Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Jackson And Handling The Pressure Of New York

When Alex Rodriguez launched his two-run, game winning homer late yesterday afternoon I couldn’t have been any happier for him. This guy has gone through so much this past month, that he really needed that homer to help him get through this very difficult time. It was a very dramatic moment for A-Rod, but more importantly, it could be the turning point of the 2006 season for the New York Yankees.  As that ball sailed into the late Bronx afternoon air, I couldn’t help but think that the Yankees had their MVP back.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been imploring some Yankee fans both at the Stadium and on the Internet blogs to stop the booing Alex and instead, support him while he is struggling. I got both supportive and critical responses from these pieces, but one response really got me thinking about Alex Rodriguez’  New York experience as compared to Reggie Jackson’s tenure in the "Big Apple".

While backing Alex on one of my forums, a gentleman wrote in with the following comment.

"I never saw such bull**** with a superstar in all my life. Never."

This person, who is old enough to remember the Yankees of the 70S, was talking about how Joe Torre and others, who felt Rodriguez was just trying too hard, were making too many "excuses" for the star’s recent failures. In short, this gentleman was saying, he’s never seen people in an organization try so hard to make someone feel "comfortable".

When I responded to his comment, I said I remember another superstar who went through the same thing. In 1977 and 1978, Reginald Martinez Jackson had experienced many of the same things Alex has during his first 2-1/2 years as a Yankee.

The poster replied with the following response.

"Reggie produced. Reggie didn’t need a shrink in the dugout. Reggie need to fight with his manager, not be nursed by his manager."

To this, I had to refresh this poster’s memory of what Reggie Jackson went through in 1977 and 1978. The poster’s "Reggie produced" comment was a fair one, BUT, just like Alex, there were many times during those two years that Jackson did not produce. Here are Reggie’s monthly numbers from the 1978 season.

April  .273 avg 3-hr, 10 rbi
May   .274 avg 4-hr, 17 rbi
June  .266 avg 6-hr, 22 rbi 27-ks
July   .333 avg 2-hr, 8 rbi
Aug.  .279 avg 4-hr, 14 rbi 25-ks
Sept . .253 avg 7-hr, 24 rbi

The poster’s comment about Reggie "not needing a shrink in the dugout", really surprised me because this poster is a knowledgeable fan. Evidently though, he forgot about the Yankees needing to keep Fran Healy (giving Healy an announcing gig) around to help Reggie get through some very tough times in New York.

His comment about Reggie "needing to fight with his manager" was also way off the mark. If you recall, Jackson almost had a nervous breakdown due to his battles with Billy Martin. Once the calm, and un-excitable Bob Lemon took over in 1978, Reggie started to thrive.

To drive my point home, I exposed this poster to a Sports Illustrated piece from 1980 about Reggie Jackson. It was entitled, "The Man Who Owned New York". Here are some key points of that piece.

"Looking back, Jackson says he reached his emotional low point one day in July when, numbed by it all, he sat down in the director’s chair in his 20Th floor apartment, overlooking Central Park, and brooded. His girlfriend was there, but for four hours he said nothing. He stared out over the park at the trees, wanting to leave, not wanting to be there anymore. He finally got up, still saying nothing, and went to his car. He broke down and wept on his way to the ball park. His girl left him a month later, unable to take the pressures of his life. Gary Walker, his agent and his closest friend, accompanied him to the Stadium one afternoon and feared that Jackson would not make it. "Stiff, an enormous tenseness that I had never seen before," Walker recalls. "Rigid facially, and he walked with a rigid gait. I would say he was on the verge of a mental breakdown."

So, much for "not needing a shrink".

"The recollection of those days haunts Jackson yet. He is not comfortable talking about them. "It would sound like a madman talking," he says. "It was horror. I was afraid. I lost my confidence. I didn’t know how to manipulate here, how to move around here, how to adjust. My mother and father couldn’t go to games, couldn’t deal with it. And I used to go to places with friends who I hadn’t seen in months, and they’d says, ‘What’s happened to you? Who’s this monster that’s been created?’ If it wasn’t for Fran Healy, I’d have lost my mind. The Bible, Fran Healy and Gary Walker. But I couldn’t quit. I couldn’t give up. I was the center of the storm. It was every moment of every day. It was a coldness in the clubhouse, a coldness on the field, a coldness from the stands. Every day. Every day. I don’t want it on my mind; I don’t want those scars."

Sound familiar? Man, he leaned on Fran Healy so many times during those two years.

As far as Reggie producing, yes he did (just like Alex has) but it took some time. From the Sports Illustrated article….

""In retrospect, it is remarkable that Jackson even produced at all. But he did. If he had become uncertain on defense, the one facet of his game that antagonists could pick apart, he had a tremendous year at the plate—32 home runs, 110 runs batted in, 20 game-winning hits—carrying the team in the stretch drive, culminating the year on that glorious October night, when he hit three home runs in the sixth and final game of the World Series. "I always produced," he says. "I was always able to hit. I was in a position where, if I failed, the fans and the press would have buried me. They getcha, boy. They don’t let you escape with minor scratches and bruises. They put scars on you here. Come to the Big Apple and have a bite. I had to either learn to digest, or choke."

My point in all this is Alex Rodriguez is one of the best players in baseball. Alex Rodriguez HAS produced with runners on base. Look up his numbers from last year and this year, and you might be surprised how well he has actually done.

The problem with Alex, like it was for Reggie is we may be expecting too much. When he fails, we talk about it for days, yet when he wins "Player of the Month (like he did in May) nobody says a word. Frankly, Alex Rodriguez can’t win.

I hope yesterday’s homer sends A-Rod on a hot streak. I also hope some fans will finally get off his back and let the guy perform like he’s capable of. For those of you who are only focusing on the failures, I feel bad for you, for you’re missing one of the greatest talents in baseball. Finally, re-read Reggie’s words from 1980. It’s not easy for a superstar to "transfer" into this town. Give this guy some slack and he will "reward" you just like "Mr. October" did in 1977 and 1978.

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