Alex Rodriguez is one of the most consequential players in baseball history. Yet as a broadcaster, the all-time great and polarizing force refuses to offer any insight from his career. There are a lot of problems with A-Rod in the booth — regularly getting facts wrong, making nonsensical statements — but his vapidity is his worst trait.
More than anything, that’s why A-Rod struggles as an announcer. He just never says anything interesting.
ESPN’s telecast of Red Sox-Yankees Sunday night was filled with the typical on-air blunders and maddening production choices. The most irritating portion of the evening came in the fifth inning, when David Ortiz visited the booth and the broadcast turned into a shallow gabfest with forced laughter and little attention being paid to the biggest game of the season. The camera was fixated on three men sitting in the booth, and not the heart-palpitating action on the field.
And we didn’t even get a good story out of it.
Midway through Ortiz’s appearance, play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian dropped an interesting nugget: A-Rod and Jason Varitek, who’s now on the Red Sox coaching staff, haven’t spoken since their notorious brawl in 2004. The two even played with each other during the World Baseball Classic one year, and Varitek told Vasgersian they didn’t exchange pleasantries.
With that out there, it would’ve been fascinating to hear A-Rod’s side of the story. Why hasn’t he tried to speak with Varitek over the last 17 years? Their midseason brawl will go down as one of the most indelible moments of the Red Sox and Yankees’ historic rivalry. Surely, A-Rod must have thoughts about the episode, and his own side of the story.
Too bad he wasn’t willing to share it. Instead, he offered platitudes.
“I have so much respect for Jason Varitek: the captain,” A-Rod said. “He did so much good work for you guys. I’ve always said when hitting against the Red Sox, when he was behind the plate, he made a good pitcher great, and a great pitcher like Schilling and Pedro almost un-hittable.”
That was it. A-Rod was one of the most pivotal figures from one of the most intense periods of the best rivalry in baseball — if not pro sports. But amazingly, that’s all he had to offer. Then it was back to the awkward laugh fest, and saying ridiculous things about John Olerud’s importance to the ’04 Yankees and career .275 hitter Aaron Judge’s chances to win the triple crown.
There is a long history of great players failing to translate in the announcer’s booth. It’s long past time to add A-Rod to that list. His commentary is cringeworthy and insights are useless. But worst of all, he’s just downright dull.
