Perfection As Different As Can Be

The last time two perfect games were thrown in Major League Baseball before the flip of a calendar page, Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United States of America.

The Civil War wasn't a topic taught in History Class, it was a conflict most folks had lived through.

On Saturday, June 12, 1880, Lee Richmond of the Worcester Ruby Legs stifled the Cleveland Blues pitching the first perfect game in MLB history.

By Thursday of the following week, June 17, 1880, Richmond had company. Providence Grays' hurler Monte Ward shut down the Buffalo Bisons for the second perfecto in the Majors.

Sixteen other gems would be tossed before Dallas Braden would set down all 27 Rays batters he faced on Mother's Day, May 9 of this year.

On Saturday, less than three weeks hence Braden's masterpiece, Roy Halladay became the 20th member of the Perfect Game Club by disposing of every Marlins hitter he faced -- 27 up, 27 down.

Adding in Mark Buehrle's perfect performance on July 23 of last year, there have been three no-base-runner exhibitions in fewer than 12 months.

Excluding the first two perfect games, which took place prior to what most historians consider the modern era of baseball, there has never been perfection tossed twice in a dozen months prior to Braden's performance.

Tom Singer of MLB.com puts it this way: "What had been a once-in-a-generation phenomenon has turned into twice-in-a-month lightning."

Braden and Halladay are about as similar as Beethoven and Elvis.

The left-handed Braden first appeared on most baseball fans' radar when he scolded Alex Rodriguez for crossing "my mound" back in April.

Braden's career numbers are less than stellar, 18-25 with 4.47 ERA over four seasons. A-Rod referred to Dallas as "a guy with a handful of wins in his career."

A fringe major leaguer at the moment, Braden's career is in it's infancy. The 26-year-old's career high in starts, 22, and innings pitched, 136.2, both came last season.

The Stockton, California-raised Braden may wind up with a decent career, but can just as easily fall off the major league map and live on simply as the answer to the trivia question regarding the pitcher with the least wins to throw a perfect game.

Halladay, meanwhile, is Cooperstown bound and the premier pitcher of his era.

With a 155-79 record to go with a 3.37 career ERA, Docs perfect game merely solidifies his standing as one of the best pitchers of all-time.

The right-hander's hardware includes: The 2003 AL Cy Young Award and six All-Star selections.

Yet, somehow, these two disparate men made history together a mere 20 days apart. Somehow two perfect games were thrown -- not only in the same season but -- in the same month.

For some reason perfection isn't quite as rare as it once was.

What's Not To Love About The Break

The All-Star Break is upon us, as is the usual bickering that goes along with it. During the Break you'll hear it all: It's a meaningless game; it's not real baseball; does anyone really care?

The answers to those gripes are slightly different. But, the basic point remains: What's not to like?

These are the days we forget Yankees or Red Sox, Mets or Phillies, Cubs or Cardinals. It's all about baseball. Sure the teams are split American League and National League, but let's be honest that doesn't really matter. The A.L. has won what seems like 30 consecutive All-Star contests yet the N.L. has won its share of World Series, so what does it really prove.

Yes, it is a meaningless game in terms of actual standings -- despite what Bud Selig and Co. will tell you -- but how often do we get the celebrate this game we love? In October there are only a handful of teams and it's way too intense to just sit back and enjoy the game. The regular season is a marathon not an event.

This game provides a stress-free environment to just sit back and enjoy baseball.

Why is it not considered "real baseball?" There is a pitcher, a batter, an umpire, fielders and a scoreboard, just like any other baseball game. In addition to the usual, the best players on the planet are on the field. Sure some of guys are missing due to Steroid use (Manny Ramirez) injury (Evan Longoria) or both (Alex Rodriguez). But, overall the lineups are stacked with some real top-line hitters and pitchers.

Sure we care. Some of the most memorable events in baseball history took place in the Mid-Summer Classic. Some of these accomplishments are still reveled at today. Carl Hubbell faced five straight future Hall of Famers in the second All-Star contest in 1934, and struck them out in order. Have a look at these names: Babe Ruth; Lou Gehrig; Jimmie Foxx; Al Simmons and Joe Cronin. Some of the best batsmen baseball has ever seen.

In the first edition of the game, Babe Ruth hit the first All-Star home run. How great is that.

In 1993 Randy Johnson still had all sorts of control problems, yet was good enough to be considered one of baseball's best. John Kruk of the Phillies was facing Johnson when the fireballer sailed one over the hefty first basemen's head. As the next pitch was coming, Kruk backed out of the box in mock fear. Kruk did the same on the next two pitches as he struck out. That's still one of the funniest moments in baseball.

In 1945 World War II was heading to its conclusion, yet much of baseball's best talent was still in the military. The lack of legitimate All-Stars combined with war time travel restrictions caused the first cancellation of the game. In its place inter-league games were played between teams who shared the same city.

Of course there are also the dubious moments that occurred. The 2002 tie in Milwaukee is still one of Bud Selig's worst moments. In 1970 Pete Rose ran over Ray Fosse injuring the young catcher and all but ending a promising career.

Then again just last year, at the only real Yankees Stadium, Josh Hamilton completed his comeback from drugs and injuries in a home run derby for the ages. The game itself went 15 innings and was the last memorable baseball event at the cathedral in the Bronx.

So tonight just sit back and relax. Who wins is of little importance. It's just the game of baseball being played by those who play it best. Who knows we may even see history, or just plain ol' funny. Enjoy.

Baseball in the City

Memorial Day has come and gone, summer is underway. The baseball season is moving in on 50 games played, a nice size sample that can be fairly assessed.

With that said, it's time for a Yankees update. The Yanks are seven games over .500 and a single game out of first place in the overcrowded American League East.

Yet the season to this point has not exactly been a joy ride. There have been plenty of ups and downs.

ROTATION:

The most obvious disappointment being Chien-Ming Wang, although not a great pitcher – his numbers against quality teams and in the postseason prove that – he was consistent in the regular season, someone who can go out there every fifth day and, usually, get the job done. The team concocted an injury to give him time to straighten it all out. It will be something to watch as the season goes on.

CC Sabathia has been what we SHOULD have expected, just because an athlete gets overpaid doesn’t mean he will live up to it. Sabathia got Santana and Halladay money, well guess what, he’s not Johan or “Doc”. He is a very good pitcher who gets better as the weather warms-up; he should start being more reliable from here on. But he will not be on the level of the two best pitchers in the majors today.

The other free agent import in the rotation, A.J. Burnett, has been sliding downhill lately. The positive is that he has avoided the DL thus far. Now, if only he can get back to pitching the way he was earlier in the season.

The veteran of the rotation, Andy Pettitte, has been fairly reliable, doing what it takes to put the team in a position to win. Joba Chamberlain has shown from time to time why management insists on keeping him as a starter. The righty is still learning to be more economical with his pitches so that he is not hitting the showers by the fifth inning every time out.

Staying in the Bronx will be a challenge for Phil Hughes. Young pitchers need time to develop, and what better place to grow up than in the majors. Eight innings and no runs against a good hitting team in the bandbox in Arlington will make it difficult to send the youngster back to the minors. Keep in mind he will not turn 23 for another month, baseball has few joys like watching homegrown talent mature before your eyes.

If Wang can work his way back into the rotation, Joe Girardi and Co. will have an interesting decision to make with six starters on their hands. Joba to the bullpen is still the best answer.

LINEUP:

The lineup has been a roller coaster ride. As an example, Robinson Cano began the season scorching the ball, hitting well above .350 for April. May has not been as kind as Robbie slumped and briefly fell below .300 before recently getting it back up to .315.

After an awful start Mark Teixeira has really turned it around, the protection of A-Rod batting clean-up has helped. However, to say the reason Tex has been hitting is Rodriguez’s return is absurd, that would imply that without A-Rod, Teixeira is a .215 hitter.

A-Rod’s healing has stabilized the top four spots in the order. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Teixeira and Alex will be there on just about every night, barring a major injury, a scary thought if you’re an opposing pitcher. A-Rod’s comeback has also gotten rid of the outs the other third basemen have been contributing.

Jeter has not gone on a tear to this point, and has been stuck below his usual average of .300. The Captain is on the downside of his career and it’s noticeable with his bat and range. At some point he will have to move from shortstop. As sad as that is, it is nice to see a player’s career progress normally, getting older and slower as he ages. Not getting bigger and stronger while his head explodes.

At the corners of the outfield, Damon has taken advantage of the balls flying out to right in a big way. Defense and throwing arm are always the things to watch with Johnny, along with the health of those aging knees. Nick Swisher is not an everyday player and that has shown with Xavier Nady injured. Swish is great to have in the clubhouse and will be fine so long as he doesn’t have to get out there on a everyday basis.

Centerfield has been juggled all season by Girardi. At the end of Spring Training, Brett Gardner was said to be the starter, and the speedster has had his share of playing time, especially lately when he has started to hit a little. It was unclear where exactly Melky Cabrera would be playing when the club headed north at the end of spring, but he has hit well including several big hits late in games. The platoon has been working and if it’s not broken don’t fix.

The injuries to Jorge Posada and backup Jose Molina have put a big dent at catcher. Francisco Cervelli has come up and played well but he has played just over 100 innings, not quite time to call him an everyday backstop. Kevin Cash is not a starter but will have to do until one of the regulars is ready to go.

BULLPEN:

Hysteria hit the Yanks when Mariano Rivera appeared shaky for a couple of games earlier in season, but has calmed over the last couple of weeks as Mo has returned to form. Eventually The Greatest Reliever of All Time will become hittable. The only way it goes down well for the Yankees is if he hangs up the cleats while still pitching fairly well. There is no backup plan if Mariano starts getting rocked in middle of a season, nor should there be, if it happens that is something the team and the fans will have to deal with.

The eighth inning spot has been a problem all year. Brian Bruney showed some promise before going on the DL, briefly returning and now going back on the shelf. It’s possible, if not likely, he’s done for the season.

Phil Coke has been decent at times; however the lefty is not the long term answer. Alfredo Aceves has been good lately, but with only 14 innings pitched there is not enough to call him consistent just yet.

Going to anybody else out of the pen is what keeps Girardi up at night. Jonathan Albaladejo, Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez all have ERA’s over five, certainly not what you want in relief.

CONCLUSION:

Although the club got off to a rough start, they have been playing well since four straight losses to Boston and Tampa Bay. The way the Red Sox have knocked around the Bombers in the five games they’ve played this season is reason for concern. The Yanks and Bosox are going to be in the battle for the division in September. If Boston continues its dominance in the head to head matchups that may very well be the difference in making the playoffs and Joe Girardi looking for a job.

The walk-off hits and Nick Swisher have brought some excitement to the new stadium -- where homers are flying out at a record pace.

Consistency is the biggest issue facing the team. The talent is there at every position, outside of the bridge to Mariano. The only question is if the ability will show itself on a regular basis.

If Hughes and Wang push their way into the rotation, Joba may be pressed into the set-up role.

Outside of the Dodgers, who are a completely different team without Manny Ramirez, no team in either league has gotten off to a great start. Every good team has run into some problems that make you question how good they really are. The title of Best in Baseball is out there to be had, if the Yankees start playing up to their ability the title is well within grasp in the Bronx.

NOTE ON THE METS: Has anyone seen a team that is four games over .500 and a half game out of first place and yet its fans are so upset.

Sure there have been some ugly moments, including: Not knowing when to slide, the inability to catch routine fly balls and missing third base while on the way home for what would have been the go-ahead run in the eleventh. And sure the handling of certain injuries would leave you scratching your head.

However, considering losing Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes to injuries, the Oliver Perez disaster and Daniel Murphy batting .246 the Mets are still in good position to contend for the division. David Wright, who seemed like he was going to be driven out of town in April, and Carlos Beltran have carried the club offensively. Johan Santana has been brilliant, same for Francisco Rodriguez. The Phillies have had struggles of their own, specifically with their pitching staff.

Omar Minaya will be on the lookout for a bat, and if he comes through with something decent the Mets will be in fine shape. Why Mets fans are so down on this team seems very strange.

Why We Love Baseball

After the longest Spring Training in history opening day has arrived. At last meaningful baseball, no more exhibition games, no WBC, finally baseball that counts, games and stats that will be looked at throughout the summer and beyond.

It's on days like this that baseball is on our mind, and when we think baseball we think of...

...Fastballs, sliders, curve balls and beanballs.
...Turning two, tagging up, pick offs and the squeeze play.
...Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Enter Sandman, Hells Bells and chin music.
...Hank Greenberg, Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente.
...No-Hitters, hitting for the cycle and the perfect game.
...Batting gloves, pine tar, eye black and the rosin bags.
...Stan "The Man", Teddy Ballgame, The Mick and Donny Baseball.
...The Bleacher Creatures, the Bleacher Bums and 'Dem Bums.
...The Homer in the Gloamin, Slaughters mad Dash and The Shot Heard 'round the World
...Wrigley field, Fenway park, Ebbets field, the Polo grounds and the only real Yankee Stadium.
...Opening day, the All-star break and the Fall Classic
... The Sultan of Swat, Big Train, Pee Wee, Three Finger Brown and Doug "Eyechart"Gwosdz,
...61, 755, 511 and 4,256. (No we don't think of 73 or 762)
...Murderers Row, The Big Red Machine, the Gashouse Gang, and the Miracle Mets.
...Jim Abbott, Pete Gray and Bert Shepard.
...The Mazeroski game, The Carter game, The Gibson game, The Fisk game and Larsen's Perfect game.
...Connie Mack, John McGraw, Sparky Anderson, Walter Alston and Casey Stengel.
...The Natural, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and A League of Their Own.
...Yankees - Red Sox, Cubs - Cardinals and Dodgers - Giants.
...Rawlings, Louisville Slugger and New Era.
...Diving stops, leaping catches and outfielders crashing into walls.
...Jeter's backhand flip, Mays' catch and Endy's leap.
...The crack of the bat, pop of the glove, clack of the cleats and roar of the crowd.
...The ivy on the wall at Wrigley, Tal's Hill at Minute maid and the Green Monster.
...D.P.'s, K's, R.B.I.'s and 6-4-3's.
...The Baltimore chop, screaming liners, Texas Leaguers and Uncle Charlies.
...Pinstripes, stirrups and shin guards.
...Yogi-isms, Stengelese and the Who's on first routine.
...You're safe, you're out and play ball.
...Spring Training, the All-star game and the home-run derby.
...Cy Youngs, Gold Gloves, Silver sluggers, MVP's and Rookies of the Year.
...Mel Allen, Red Barber, Ernie Harwell and Vin Scully.
..."Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Pete Rose.
...Blazing fastballs, tape measure shots and bunt singles.
...Aces, set-up men, closers and clean-up hitters.
...Steinbrenner, Turner, Veeck and Charlie O.
...Vida Blue, Shawn Green and Red Schoendienst.
...Beer, peanuts and hot dogs.
...Eddie Gaedel, Sid Finch and the Philly Phanatic.
...Cans of corn, seeing eye singles and grounds rule double.
...Infield dirt, foul lines and the patterned grass.
...Cooperstown and Monument Park.
...D.S., C.S. and W.S.
...Klem, Hubbard and McClelland.
...Gehrig's Luckiest Man, Ripken's trot and induction speeches.

But most of all we love baseball because it's our sport. It was there for us through two World wars, the Great Depression and 9/11. It is not ours to keep but only to cherish and pass along to future generations. It is our National Pastime.
Enjoy the Season.

Joba Belongs in the 'Pen

Spring Training is coming to an end and the Yankees are getting ready to head north for the start of the regular season, which will begin April 6th in Baltimore. Over the next few days there will be much discussion of roster spots, rotation, position battles and batting order.

Some of these issues have already been settled- Joe Girardi has named Xavier Nady as the starting right fielder, some will be decided in the next couple of days - an announcement is expected in the near future on who will get one of the most coveted positions in all of sport, the starting center fielder for the New York Yankees. And still other ideas have only recently been brought up, like Girardi's thought of moving Derek Jeter to the lead off spot and having Johny Damon bat second.

However the largest weakness on this much improved squad will go on with no significant change since last season, there is still no strong eighth inning set-up man, also known as "The all-important bridge to Mariano". And the strangest part of it all is that the solution to the problem is on the roster. If the Yankees were to announce tomorrow that Joba Chamberlain is moving to the bullpen, they go from having an average group of relievers to, quite possibly the best in baseball, while only sacrificing their current fourth or fifth starter who would be limited by a season long inning count.

The argument against moving the hulking right-hander is that a big time ace is more important to a team than a relief pitcher, a front line starter will pitch upwards of 200 innings, while a set-up man will pitch in the area of 70, as well as the effect a number one starter brings to a playoff series.

However, these arguments just don't add up with what the Yankees have done over the last few months. In December they went out and got CC Sabathia, who - they're hoping - will be the opening day starter for the next seven years. As well as A.J. Burnett, who will be a very strong number two for the next five years, health permitting. Along with Chien-Ming Wang, it would seem the top three rotation spots in the Bronx are filled quite nicely for some time.

The same however, cannot be said of the Bullpen, sure at the moment the closer position is taken by the greatest reliever of all-time, Mariano Rivera, but he's going to be forty by next opening day. And Damaso Marte and Brian Bruney, who are going to be the set-up men this season, don't exactly inspire fear in opposing managers hearts, nor are they what would be considered closer-in-training material, Joba would fill both those roles immediately.

While it is true that a starter does pitch considerably more innings than bullpen dwellers, Yankee management has said there would be an inning cap on Joba of about 150, and this for a guy who is not very economical with his pitch count all leads to the fact that the average start for the Lincoln Nebraska native will be approximately five innings, just barely enough to have a significant impact on a game and qualify for the win.

If in the 'pen he will be used late in close games and as a "fireman", coming in with runners aboard and the contest on the line, which would be considerably more important outs than the first half of a game. This would insure that the limited amount of pitches available in that right arm are only used in key situations, maximizing the use of the youngster.

The fifth starter spot would go to Phil Hughes who, along with Andy Pettitte, would fill out the back half of a strong rotation. This would put minimal pressure on the man the Yankees refused to trade for Johan Santana last year, while allowing him to show what he has on the big league level.

Chamberlain as a reliever and Hughes as a starter is the best way for the bombers to get the most out of this season, and set themselves up for the future. Yet, for some reason they seem reluctant to take this route, saying that Joba will remain in the rotation. One can only wonder if they will be singing the same tune if by the end of April there is an obvious middle relief issue.

The Levels of Cheat and the Cardinal Sin

Over the past week or so there have been many discussions about cheating in sports, A-Rod and steroids have been at the forefront, but people have been bringing up everything from doctoring the baseball, to the Basketball player who takes a dive trying to sell a foul call.

Pete Rose has also chimed in on the steroid controversy, questioning why is he banned for life and not eligible for the Hall of Fame, while known juicers are still in the league and eligible for the sports greatest honor, he concludes by saying that if he had the opportunity he would still vote for guys like Bonds and Clemens to be in the Hall.

First let's clarify that there are without question different grades to cheating, just as one can tell a "white" lie. When an outfielder short-hops a line drive and then lifts his glove trying to get an out called, he is by definition cheating, if we would keep all players who tried selling a call to a referee out of the Halls of Fame, Cooperstown would just be a small city in central New York State where one can visit The Farmers' Museum.

With that being said how can we differentiate between Barry Bonds steroid use, Reggie Millers famous flops and players such as Graig Nettles or Albert Belle putting super balls or cork in their bats.

The way to separate them, would be to look to what extent the offender went to break the rule. When Whitey Ford used his wedding ring or had his catcher, Elston Howard, use the buckle of his shin guards to scuff the baseball, he wasn't bringing anything extra to the mound. These type of cheats would be like "white" cheats, when we hear about them we smile or maybe even chuckle a bit at the creativity of the offender. It's a completely different story when a player goes out of his way to get his hands on illegal substances that are not just illegal in sports, but are banned in this country, you can't even get a prescription for some of the steroids ball players have been known to use.

There is another point to consider, and this deals exclusively with the spitball. The use of the spitball was not banned until 1920, and when it was banned the rule was grandfathered in, 17 pitchers were allowed to keep using it until they retired, Burleigh Grimes was the last legal spitballer when he retired in 1934. If Baseball was willing to allow these pitchers to keep using the spitball, we can hardly compare it to the use of steroids.

And then we come to Pete Rose and betting on Baseball. The one thing a sport cannot overcome, is the suspicion that the game is in some way fixed. Baseball nearly shut down when the story broke that the Blacksox had thrown the 1919 World Series. If there is even a doubt that a player is intentionally trying to negatively affect his team, or that an official has some rooting interest, the game may as well close shop and go home because no one is interested. Sport is about the live drama unfolding before our eyes, where no one knows how it will all end, almost like the a high drama court case. If there is any questioning the "realness" of the game, the sport is done.

Pete Rose bet on the game with illegal bookies, even if he only bet on his team to win, there are two major problems that can arise, one is that he falls to far behind and they force him to throw a game too make up his losses to them. The second problem is that as a manager he can overuse a pitcher or burn out the bullpen ,which would not be in the long term interest of the team, but can help him win this game, if you had ten grand riding on it what would you do. It would also be hard to believe he never bet on his team to lose, it's just to tempting as a manger where you can quite easily decide to give some of your starters the day off.

Putting the integrity of the game on the line is sports cardinal sin, for anyone to jeopardize the sport to such an extent, a lifetime ban is the only just punishment. Pete Rose violated the sport he loves in the worst possible way, consequently he does not belong in it's Hall of Fame.

Pitchers and Catchers Report ....Finally!!!

At long last Baseball is here, it's been a long time since Brad Lidge and the rest of the Phillies celebrated that last out of a strange World Series on the mound of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

True it's ten more days until there are actual games, and still quite some time between now and April 5th when the Dodgers and Giants meet in San Francisco in the first regular season game. And in that time some off the field things need to be settled, the biggest of which will be A-Rod reporting to Tampa in the next few days, and having to answer to the media circus that is there to "greet" him. Torre's book is still likely to grab some headlines along the way. And it's still not clear where Manny Ramirez, the best offensive player on the free agent market will land, there have been some reports that a deal with the Dodgers is imminent, but so far nothing official.

We may look back at our teams off season and wonder, will the big free agent singing work out as planned, will the aging veteran that was let go have a big year and make the G.M. look bad. Who will win the battle for a spot in the line-up. For players like John Smoltz and Trevor Hoffman, it will be strange seeing them in a new uniform for the first time in over a decade and a half.

But it's spring training and hope is in the air, we wonder who will be this years Rays and come out of nowhere and go deep into the playoffs. Which rookie that we still may not know how to pronounce his name properly will make an impact and be the next great player. It's spring and we can dream, Pirates fans can say "if Tampa Bay can do it why not us".

So get into the Baseball mood, watch some of your teams highlights from last year and get excited all over again. Get out that Baseball book that's been collecting dust all Football season and refresh your memory as to why you love this game so much. Go out and rent that Baseball movie you always wanted to see but kept putting off.

It's been a long off season, with a lot of soap opera like story's making the headlines and I just can't wait for the action to return to the field instead of the podium.

A-FROID

If you are one of those who are buying into the A-Rod apology, I've got a bridge to sell you here in Brooklyn.

Admitting to something after you've been caught is kind of odd in the first place, and after that he would like us to believe he took this stuff without having any idea what it really was, and he had no idea if in fact he did or did not fail the test.

If you would like to give him credit for admitting, let's not forget that this is a man who is overly worried about his appearance, and over the past year or so it has become obvious that the only way to survive steroid allegations was to admit and apologize. The big names who have apologized have since been cheered and signed new contracts. While Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are under Federal investigation.

If you watched the interview with Peter Gammons it was obvious he was coached on every word he said, not the worst thing but I do have a hard time believing it's a sincere apology when he's using another man's words the whole way through.

He goes on to say he's not really sure what he used, this coming from a guy who probably reads the nutritional facts for an apple before he eats it. So he would like us to believe he knew it was illegal but never bothered looking into what it was. And he continues taking this illegal stuff he knows nothing about for a couple of years even though he never really saw a real advantage and keeps taking it despite repeated warnings that a drug test was going to take place, sure he thought it would remain anonymous but wouldn't he be a lot safer if he stopped using this worthless illegal stuff.

As to whether he knew he failed the test, he says he got a call saying he might or might not have failed the test, so like most people after receiving such a phone call he goes about business as usual for 5 years until a writer from SI shows up at his gym and informs him of the career changing information. Who's he trying to kid, of all the A-Rod stories this affects his career the most but he never bothered looking into it until a reporter got a hold of the news.

The only positive that comes of this story is that we now know if any future player is accused of steroids the popular move is to admit, apologize and hope it all goes away, what else would A-Rod do but follow the direction the wind is blowing.