希望有人可以共襄盛舉^^
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A-Rod fantasy lives on
By Woody Paige
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated: 06/19/2007 12:26:00 AM MDT
http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_6173048
A-Rod, we hardly know ye.
In late November of 2000, Alexander Enmanuel Rodriguez spent 20 hours in
downtown Denver, being wined, dined and beseeched, in hopes that he would
become the future face, bat and glove of the Rockies.
He broke bread, and the ice, in a LoDo restaurant with the team's
triumvirate ownership, the general manager and two other guys named Elway
and Lubick. Then, the following day, the 25-year-old Rodriguez and agent
Scott Boras met with the Rockies for several hours. Snow was falling as
baseball's most heralded free agent went out the back door and left town
without a contract.
As it turned out, the Rockies' planned offer ($15 million per year) was
too little for A-Rod, and the record amount he signed for with Texas
($252 million over 10 years) was too high for the Rox.
Instead, the Rockies signed contracts with free-agent pitchers Mike
Hampton and Denny Neagle and gave an extension for their first baseman
Todd Helton, for a total of $316.8 million.
In retrospect, which was the bargain?
Hindsight is 20-20. Hampton and Neagle were not. Hampton was 21-28 with
the Rockies and Neagle 19-23.
Since he came up in 1997, Helton has averaged, per 162 games, 32 home
runs, 112 RBIs and a .332 batting average, and A-Rod, since his first
season in 1994, has averaged 44, 127 and .306.
If A-Rod and the Rockies could have agreed to unite, the course of
baseball history in Denver and New York obviously would have been changed
dramatically and forever. For the first time in a Yankees uniform,
Rodriguez plays at Coors Field tonight against the Rockies.
It's been a long time coming.
For anyone who has forgotten, A-Rod has appeared here six previous times.
He has played in five regular-season games against the Rockies and hit
one home run and .400. He yarded in the 1998 All-Star Game at Coors.
Could he have been a .400 hitter here? Probably not. He did hit .358 once
with Seattle. Could he have been a 60-homer Blake Street Bomber? Probably.
He did hit 57 in his second season with the Rangers. Could he have been
a two-time MVP, a perennial all-star and one of the greatest players in
the game? Definitely, especially as a right-handed hitter in this
ballpark. Larry Walker was an MVP. Dante Bichette, Andres Galarraga and
Vinny Castilla amassed large home run numbers in LoDo.
Could A-Rod have ended up as the No. 1 home run hitter of all time? Oh,
yes. He has 491 at this moment. He will turn 32 next month. Unless he
prematurely retires or suffers a serious injury, he will break Barry
Bonds' record. And he certainly would have smashed it sooner with the
Rockies.
But could he have led the Rockies to a World Series championship? He
hasn't led Seattle, Texas or New York to titles. Helton hasn't led the
Rockies to first in the division. Nobody else has.
And who knows if the Rockies' ownership would have increased the player
payroll to make it happen, or if A-Rod would have demanded a trade, or
if he would opt out of the contract after this season, or if the Rox had
chosen to go with a 10-year plan and a youth movement, and Dealin' Dan
dealt A-Rod for three minor-league players?
We do know that Texas finished last in its division the year Rodriguez
arrived, and the Yankees this season are 35-32, the Rockies 35-34.
Rodriguez is a third baseman, and the Rockies have Troy Tulowitzki at
short.
The Rockies have four players (including Helton) hitting for higher
averages than Rodriquez. The Rockies have three players (not including
Helton) who have combined for 31 home runs and three players (Helton
included) who have combined for 137 RBIs. A-Rod has a baseball-best 27
home runs and 73 RBIs.
If A-Rod were in Denver, annual attendance figures wouldn't have dropped
like loads of coal from the 40s to the 20s, and there would have been a
reason every season to go to the ballpark. Ask the people in San
Francisco. (A-Rod's presence might have made a $10 million-plus
difference yearly at the gate, although that wouldn't pay his salary.)
If A-Rod were in Colorado, he wouldn't be chased by the news media
wherever he goes. Or would he? John Elway was. Sonny Lubick wasn't. If
he had moved to Denver, he could take off his shirt in the park, and it
wouldn't be on the cover of the tabloid. And there wouldn't be criticisms
at his every turn or turn at-bat. Well, maybe.
Would A-Rod have been The Lightning-Rod and Thunder in the Rockies'
lineup?
This much we know. Alex Rodriguez will get more response from the rare
sellout crowd tonight than all the Rockies put together.
Everybody knows ye, A-Rod.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095
or wpaige@denverpost.com.
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