[Phoenix1010]

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andys totally right in this thread. about everything, no point in me posting. see his posts.

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andyfox is usually correct and logical, but i can't believe he is saying that arod's bush-league swipe to knock the ball out of arroyo's glove last year was a "good play"

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I think it was a completely cheap move and it lowered my opinion of Rodriguez, but it was strategically a good play. Think about it, he's out if he doesn't slap at it. If the umps make the right call he's out but if they mess up he's safe. Pretty much a freeroll. It only had a slim chance of success but that's better than zero.

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Whenever people talk about this, I think of all the other stuff that goes on in sports that no one bothers to talk about. Like catchers "framing" pitches to make balls look like strikes to fool the umpire, like pitchers beaning players in the back in retaliation, and like how a baserunner runs full steam into a catcher trying to break him in half. Basically, the way I see it, you do what you can to win, and if you break the rules, let the umps/refs figure it out, especially in the heat of the moment. The fact that people latch onto this one incident as if it hurts his reputation is a joke. He got caught, it was at a pivotal moment so it got a lot of public scrutiny, but this crap happens every day. Just let it go.