| Rodriguez's resurgence keeps M's mission alive Dave Boling; News Tribune columnist Tacome Tribune, October 1, 2000 ANAHEIM, Calif. - Taking on a leadership role back in spring training, Alex Rodriguez supplied his Mariners teammates with T-shirts that proclaimed: "We are on a mission, sir.'' They were extra-large, cotton reminders of the job ahead. The problem has been, as the Mariners have limped toward the finish line, Alex's bat has been on an intermission. Sir. All the while, Rodriguez looked reasonably lifelike. Playing defense, hustling, mouthing the right words. But, like those animatronic figures just down the road at Disneyland, we were only seeing the surface. Just motions that conceal the emotions. When the M's needed their marquee player the most, he was coming up empty. And more than anybody else, he knew it. Until Saturday. In a game the Mariners desperately needed to sustain prime post-season prospects, Rodriguez displayed a stunning revival. He homered in the first and sixth innings, driving in seven runs to instigate the Mariners' 21-9 victory over the Anaheim Angels. This mission that began 161 games ago now comes down to today's game, although the M's playoff fate might need even another game after that be determined. By winning Saturday, the Mariners now can do no worse than be forced into a one-game playoff to determine a wild-card berth. More importantly, they can still overtake Oakland for the American League West title. And among Saturday's gratifying developments, the awakening of Rodriguez is among the most welcomed. Having suffered through a 3-for-29 batting stretch, the pressure had to be red-lining for the soon-to-be free agent shortstop. Rodriguez's recent downturn was not nearly enough to blemish what has been a spectacular, if brief, career. And his next contract will surely exceed the gross national product of some of those hyphenated republics. But as a prideful athlete who has known little but stunning success, Rodriguez had to suffer with each pop fly and ground out. "Obviously, the pressure was working (on me), because I haven't been doing much,'' he said after Saturday's win. "You realize that everything is magnified in the sense that you get scrutinized with every struggle. All along, I think I've weathered the storm because I've been through situations when I haven't done well and I've gotten myself out of it in the past. You try to play better defense, base running, to be a more complete player.'' Rodriguez was emphatic with his first at-bat, socking a two-run homer in the first inning to prime an offense that finally revved up to post-season RPMs. "It definitely helped to get a couple on the board like that,'' first baseman John Olerud said of Rodriguez's early blast. "It takes the pressure off everybody. He's such a big part of our lineup and he's gotten so many big hits for us all year. Both he and Edgar (Martinez) ... when those guys are swinging it good, we've always got a chance.'' Rodriguez inflated his home run total to 40 once again, being the only shortstop in history not named Ernie Banks to accomplish that in three different seasons. And he's still just 25. But "it's hard to think about personal stuff'' when the team is fighting for a division title, he said. A slump, particularly to a player as visible as Rodriguez, does get personal, though. The best he could do was rely on a perspective he's developed thus far. "I said all along that's just baseball,'' he said. "You're going to go through ups and downs. My down time wasn't the best, obviously.'' And Saturday? "Much better,'' he said, shaking his head and offering a sigh of relief. The focus now is directed at this afternoon's game ... and nothing beyond, he stressed. "Here we are at 161 games and we still don't know what's going to happen,'' he said. "That's indicative of how crazy this game can be some times. (Today's game) is all that counts. We've got to come out and find a way to get a victory.'' And once again, his performance will be crucial to the team's success. Saturday, he was clearly uncomfortable being pinpointed as the bellwether for this team. But it's obviously not coincidental that his problems have paralleled those of the team in the past week or so. "I try to be as consistent as I can all year long,'' he said. "Obviously, when you go through a little drought, and we lose some games ... " Rodriguez credited the Mariners with playing with their hearts and guts on Saturday. But the same, surely, could have been said about him. After a trying spell in which he was viewed as one of the team's problems, he once again became one of their solutions. If they can do it once more, he'll have to print up some new t-shirts: Mission accomplished. Sir. |