#MIDDLEBURY
By Mark Vasto
Here’s a conversation nobody really cares about: whether or not Alex Rodriguez deserves a plaque in the New York Yankees’ Memorial Park.
A-rod, as we all know by now, has officially retired and was given his unconditional release, followed by an uncontrollable show of emotion by Yankee manager Joe Girardi. Girardi made the point that A-rod was, by any measure, the best third baseman in Yankees history. Naturally – something that can never truly be said about A-rod – heavily accented tongues started to wag at the Big Ball Orchard in the Bronx: “Do we get dis guy a plaque or what?” and “You gotta problem?”
Well, fuhgeddaboutit. The Memorial Park used to be a very cool, telegenic part of the old Yankee Stadium before some architectural genius decided to hide it behind the center field wall. It has since been turned into a marketing tool for bobble heads, and if there was one thing the Yankees made clear about A-rod, it’s that they had no interest in marketing the man. How else can you explain pulling the plug on the guy when he was only four swings away from hitting 700 home runs?
There is no conceivable chance that the three-time MVP – twice with the Yankees – will be elected into the Hall of Fame. A-rod, who was a (brief) natural talent, done did wrong, and everyone knows that he did … full-year suspensions without pay have a funny way of planting such suggestions in one’s mind.
Still, the facts show he put together one of the finest seasons of any Yankee ever with his 2007 campaign, entering into the rarefied air of Gehrig and Ruth in ’27, Dimaggio in ’37, Mantle and Maris in ’61 and Mattingly in 1985. That season he scored 142 runs, smashed 54 home runs, batted in 156 runners, stole 24 bases and put up a slash line of .314/.422/.645, garnering all-star, MVP and Silver Slugger nods.
His 12 seasons for the Yankees definitely show him to be the best third baseman the team ever had from a statistical standpoint. My ex-girlfriend had a huge crush on the guy. His records will always be in the books, the only place where fans are going to get to see any trace of the guy’s career.
If you don’t believe that Memorial Park is little more than a marketing tool, crack open not only the record books, but the roster of the Hall of the Fame. What if I told you that the Bronx Bombers had a center fielder who put together a slash line of .356/.414/.511 one season, averaging .325 and nearly .400 OBP over a 12-year career, retiring with the 40th highest batting average out of the tens of thousands who played the game? That guy, Earle Combs, aka “The Kentucky Colonel,” is in the Hall of Fame, but you won’t see his name in Memorial Park. Nor will you find Hall of Famers Tony Lazzerri, Frank “Home Run” Baker, “Wee” Willie Keeler, Herb Pennock, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyt or Jack Chesbro.
When the Yankees want to get serious about Memorial Park again, the ghost of those guys will be waiting to hear from the powers that be in the Bronx. In the meantime, A-rod certainly can wait his turn.
Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in New Jersey.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
