|
|
Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
|
|
Monday, October 16
A-Rod sleepless in possible Seattle finale
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
SEATTLE -- Alex Rodriguez was still in the shower, but the piece of cardboard on the Mariners chair in front of his locker told the story.
There, on top of a pile of A-Rod uniform tops, T-shirts, warm-up jerseys and batting gloves was the scorecard from Sunday's 6-2 Mariners victory; the same scorecard that spent the afternoon posted on the inside wall of Seattle's dugout.
|  | | His final hit at Safeco Field? Alex Rodriguez lined a two-run single in the fifth inning. |
Bench coach John McLaren set it there after the game, just in case. Though McLaren and the rest of Seattle hope the "just in case" never comes true, they are preparing nonetheless. They've been through this before with Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr.
In fact, a collection of magazine covers framed in the Safeco Field press box looks like a "Who's Who" of departed Seattle superstars. And Rodriguez, baseball's golden boy, could be next. He's a free agent and Sunday's 6-2 victory may have been his last home game in a Mariners uniform.
A bumper sticker plastered across the forehead of one Mariner fan prior to Sunday's game said it all: "STAY-ROD."
If he doesn't, and the city's latest superstar bolts for somewhere warmer, more competitive, or more financially endowed, he certainly went out in grand fashion.
After all, it was A-Rod's fifth-inning, cannon-like smash that rifled past a diving Scott Brosius, scoring Mark McLemore and Rickey Henderson, that gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead.
The single, on the first pitch from newly inserted reliever Jeff Nelson, erased a 2-1 deficit and opened the door to a five-run inning.
More importantly, it narrowed New York's ALCS lead to 3-2, extending Rodriguez's Mariner career for at least one more game. And should Seattle shock even themselves, and steal a pair in the Bronx, Rodriguez could return home to the grandest stage of his career.
|
“ |
I think last night, for the first time, it hit me. You might be facing the end and you don't know really what the future holds. I had a hard time thinking about the possibilities that this could be it. ” |
|
|
— Alex Rodriguez |
But that's down the road. Saturday night, while lying in bed trying to rest for a backs-against-the-wall game, Rodriguez said he had trouble sleeping. For the first time all season, he tossed and turned, thoughts of a memorable Seattle career dancing in his head.
"I think last night, for the first time, it hit me," he said. "You might be facing the end and you don't know really what the future holds. I had a hard time thinking about the possibilities that this could be it.
"But finally, I managed to get a couple hours of sleep to prepare for the game."
So on a poor night's rest, Rodriguez responded by putting together the key hit in a series that has seen few of them for the Mariners. Seattle had scored five runs in the first four games, but doubled that in one inning Sunday.
After the game, for the first time in over a week, the Seattle locker room was loud and lively. The almost annoying Mariner anthem, "Who Let the Dogs Out," blared on the stereo, while nearby televisions broadcast Seattle fans celebrating in pandemonium.
As they say in these parts, it was "Mojo Madness."
"(The hit) was a big relief," Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. "We've stranded so many people on base ... finally, we come through with a big hit."
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who watched the liner whiz past Brosius, said it was just out of the third baseman's reach.
"It was close, real close," Jeter said. "(Brosius) told me that if it would have been a little lower, he could have caught it. But because it was higher, he had to dive up and over. But you have to give Alex credit. He hit a great pitch."
That he did. So good, in fact, that Nelson said it was in the exact spot he wanted, inside on the hands. That was the same place Roger Clemens had success against Rodriguez the night before.
"It was right where I wanted it," Nelson said. "And he adjusted."
Though a glance at the scorecard would tell you that single was Rodriguez's only contribution in this victory, that was hardly the case.
With the speedy Rodriguez at first after the single, Nelson was forced to stay with a slide-step delivery rather than a high leg kick in order to keep Rodriguez close. With A-Rod on his mind, he fell behind Edgar Martinez 2-0, and Martinez crushed the next pitch, a fastball, over the center-field wall.
"He needed to pay more attention to Alex because you have to keep him close," Martinez said.
Added Rodriguez, "I was ready to go every pitch. If he would have given me the leg kick, I would have been gone. Perhaps, just perhaps, he threw a fastball over the plate where he didn't want."
Rodriguez's contributions weren't done there. The next inning, with the Yankees looking to answer the Seattle outburst, Rodriguez dashed behind second base, dove across the dirt -- completely outstretched -- to snag a Luis Sojo grounder. In one fluid motion, he rose to his knees, fired to first, and kept the leadoff man from reaching base.
Now, with New York's lead in the series cut to 3-2, Piniella believes all the pressure rests on the Yankees. Whether his Mariners plan on capitalizing on the shift in momentum or just postponing the inevitable, the fact remains that Sunday's game was a feel-good way to end for Rodriguez.
The 25-year-old will enter the free-agent market as the greatest free agent ever, with teams drooling to throw scores of millions at him. He's said the only sure way he will return to Seattle is if the Mariners win the World Series. Other than that, it's up in the air.
"Obviously, you would like to think that we're going to have another chance to play here," Rodriguez said. "But the one thing I am sure of is you don't want anybody celebrating on your field, if it indeed is going to be your last game."
Rodriguez is sure to hear from the Mariners in the offseason, with rumored courting by the Braves, Mets, White Sox, Dodgers and others certain. Still, it's a wise-old saying from his mother that could keep him in the city where it all began.
"She always told me, 'Sometimes, it's not that greener on the other side,' " he said. "So obviously, you become a bit apprehensive about the possibilities."
And, just in case, you grab a souvenir or two along the way.
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com.
|
|
 | 
|
