Mike Celizic does not think things through. He’s an MSNBC.com contributor who basically talks about the New York Yankees in every column, and also slobbers over Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter’s having a very good year, sure, and he’s going to likely be a hall-of-famer, but that doesn’t make the fanboy love for Jeter any less sickening. Celizic speaks of intangibles, ‘clutch hits’, postseason heroics, and other bullshit. Sportszilla and the Jabber Jocks already broke down the myth of Jeter’s clutchness compared to Alex Rodriguez’s ‘lack’ of marbles in the clutch and the postseason. The Fire Joe Morgan blog has been harping on him for a while now. Plus, ol’ Mikey wears a freaking fedora in his MSNBC.com picture. Who does that anymore? Is he cracking cases and solving mysteries on the side?
And now Mike has completely lost it. He suggests that Rodriguez has ‘lost it’, and that his fragile psyche will never recover enough to be a good Yankee. So he’s had some throwing errors and now the guy is longer able to be a Yankee eh? Let’s look at his season.
Alex Rodriguez is having an off-year, it’s true. This is his third season wearing the Yankees uniform, and he’s hitting 279 with a 379 OBP and a 500 slugging percentage for his lowest OPS in his career at 879. That’s 9 points lower than 2004, his first season as a Yankee. His second year? All he did was win the MVP while sporting a 1031 OPS. He also set the Yankees home run record for righthanded batters(48). That was his 7th season with at least 40 home runs. He probably won’t get his eighth this year since he only has 21 so far, nor will he set any career high in any category really. He also had his worst month of his career in June, hitting 213 with 3 home runs, but walked enough to salvage his play somewhat. His 694 OPS was the worst since May 2003 when he had a 778 OPS.
His defense has also been suspect recently. He has 18 errors this year already, and by far the lowest fielding percentage of his career (.929).
So he’s struggling. For him. But let’s look at Captain Jetes’ OPS for the year: 898. A good OPS for a shortstop, to be sure, but it’s all of 19 points higher than Rodriguez’s! They’re having very similar years, though Jeter’s OPS is slightly more OBP-heavy. There’s also nothing to suggest that Rodriguez will continue to struggle defensively, unless one ignores 9+ years of good defense at two positions. Even with the off year, he’s still ranked 8th out of 24 qualified third basemen in OPS. He’s having his worst season ever, and is still ranked in the top third of his position. That’s not too bad.
Celizic also suggests that A-Rod almost deserves the booing, by pulling out the ever popular money card:
It’s not fair, but that’s what selling yourself as the greatest ballplayer who ever lived and coming to town with all that money gets you. Players never think of that end of the bargain when they’re demanding an emperor’s ransom as free agents. The never stop to realize that when you make that much and make such claims, the fans are going to expect you to live up to the hype and the numbers on your paycheck.
OK, would you turn down 252 million? Would you turn down an offer that was over 100 million more than the next best offer?? If you do, you’re an idiot. And booing someone because they are slumping and paid a lot is lame. Period. Just lame, and it ignores all the great things that Alex has done, as though he won’t do it again. The guy is slumping, he’s not done. And he’s only slumping FOR HIM. His slump has dropped him down to a player of Jeter’s level!!! Yankees fans, and Mike Celizic, love Mr. Captain Jetes don’t they? And he’s making 180 million!
Celezic ends his piece by motioning back to something he stated in the first paragraph (it’s what all good writers do! closure!):
He really doesn’t have much of a choice. He can go somewhere where the demands aren’t as high and the fans friendlier, the sort of place in which he’s always thrived. Or he can continue being Ed Whitson.
I know which option I’d take.
Yeah, and you’d be a retard. Why would Alex want to leave a chance at a championship in the next 5 years for what would certainly be no chance??? The guy has the money, the acclaim, the hall-of-fame numbers. The only thing left, for his OWN satisfaction and no one else’s, is that ring. He has nothing to prove to idiot fans who boo or moron sportswriters who can’t see more than one week into the future. Celezic compared Rodriguez to Ed Whitson! Ed Whitson?! Boy ol’ Eddie Whitson….who? Apparently he had a bad year with the Yankees in 1985 and was gone early the next season. Alex is already in his third year as a Yankee, and has won an MVP wearing their uniform. So the guy’s comparing what turns out to be a league-average pitcher to what will surely be one of the greatest players of all-time, whether he plays third or short? Genius.
This entire booing thing makes NO SENSE. The Yankees starting rotation is one of the worst in baseball, with only Mike Mussina being any good. Randy Johnson truly HAS ‘lost it’, Chien-Ming Wang is a mirage (44Ks and 34 walks in 139 innings doesn’t exactly thrill), and Jaret Wright and Sidney Ponson are horrible. Maybe concentrating on your HOF third basemen isn’t the way to go.
Phillies fans will gladly take Alex off your hands. In return you can have a firey competitor who gives it all in Aaron Rowand. He’s got those intangibles and that ring. He’s got it all!
great post. the facts need to be put out there frequently about these two guys and how they are so mistakingly viewed.
I really love your blog and your informed comment on my favorite subject after politics – Philly sports. Tomorrow, I’m going to write a post about your multi-facted blog fro Lehigh Valley readers. Keep up the great work! – Bernie O’Hare
That’s really awesome man, seriously. Thanks a lot. I better put your blog on the front page then!
Yeah BUT … who cares? You’re obviously right about the numbers, but who doesn’t like Derek Jeter? Who actually does like A-Rod?
Jeter has hit .303 in six World Series. A-Rod has played in zero. Numbers are boring — OPS is possibly the most boring statistic ever created — and Chris buddy, you spit out too many numbers.
People like charismatic champions, like Reggie Jackson. People remember clutch plays like Jeter’s rookie year HR against Baltimore (the one with the clear fan interference) and Jeter’s hitting .400 with 2HR on the biggest NY stage, the 2000 subway series, and that overrated play against Oakland that Gatorade turned into a commercial.
Dan Marino, Karl Malone and Barry Bonds all have superior numbers to, let’s say, John Elway, Hakeem Olajuwon and ANY baseball player (but let’s use Jeter), but the latter all have titles. Who cares about numbers in team sports if your team doesn’t win?
In conclusion, I hate the Yankees and really just wanted to bust Chris’s balls. On a related note: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_RrQF4vUPw4
Found your blog searching for information about Mike Celizic’s idiocy. I read the A-Rod column and was mystified — then, today, Celizic suggests that the White Sox need to fire Ozzie Guillen, the man who led them to their first World Series in 88 years less than a year ago! His rationale is that they now *might* not make the playoffs. What a moron.
I too came to your site via a search for “celizic” and “idiot.” Today he included Joe Mauer in a list of rookies having great seasons. Seriously, is there a stupider, more ignorant sportswriter working in a forum with 1/50th the visability? It’s kind of unbelievable . . .
MIKE Celizic is a idoit. I hate everything he writes
I just googled Celizic for a post I’m doing on my own blog and found this. Great stuff.
Here’s my take on Celizic and his views on golf. We aren’t the only ones it seem who “doubt” his views
http://scratchtoscratch.wordpress.com/
Just to add:
I’m absolutely wetting myself here at the concept of people googling “Celizic” and “idiot”
Dear Sir,
Say what you want about Celizic. He is the only person who has the courage to present arguments relevant to the fall of Sleepy Joe Torre’s dynasty. Torre has for years dessimated almost every pitching staff he has had. More pitchers under Torre have fallen and the number of players with minor, nuisance type leg injuries are growing. His managerial talents are greatly overrated. For the past six years this team, with a 200 million dollar team jammed with superstars, have been also runs in the playoffs. The team got embarrassed by Boston in the 2004 massacre and defused by the Tigers in 2006. The playing field has been leveled because of certain injuries and that is when Torre is at his worse. The Boston game last Friday was the worse managed game in years by any manager. Even previous managers in the Yankee system (Bowa and Pena) are hardly ever seen collaborating with the genius Torre; in fact, they separate themselves. Torre’s ten or more years in the NL are being presently witnessed by Yankee fans. Sports writers, except Celizic, take Torre to task; they mostly feed him lay-up type questions and treat him with a reverence he doesn’t deserve. No manager is greater than the game. I hope Steinbrenner comes out of his coma and starts asserting some demands as he once did. Swindel, Torre’s savior, is on the ropes for different reasons. Maybe the Torre house of cards will fall and a more knowledgeable Girardi will assume Command of this sinken vessel.
Sorry, but in my opinion it’s you who have illogical rants. As a professional journalist I worked at a desk less than 10 feet away from Mike Celizic for more than two years. We had numerous conversations, covered stories together and otherwise had a great working relationship.
As a professional journalist and publicist for some four decades I think I know a few things about reporting, opinion and such. Based on the above blog, blog generally being, in my opinion, a euphemism for “I can’t cut it in the salaried journalist world, Mike is a superlative writer by comparison to your mud-slinging.
Lastly, as to the fedora, it’s not a sham as Mike wears his hat almost constantly in public. I’ve only saw it off his head for less than a minute in more than two years.
Larry Moniz
Journalist, publicist and author
Winner of more than a dozen top national and regional writing awards.
Sorry, but in my opinion it’s you who have illogical rants. As a professional journalist I worked at a desk less than 10 feet away from Mike Celizic for more than two years. We had numerous conversations, covered stories together and otherwise had a great working relationship.
As a professional journalist and publicist for some four decades I think I know a few things about reporting, opinion and such. Based on the above blog, blog generally being, in my opinion, a euphemism for “I can’t cut it in the salaried journalist world,” Mike is a superlative writer by comparison to your mud-slinging.
Lastly, as to the fedora, it’s not a sham as Mike wears his hat almost constantly in public. I’ve only seen it off his head for less than a minute in more than two years.
Larry Moniz
Journalist, publicist and author
Winner of more than a dozen top national and regional writing awards.
I’ve been a die hard Yankee fan all my life and what gets me is Mike Celizic is saying how great they are one minute and how terrible they are the next. In his recent article he rants about how the Red Sox are the big bad team of the AL East and that no one wants to face them. Here’s a news flash Mike, I would rather play the Sox than the Rays. If the Sox are so “bad” then how come they just took 2 out of 3 from Bostin……in Fenway? Boston is a good team no doubt but your flip-flopping of opinions makes me want to gag half the time. If the Yankees were 5 to 6 games out and on a win streak your opinion would be 100% different. Do us a favor and stop talking about baseball as you have no idea what you’re talking about. No I’m not a sad loser because the Yanks aren’t going to the playoffs. I would just rather read an article from someone that actually knows what they’re talking about.
GO Rays!!!!
After reading his negative comments on the Phillies in the previous weeks, as to which he more or less states that the Phillies had no place to make the play-off’s…I wonder if that was his NY bias and wanting the Mets to win the East? He continued in the days to follow making negative remarks about the Phillies during the NL playoff’s and making sure to push in his column the hope for an LA and Boston series. Low and behold, the Phil’s have an amazing series and look as if they could take it in game 5 and all Mike Celizic can write about on a Monday morning column on MSNBC was “They billed the Giants’ visit to Pittsburgh as a Super Bowl preview”.
This is a sports writer? You have a HR derby going on in prime time in a World Series and he writes about an NFL game of the Steelers vs. the Giants? are the NFL playoff’s next weekend?
Nice job Mike, they should really call you scoop on that article. The only thing he really should be scooping are the fecal matter from the neighborhood dogs in the public park.
I had to add to the dislike of this idiot to your blog, as he can cast out the negative spins on teams and make predictions, but he never follows through on what he failed in predicting as he just changes the topic and moves on to another of which he seems to talk out his ass about. What a vicious cycly that must be for Mike.
Okay, this Mike Celizic guy is a complete idiot. Who is he working for? Gary Bettman is a better commish than Selig? What the hell? Bettman is a complete idiot. He had to institute the Sean Avery rule last year in the playoffs because he worked to pass an instigation rule that would penalize a team and a player for instigating a fight. So what happended? All the loudmouths in the league, Avery included, began yapping like they are in the NBA. Hockey players used to police themselves. Under Bettman, both the players and the league have behaved like children. There is no TV deal. Hockey is watched less than poker. The NHL was on the rise in a big way when he took over, and now it is a distant 8th in sports TV viewership. This guy had the hockey all star game during the middle of the week. 400,000 people watched it. More people tune in for the Flames/Oilers battle of Alberta. (Actually, I don’t know if that is true, but I’m trying to make a point and don’t have time to research it. Which also makes a point, at least I’m disclosing what I am doing. Bettman acts on bad information all the time and then tries to claim that it wasn’t his fault. He sucks in every way and has no business running the NHL. Neither do I, but I guess the difference is that I know it.) For these very good reasons Mike Celizic is a moron. And not just a little bit, a big one!