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Not even in this Yankee lineup can A-Rod hide

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Bob Klapisch

Bob Klapisch covers baseball for The Record in New Jersey and worked at the New York Post and New York Daily News. The author of five books, he was recently voted a top-five columnist in the country by the Associated Press Sports Editors.

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Updated Oct 5, 2009 1:46 AM ET
     
 
The clock was ticking down to 4:20 p.m., the exact moment at which the Yankees were expected to be on the field for stretching exercises. Tardiness is a serious offense in Joe Girardi's fiefdom, which is why no one dared to linger at his locker on Tuesday — every Yankee had cleared out of the clubhouse with time to spare.
All except one. Alex Rodriguez was sliding under the deadline by seconds, not minutes. The slugger was on the verge of being late, not because of traffic or a phone call or because he didn't like playing by Girardi's rules. Truth was, A-Rod had choreographed his afternoon with a surgeon's precision, hanging out in the players lounge until 4:19 and change in order to avoid reporters near his locker. With time running out, A-Rod emerged from the lounge, scooping up his hat and glove as he hurried towards the door. "I'm a ghost," he said with a smile. And then he was gone. Of course, Rodriguez has been anything but an apparition — he's the cleanup hitter in the major league's most fearsome offensive machine. But it's true, A-Rod hardly makes news anymore. He rarely allows himself to be quoted in anything but the most mundane, postgame sound bites. The reason is as obvious as it is calculated. "Alex finally figured out the less he talks, the better off he is," said one friend. Indeed, ever since he confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs this spring, Rodriguez has sacrificed his Q-rating to Derek Jeter and his pursuit of Lou Gehrig's franchise hit-record, CC Sabathia and his quest for a 20-win season and Mark Teixeira, who might win two-thirds of the Triple Crown. Still, A-Rod knows he can't hide forever, not with unfinished business in October. Since Game 4 of the 2004 AL Championship Series, the third baseman is batting .148 with one RBI in the postseason. Which is to say, Rodriguez still has to prove he's not overwhelmed by the burden of carrying the Yankees. In many ways this is the most important postseason of A-Rod's career — the deck has never been so stacked his favor. He's been helped, if not eclipsed, by Teixeira, and has otherwise blended in with an offense that leads the American League in virtually every meaningful statistic, including runs, home runs, slugging percentage and OPS. GM Brian Cashman intended no insult towards Rodriguez when he said, "This time, we're not going to live and die with Alex." There are layers of protection in this nuclear lineup. But sooner or later, Rodriguez will come to the plate in an important moment in the Division Series. And then what? Until now, Rodriguez' postseason resume as a Yankee could be captured by this image: the over-exaggerated deep breaths, the stiff, mechanical swing and the look of a man who was, if not scared, certainly not comfortable. A-Rod was 2-for-17 in the last four games of the Yankees' collapse against the Red Sox in '04, and in the 2005-2007 postseason series he struck once every three at-bats. But so much has changed for Rodriguez in 2009, which became the summer of love in the Bronx. The Yankee monolith is more dominant now than at any time since 1998, and club officials privately acknowledge this should be their year. For that, the Yankees owe much to Rodriguez. They're 51-17 since he returned from the disabled list in May, beginning the surge that not only crushed the East, but helped Teixeira, who hits in front of Rodriguez, accumulate his best power-numbers since 2005. Teixeira, in fact, has made such a smooth transition in Pinstripes, he bristles at the suggestion that he, like A-Rod, has something to prove starting next week. "You know, those are the same questions I heard before the season, 'Can you make it in New York?' " Teixeira said. "Just look at my numbers. Anyone who's still asking those questions is just looking for something." Teixeira can't understand why some players panic in October; his .467 average with the Angels in last year's Division Series against Boston serves as a receipt for his composure. But the first baseman has no intuitive appreciation for the Yankee family's raging impatience for a championship. To Teixeira, this is only Year One in the Bronx, to everyone else, it's been a decade — nearly $1 billion spent in vain as the Red Sox caught and passed the Yankees as the American League's premier team. But if Teixeira is ready for a coup, A-Rod is, too. He told reporters last month he's never felt so relaxed and accepted as a Yankee, as if getting caught using steroids was the unburdening he'd been waiting for since 2003. It hasn't hurt A-Rod's image that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were nailed, too, although Rodriguez has mostly stopped trying to win the approval of those around him, especially the press. Girardi says, "For the first time, I think, Alex is completely focused on baseball. And it shows." Is Rodriguez drug-free? Very likely — the embarrassment left an unmistakable imprint on him. But there's no doubt A-Rod is stress-free, even if his home run ratio (once every 15.6 at-bats) is considerably less than in Texas in 2002 (one every 10.9) and as a Yankee in 2007 (one every 10.8). The Yankees have gladly accepted the trade-off in power for a more relaxed, emotionally stable slugger. What they're about to find out, though, is whether A-Rod's makeover carries over into October.
Tagged: Mark Teixeira, David Ortiz, Red Sox, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, Manny Ramirez

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