Alex Rodriguez's choice of music in spring training was perfectly fitting for his personality. As he prepared for the season, he played the Pat Benatar song Hit Me With Your Best Shot over and over, at high volume, in his earphones. The message was purposeful and motivational.
As Rodriguez was running sprints, lifting weights, or simply blocking out the news media, he was letting those words shower over him. Of course, as he said in a light moment with reporters last week, he did not need the inspiration for long.
"I've got to confess, now that we're coming down to the end, the earphones -- they never had music on, but they kept you guys away," Rodriguez said. "They ran out of batteries on April 15, but I still had them on. It worked out good, though."
It worked out to a sensational season in which Rodriguez hit .314 with 54 home runs and 156 RBIs. He had 85 extra-base hits -- 23 more than last season, when players like Ray Durham and Nick Johnson had more.
Rodriguez took the best shot that fans and reporters had and responded with overwhelming production. He even seemed more natural in the clubhouse, forming stronger relationships with young players, repairing any hint of a rift with manager Joe Torre and even playing host to a Labor Day barbecue at which Torre was the last to leave.
"Alex never gets the credit he deserves for being a great teammate," Johnny Damon said.
"People just know him as a great ballplayer, but he's much better than that," he said.
Then Damon added the disclaimer that haunts Rodriguez, especially this week -- he has never won a championship. With the Yankees starting their division series tomorrow in Cleveland, Rodriguez is under immense pressure to prove he is more than a regular-season wonder.
After first-round knockouts the last two seasons, Rodriguez wants a longer opportunity this fall.
"What I'm looking for is more than a handful of at-bats," Rodriguez said.
"We need the team to play well, play deep into October. There's been stretches this year where I've been 1 for 12, 1 for 10, 2 for 18; that's just part of it. I'm hoping to get 50 or 60 at-bats and help the team win," he said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB