Brent Mayne found an interesting quote in his latest Art of Catching newsletter. As he talked about big leaguers managing stress he brought up El Duque, who is renowned for his postseason accomplishments in this town:

“Sometimes a hitter gets a hit, sometimes I strike them out, but in neither case does anyone die.” Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez.

During his Yankees career you had to wonder if A-Rod was afraid the guillotine was an inevitable punishment for his failure. One of the positives of the post George Steinbrenner Yankees is that winning is allowed to be fun again. Remember how Steinbrenner’s confidants were called his “inner circle”? I use to insert a Sopranos joke right after those lines. Seasons such as 2003, when they lost the World Series in six games, were called an abject failure. Things haven’t completely changed, but this Yankees team is not afraid to have some fun while they play for the prize. You also get the feeling, and this is important, they aren’t afraid of failure like their predecessors.

Four championships in five years build enormous expectations. How can you be happy with losing to Anaheim in the first round when you remember the euphoria of the 96′ World Series? Alex Rodriguez was brought here to win a championship for the Yankees. Part of his greatness is his enormous ego and desire to be the best ever. No matter how talented an individual may be, this is an extremely lofty goal. That is why it wasn’t a small sample size, but rather the fear of failure that enveloped A-Rod the last five years. Even Barry Bonds, steroids and all, succumbed to the pressure of the playoffs. Take out his 2002 World Series and you have a very mediocre 200 plate appearances. Is that sample still too small?

So why are things different? We can only speculate, but having a positive group of teammates can’t hurt. Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, and CC Sabathia are the type of guys you want to meet at a party and hang out with. Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, and Kevin Brown are the kind of grumpy individuals you hope you aren’t assigned to sit next to during a flight. It sounds trite, but A-Rod was a man under a tremendous amount of pressure and the lack of support from his teammates didn’t help. Derek Jeter is as much to blame as anyone, but we don’t have enough column space today to explain that situation. Don’t forget the steroid situation. Maybe A-Rod finally realized that, regardless of his production, there are people that will never acknowledge his accomplishments. We all could cite great things accomplished when we approach a situation “fast and loose”. Heck, it could even be Kate Hudson that has loosened him up. Whatever the reason A-Rod finally realizes that the sun will come up tomorrow if the Yankees lose. Knowing that just may result in more playoff heroics and a World Series championship trophy.

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Brent Mayne, George Steinbrenner, Kate Hudson, New York Yankees, Orlando Hernandez