Alex and the Giant Media Monster

Derek Zumsteg

Like many people, I whine and complain about mass media stereotypes and the self-eating east coast snake, but now I want to take a moment and focus on what happens to a particular player in the spotlight. Specifically, Alex Rodriguez, the best player in baseball.

When Alex was just a wee prospect, he was regarded as a defensive wizard, a kid who could throw and field with the best of them, even compared to then-Mariner Omar Vizquel, who was considered the premiere defensive shortstop of the league. Omar's bat, however, was a question mark. Alex went first in the 1993 draft, and proceeded to engage in a nasty spat with the Mariners over his contract, signing bonus, etc. Scott Boras, already a huge jerk, had Alex enroll in a Florida college. Alex at the last minute decided that he wanted to play baseball more than he wanted to listen to Scott Boras, and signed with the Mariners.

In the minors, Alex showed promise but was still regarded as a defensive prospect by the media at large. His development was rushed - he was called up in 1994 for a cup of coffee (17 games), so the Mariners could show him off, and in 1995 he was rushed to the majors by Lou "They're saying my name, not booing" Piniella after injuries to Luis Sojo and Felix Fermin, both sucky players.

This is when I saw Alex. He was awesome at short, shaky on the throw, still making minor-league errors, but incredibly smooth and fast for someone a year and change from high school. Once, Alex was on first and whoever was behind him (who knows? I was watching Alex) hit a hard foul, and Alex was running on contact. When the pitch went into the stands, he was around third. All I'd seen was a white stripe around the bases. I turned to my girlfriend and said "Did you see that? Did you see that?" and started to speak in tongues. The boy was fast. I thought he shouldn't have been called up so fast, but as long as he was there...

Alex outhit the majority of AL shortstops, getting on base .264, and slugged an excellent .408. But the media looked at his average, that .232 average, and they damned him back to whence he came. Felix Fermin hit .300, after all, and that's better than .232.

Except you know it's not. Alex later said it was hard for him, bouncing back and forth, and he had great sympathy for other players strung out on the Lou Piniella yo-yo. His bat still considered weak, Alex was still hyped by and large as an excellent shortstop defensively.

Alex then proved them wrong. In 1996, the American League MVP tore the game up. He set records. He was one of the best offensive players in the game, at the weakest offensive position. So, by the end of that season, he became regarded as a weak defensive player. Even though he was close to premiere fielder Vizquel by such (however flawed) statistical measures as Range Factor and Zone Rating, everyone bought into Alex being a poor fielder, which is what he's remained to this day. His fielding stats are comparable to the best at his position, but while any fool who watches him play can tell he's a fine shortstop, there's now a media stereotype at work he cannot beat.

Specifically, many believe that 'defense wins games', and you want your infield up the middle to be good with the glove at the detriment of the bat. This protects players who can field but not hit, particularly at those positions. Rey Ordonez and Mike Bordick can't hit a lick and aren't that good defensively, but they're well paid for their weakness because a weak-hitting shortstop is for whatever reason considered the norm.

This is clearly stupid, of course - who argues that Ken Griffey is poor defensively because he's an awesome offensive force (a few loonies, sure), and who argues that Jim Thome or Tim Salmon are defensive liabilities because of their bats? Nevertheless, at shortstop and second base you can have one or the other, but not both.

Unless, and here we return to my point, you play for an East Coast team. Case in point, Derek Jeter, who is a poor shortstop defensively. But he's on TV all the time, and he's hyped by even the likes of STATS, Inc (who should know better) thus: "He has outstanding range at shortstop, soft hands and a great feel for situations." No he doesn't. Roberto Alomar also has a defensive rep he hasn't deserved in years to go with his bat.

In essence, the east coast media is so self-absorbed they can always find good things to say about their home teams, but need simple things to remember about teams that play late games they don't watch. Alex? Big bat, no glove. Kevin Elster and all the rest of the West Coast middle infielders? Decent bat, decent glove, vague good things about 'hands' and their range.

Watch games, not Peter Gammons, and watch seasons, not the nightly highlight reels, when you look at players. You'll find West Coast players are consistently not given credit for their abilities and their deficencies, while East Coast players only have upsides.

Derek Zumsteg is Tiger Woods. At least that's what he tells the rest of the staff. Tell him he'll never win another Masters at dmz@strikethree.com.