More dark clouds for Rodriguez
“Alex Rodriguez is in a horrible spot,” writes former Major League Baseball outfielder Doug Glanville writes in the New York Times op-ed piece “No Tipping, Please.” No, he isn’t saying that the former poster boy for Major League Baseball excellence is now resigned to waiting tables sloppily, or that he’ll need online payday loans in Alaska or credit repair soon.
What he is saying is that if allegations are true, A-Rod has been caught cheating once again. The victim is the game of baseball and all of its fans.
Tipping ain’t a city in China
First came the admission that he used steroids while a member of the Texas Rangers ball club. Now investigative reporter Selena Roberts alleges in her new book “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez” that Rodriguez was involved in a reciprocal pitch-tipping exchange with friends on other teams his own was playing against.
What is pitch tipping? For those of you who don’t know, Glanville explains it nicely:
Tipping pitches involves watching your opponent like a well-trained code-breaker. It most often happens when there is a runner at second base, where he is in a unique position to steal any signs the catcher is relaying to the pitcher – so well positioned, in fact, that catchers and pitchers have a special set of signs for that situation. We all know the basic signs – one finger for fastball, two fingers for curve. But with a runner on second, the real sign may be the one right after an indicator: for example, it could be the first sign after the catcher puts down three fingers, or the second sign after he wiggles all of his fingers.
Cheat the right way, not the wrong way
Glanville points out that middle infielders – the shortstop and second baseman – have the best vantage point (aside from the pitcher) to see the catcher’s pitch signals. He played center field for the Rangers when Alex Rodriguez still played shortstop, and he admits that while he couldn’t see the signs from that far away, he could see how the catcher was positioned and “cheat” (ironically named) a few steps in the appropriate position to be ready for the upcoming play. Basic knowledge of the pitcher and hitter’s tendencies made this possible.
With practice, a savvy player can really tune into this part of the inside game and know exactly what pitch is planned before it is delivered. Hitters sometimes even pick up on clues and decipher it for themselves, even though they can’t clearly see the catcher when they’re at bat and focusing on the pitch.
A serious charge
It’s all a part of the game, but isn’t necessarily considered intentional pitch tipping. That’s what Alex Rodriguez has been accused of, making a mockery of the game. According to the story, Alex supposedly relayed signs to the opposing hitter (if he was a friend) or someone he knew would return the favor. Supposedly, A-Rod had this scheme worked out with lots of opposing players, and he did it in close games as well as in blowouts (when pitch tipping might typically be expected to occur). It is uncertain whether he relayed the sign to the hitter from his infield position via hands, feet, glove, etc. There are countless ways he could have done it.
And doing it is indeed a no-no. Glanville puts it as follows:
This may be one of the most egregious charges one can make against a player, and a rare one at that. Should a player know that someone in his own dugout is helping the opposing team, I would venture to say that all-out Armageddon would ensue. Imagine if a pitcher knew that his pitches were being given away to the opposing hitter by his own teammate no less. This spy would have to watch his back.
If in fact there was a pitch-tipping scheme, I would expect a full investigation, not just of Alex but of any player who would share information with his opponent. It is that serious.
Bright lights are always on him
Considering how much attention Alex Rodriguez gets for his playing skill, dating Madonna, steroid use and consultation with a personal confidence coach before each and every game, it seems unlikely that something like this could have been missed. Furthermore, it’s even more unlikely that nobody on his teams knew. Perhaps they were afraid to come forward, Glanville asserts.
There is no question that Alex Rodriguez has disillusioned a generation of fans. He strikes me as disillusioned himself – understandably lost over the fragmentation of his family, from worrying endlessly about what everyone thinks of him, lost because, after all he has done on the field, his accomplishments will always have a terrible footnote attached. And lost, more recently, because precisely when he wanted to put aside all these distractions and just play baseball, he found himself on the disabled list, kept away from focusing on the one thing he was trying to preserve.
Finding the truth
Pouring all of our ire about what may be wrong with baseball into A-Rod could be a mistake. No one person – even Barry Bonds and his 10-gallon head – can be held responsible for all the sport’s ills. His position as one of the game’s greats also puts the sport in a precarious position from which it would need a great deal of credit repair with the general public. For my part (and Glanville agrees), I hope this isn’t true. Why? Because it further tarnishes not only A-Rod’s reputation, but baseball’s. Don’t crucify the sport or any one player in the court of public opinion for pitch tipping or anything else until the truth is known for sure. Any fan will tell you that we owe baseball that much.
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