Afternoon Baseball

NY Daily News (via Baseball Musings)
The Brushback

According to The Brushback, it's that Damon swings and A-Rod doesn't. Read that for laughs.

But on to a semi-factual source, the NY Daily News. According to Johnny Damon's brother: "I know (Alex Rodriguez), he's got a routine down to a science from what I hear. And Johnny, he just goes out and plays and doesn't care about any routine at all. I've wondered sometimes, would he be even better if he took better care of his body?"

Damon, of course, disagrees with this notion. I don't think that this serves as an example of A-Rod being too tightly wound up. That's a mental block, at the most, that he puts on himself in certain situations. His "getting up at 6 a.m. while other people are taking care of their kids," to quote the Red Sox, will keep him an elite player for the duration of his long, massive contract. Damon, on the other hand, may find his body betray him in the next 3-4 years. Hopefully, that will not happen. Even if it does, it may be an injury not related to fitness.
The elephant in the room, though, is exactly what Damon's brother means. Is Damon working out and such, but not a machine about it a la A-Rod? That might not be so bad. Or does he mean that Damon is lounging about, maybe cheating on his new wife like he did the old one (parody, but makes the point), and letting his natural metabolism take care of his health? While I don't think it's the latter, we have no way of knowing at the moment.

EDIT (06/06/07): It's a cheap shot, I know, but it seems A-Rod has taken the Damon approach to marriage.

Labels: A-Rod