Boo A-Rod?

OK, before I start I feel I must start by saying I don’t like A-Rod. I don’t like the way he seems to worry so much about how people feel about him which only serves to make him appear a little fake. Now, I dare say he’s a perfectly pleasant and inoffensive guy who no doubt does good work for charitable organisations but the world of sport is a fickle place, especially when it comes to the world of the fan, and I don’t like A-Rod.

Just recently Yankee fans have taken to booing Rodriguez and I ask the question, why? Any fan of a team wants their boys to succeed and A-Rod was the MVP of the league last year so you can’t say he’s deadwood and even though I don’t like the guy I can’t deny that he is one of the very best players in the game so why boo the guy? Its ridiculous, he may have the personality of the fluff I find in my belly button but he’s always a good bet to finish amongst the leaders in every offensive category that matters and while no one is worth the money he gets paid, few get as close to that as he does.

What do people really want from him? Does he have to be a mixture of Rickey, The Wizard and The Babe? Newsflash people, no one will EVER be that. Is he the next Mike Schmidt? Is it fair to really expect that from someone? Can’t people just look at the things he does rather than constantly try to fit him into some kind of predetermined notion of what they think he should be? As much as my friend Neil wants to believe A-Rod is a Gold Glove calibre fielder, he really isn’t but then again he’s not awful and he doesn’t really need to be that good because he’s there to be an offensive juggernaut and players should be used to their strengths.

I could understand if it were road fans who were booing him or if A-Rod had gone out and said how much the Yankees suck (if he said that I think his overall popularity might sky rocket) but for his own fans to boo him is ludicrous. I don’t see Twins fans getting on Santana’s back or Braves fans getting on Smoltz. Besides, there are too many big profile players on that roster that the performance of one guy shouldn’t be the be all and end all for that team.

Yankee fans, show some class because I don’t want to be defending Yankee players, especially ones I really don’t like.