A-Rod's on fire since Strippergate; Birds storm Detroit

FIVE UP

	Since the New York Post printed this cover, Alex Rodriguez has been red hot. Courtesy of the New York Post
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I. A-Rod since Strippergate: After putting together one of the most dominant Aprils in baseball history, Alex Rodriguez struggled through May, hitting .235 with an underwhelming .422 slugging percentage. At the tail end of the forgettable month the New York Post dropped a bombshell by printing pictures of A-Rod cavorting through Toronto with a mystery blonde that was most definitely not his wife. The woman turned out to be Joslyn Noel Morse, a stripper and former Playboy model. This is the type of scandal New York tabloids salivate over, and they jumped at the opportunity to bury A-Rod, a whipping boy since he first set foot in the Big Apple.

In the days that followed, the Post and the Daily News launched a feeding frenzy on Rodriguez, dubbing him "Stray-Rod," "A Yankee Doodle Randy" and "King of Clubs."

As A-Rod no-commented his way through it all, I became convinced that -- following an unproductive month -- this overpowering media storm would serve as the death blow to a very promising season. But it looks like I vastly underestimated the resolve of the $252 Million Man.

Since the original Post story hit newsstands (on May 30), Rodriguez has gone on a tear, hitting .380 with six homers, 24 RBIs and an .800 slugging percentage in 14 games. Last Monday he earned AL Player of the Week honors, and there's no doubt that he has been the driving force behind New York's current nine-game winning streak, the longest in baseball this season.

"I think he's relaxed, I think that's the best part of Alex right now," Joe Torre told the Daily News following Thursday's win. "Because if you're relaxed, all of the sudden, you just allow your ability to do what it does. He's got special ability. But I think the best thing I see about Alex right now is that he's having some fun and he just feels very comfortable right now."

A-Rod detractors, does this officially count as excelling under pressure?

II. Mario Impemba and Rod Allen: Like any other red-blooded American, my main room features two televisions, side-by-side. On Tuesday night, I was flipping through multiple games on TV 1 -- my chosen television for volume -- while giving Tigers-Brewers extended play on TV 2. Periodically eyeing the volume-free TV 2 action, I was aware that Justin Verlander was throwing a gem, but had no clue he was in the midst of a no-hitter. In the bottom of the sixth, my girlfriend alerted me to the developing no-no (yup, she's a keeper), and the Tigers game instantly moved over to TV 1.

The biggest thing I noticed in the final three innings -- besides the fact that Verlander's arm is absurd -- is that Tigers announcers Mario Impemba and Rod Allen absolutely refused to jinx the Tigers ace by uttering the forbidden phrase, "no-hitter." Touché, fellas. Announcers regularly curse pitchers by blabbering about potential no-hitters the second they become a possibility. It's refreshing to see a couple guys who respect one of baseball's traditional taboos.

But it doesn't come as a surprise to me -- I've always enjoyed listening to this pair. Impemba's a rock solid play-by-play guy, and Allen's good for a few laughs, especially when he reminisces on his playing career in Japan. Check out what happened after he was hit by a pitch in this video.

III. The Quotable Ichiro: As many of you already know, Ichiro Suzuki spewed quite the verbal jab against the city of Cleveland. The Mariners had to fly to the Forest City to make up a game that had been snowed out in April, and Seattle's centerfielder wasn't very happy about it: "To tell the truth, I'm not too excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."

What most folks outside the Seattle area don't know is that these types of entertaining sound bytes are pretty standard for Ichiro (or his interpreter, if we want to get technical).

Here are a few of the wackiest Ichiro quotes from years past:

On who he goes to for advice when he's in a slump:
"No one. If I'm in a slump, I ask myself for advice."

On rival baseball country Korea:
"It smells like garlic."

On steroids:
"When you take steroids, it's not as if wings grow out of your back, and you start flying all over the place and stealing home runs (from hitters). The word cheating doesn't apply for me regarding steroids."

On Tiger Woods' athleticism:
"Tiger is a great golfer, but ... when you say athlete, I think of Carl Lewis. When you talk about (golfers or race-car drivers), I don't want to see them run. It's the same if you were to meet a beautiful girl and go bowling. If she's an ugly bowler, you are going to be disappointed."

Something had to be lost in translation in that last one.

IV. Matty Mo: The Giants' rotation has received plenty of attention this season. Whether questioning Barry Zito's record-setting contract or praising San Francisco's young trio of arms (Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Noah Lowry), national media have given this group a fair amount of press. But the one starter who has been overlooked is the current ace of the staff. Matt Morris leads the Giants with a 7-3 mark and 2.56 ERA. In his 13 starts Morris has logged 11 quality starts and three complete games (tied for the MLB lead). The most noticeable difference between this year and last (his forgettable debut season with the Giants) is the fabulous command of his nasty curveball. Morris could be on his way to representing the home team at AT&T Park in the All-Star game, especially if Tony La Russa ends up snubbing Barry Bonds.

V. The 12-Fingered Man: Sounds like a sweet Bond villain, huh? But I'm talking about Philadelphia's Antonio Alfonseca, who was born with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (a condition known as polydactyly). Philadelphia claimed Alfonseca off the scrap heap before the season started. With injuries to Tom Gordon and Brett Myers, Alfonseca has been thrust into the Phillies' closer role. Since taking over, the 35-year-old has converted five of six save opportunities and pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings in eight appearances. (His lone blown save occurred when he let an inherited runner score, though Philly went on to win in extra innings.)

"I like this," Alfonseca told The Morning Call. "I miss Flash, and I miss Myers, but what can I do? Now I'm the closer, and I'm happy, too."

Just to clarify, the sixth finger on Alfonseca's right hand never touches the baseball and therefore has no involvement in any pitch. But go ahead and let your imagination run wild.

Photo courtesy of Al Bello/Getty Images