Babe Ruth. Reggie Jackson. Alex Rodriguez.
Manny Machado?
If the ultra-talented free-agent infielder chooses to spend 2019 and beyond with the Yankees, which might be turning into a long shot, then he had best follow the precedent set by his three fellow polarizing superstars who joined the Yankees mid-career.
He’ll need to be in on his own joke.
Is he capable of that? We can’t possibly know unless and until Machado chooses to wear the fabled pinstripes rather than join the Phillies or White Sox — respected Latino journalist Hector Gomez reported Wednesday that Machado has eliminated the Yankees, although the Yankees hadn’t heard that — and embark upon such a high-risk, high-reward journey. We can, however, look at his past actions and words and chat on background with folks who have interacted with him along the way and point out both the positive and negative indicators.
The Babe, Mr. October and A-Rod all carried themselves with supreme swagger, and they largely knew what they were doing as they did it. As Jane Leavy details in her excellent new biography on Ruth, “The Big Fella,” The Sultan of Swat helped create the culture of celebrity that remains prominent a century later. He feuded with authority figures, reveled in rivalries with opponents and didn’t even get along very well with his legendary teammate Lou Gehrig. And he was the game’s most dominant player until Shohei Ohtani’s arrival (yes, I’m trolling here).
Jackson, George Steinbrenner’s best free-agent signing, called himself “The straw that stirs the drink.” He ripped into Thurman Munson shortly after joining the team in 1977, and his manager Billy Martin never wanted him there. Amidst this chaos, Reggie won a pair of World Series rings, capturing the ’77 Series Most Valuable Player honors thanks to his three-homer performance in the clinching Game 6.
Rodriguez, who agreed to switch from shortstop to third base in order to accommodate his frenemy Derek Jeter after the Yankees acquired him from the Rangers, never won the affection of manager Joe Torre, yet he earned a pair of American League MVP honors (2005 and 2007) while playing for him. His postseason struggles, magnified by the Yankees’ October starting pitching failures of 2004-07, dissipated in 2009 (under Torre’s successor, Joe Girardi) with a championship, and A-Rod now works as an adviser to Hal Steinbrenner.
Could Machado pull off such a Hall of Fame-caliber balancing act of being both reviled and revered? As you know, he flunked his audition last October with the Dodgers as he drew criticism for dirty play, a lack of hustle, a silly comment about his lack of hustle and an overall poor .227/.278/.394 slash line in 16 games and 72 plate appearances.
Before he even reached the postseason, he would have to navigate spring training and regular-season life in the Yankees’ fishbowl.
While he has made his share of enemies in the game thanks to controversial plays against the Red Sox and Brewers, to name two teams, Machado doesn’t have any known foes on the Yankees’ roster. On the contrary, Aaron Judge drew a wrist slap last year when he acknowledged recruiting Machado before a Yankees-Orioles exhibition game. Machado built a healthy network of allies in the Orioles’ clubhouse, and he’s not as fundamentally noise-making as his mentor A-Rod or Reggie, who also still works for the Yankees.
The true test would come during moments of adversity: If (when?) Yankees fans boo him during a slump, particularly if it happened early. Or an on-field skirmish, or an extra-base hit off the wall turns into a single because he assumed it would leave the yard. Or more silly quotes. These were the instances when he often struggled in Baltimore and Los Angeles. Remember, it took him about a month to half-heartedly apologize for his “Johnny Hustle” comments.
A year ago, we posed similar but not identical questions about new Yankee Giancarlo Stanton, who wound up adjusting quite well from South Florida to The Bronx with help from the Yankees’ strong organizational and clubhouse culture. Stanton never created ill will as a Marlin, though; he just hadn’t lived on the griddle.
Machado knows the griddle, a little. Does he enjoy it enough to use its heat as fuel? Learning the answer in real time would be, if nothing else, fascinating.
This story was originally published by NY Post
via USAHint.com
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