Psychotic A-Rod?

[HOOTIE]

I have great respect for Arod. Having watched him here in Seattle, and now, i truly believe he cares more about winning, and bettering his game, then most. He pressed last year, and looks more relaxed now. He knows he needs to out perform last year. The fact he's the highest paid player doesn't mean he's greedy. He was offered the deal. Who would have said no? The statement he could play for minimum is silly. Does Tom Cruise ask for 100 grand, or 20 mil for a movie? Arod is the biggest reason NY has started winning.

[Bukoski77]

Wow, i wonder what Pujols would do with a Shrink.

probably talk about how much less he is making than A rod.

LMAO

[lesgrant]

Can you imagine a million dollar brain surgeron having a bad year?

Yeah, I can. That's why they all have malpractice insurance, which, in part, is the reason why healthcare costs so much.

[TB13]

Arod is the biggest reason NY has started winning.

Not really. Not even close. The 'Yanks are pitching much better. And that is the biggest reason that they are winning. They do not have Wright getting shelled every 5 days anymore. Instead Wang is doing well. The 'pen is much better.
Arod is playing great right now, but pitching is the reason that they are doing better.

[fraquar]

4pacK wrote:

And you are living in a fantasy (no pun intended) world if you think that most athletes do not care more about the money than their play on the field. That is not to say they do not give 100%...but you don't see any many players signing for minimumm salary do you?

In todays player market the $64,000 question is how do you capture and maintain interest in a millionaire? Baseball player or no baseball player. ARod issue aside, there are scores of extremely high priced athletes who either forgot or have little to no incentive to practice and apply even simple baseball fundamentals such as (going with the pitch and hitting the opposite way, backing up fellow outfielders as the ball gets hit NOT after it gets by their teammate, hitting the cutoff man consistently, running out simple infield grounders or pop ups, taking out the 2b/ss at the bag to prevent the DP, laying down a sacrifice bunt, calling teammates off on flyballs, etc.). It is amazing how many ESPN highlights show collisions between supposedly "Professional" baseball players because of their "Bush League" inability to call for a ball and call off an oncoming teammate.

While I don't think every player is all about the money only, I do think that the amount of money is fostering an environment of apathy; where the incentive to perfect their entire craft (not just the glamorous parts of it) is becoming virtually obsolete.

[mkultra]

Actually, reading a bit more about the story, it's more interesting than the discussion here indicates. His wife has a degree in clinical psychology and got him to start seeing a therapist 8 or 9 years ago to deal with his broken home issues. His father died (I think) when he was very young.

Makes me even more respectful of him, to be such a big-name player talking about this.