I can't help but wonder how this latest A-Rod kerfuffle affects his position on your list. Personally, I'm just relieved, in this rare instance, A-Rod, the Sultan of Slap, comes off as the more level-headed combatant. Me thinks Dallas Braden's raised hackles would give even Billy Martin pause.
(Brilliant image via Flip Flop Fly Ball)
BEN:
I don't want to spoil what's ahead, but since I'm counting from the least-hated to most, let's put it this way: it'll be a while before I get to A-Rod in these rankings.
As far as this baseball non-story goes, sure, I'll side with Dallas Braden. I mean, no one cares, but this is the exact kind of thing A-Rod gets wrong so consistently: little, petulant things that annoy people. This happens all the time in the baseball media, these attempts to codify the game's unwritten rules, who can throw what at whom, and when. The fact is, there's a lot of gray area here, and if you want to say something bad about either of these guys, the material is there. 20 years ago, or even five, we wouldn't even be talking about this. People do annoying things, people overreact, life goes on. But, since we're here, yes--I do think A-Rod should've gone around, or better yet, turned back once the play was dead. Why did he keep running to third? He's always had immature mannerisms, little cues that make him hard to like (for those trying), and they are in evidence in the video of the incident. I'm glad it happened, if only to get us that brilliant graphic, but I'm ready to move on, at least until I get higher up the hate-meter.
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