So, it seems like A-Rod's reputation as a postseason failure basically stems from 3 straight bad series. Here's his line from those series:
16 games, .183/.300/.333, 10 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 0.81 RC*/G
I decided to see who else from baseball history has had a similar or worse 3-series stretch. I found somebody from each position just for fun.
C Yogi Berra, 47WS-50WS ... 14 G, .140/.204/.260, 6 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 0.64 RC/G
1B Jeff Bagwell, 97NLDS-99NLDS ... 11 G, .128/.261/.128, 3 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 0.64 RC/G
2B Jackie Robinson, 47WS-52WS ... 19 G, .212/.342/.303, 9 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0.79 RC/G
SS Derek Jeter**, 01ALDS-01WS ... 17 G, .226/.262/.290, 5 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0.47 RC/G
3B Mike Schmidt, 77NLCS-80NLCS ... 13 G, .164/.233/.218, 4 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0.54 RC/G
OF Babe Ruth, 18WS-22WS ... 14 G, .211/.333/.368, 4 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0.71 RC/G
OF Mickey Mantle, 61WS-63WS ... 13 G, .130/.216/.217, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0.23 RC/G
OF Ted Williams***, 46WS ... 7 G, .200/.333/.200, 2 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0.43 RC/G
DH David Ortiz, 02ALDS-03ALDS ... 14 G, .200/.231/.280, 0 R, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 0.43 RC/G
I think we can all agree that this team of chokers could never make it out of the first round.
* runs created (R+RBI-HR)
** Jeter also had a pretty crappy 98ALDS-98WS ... 13 G, .235/.328/.294, 7 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0.77 RC/G
*** OK, Ted only had 1 postseason series, but I figured in the spirit of judging players off of small sample sizes, I'd include him
I have no idea if these numbers are accurate because I haven't checked them. But if they are, well done. This is the kind of cold, hard data that warms my silicon-aluminum robot heart.
Labels: alex rodriguez, arod
