Alexander the Great

I've been impressed with A-Rod's workout, Clemens' too, and how Mo has worked with Luis Vizcaino. In this excerpt, PeteAbe shares some insight on A-Rod and EyeChart's offseason regimen.

Seeds of A-Rod's monster season for Yankees were sown in winter workouts
By PETER ABRAHAMTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: September 11, 2007)
TORONTO - The first text message would arrive at 5:15 a.m., the phone nearly vibrating off a bedside table as Doug Mientkiewicz tried to sleep at his home in Coral Gables, Fla., last winter.
"What are you doing?"
It was Alex Rodriguez, prodding Mientkiewicz to come work out with him at the University of Miami.
"Meet me at the field."
Mientkiewicz is not opposed to getting up early when it means a day of deep-sea fishing or playing with his 2-year-old son. But taking grounders as the sun comes up?
"I knew this winter he was a man on a mission," said Mientkiewicz, who played his senior season of high school with Rodriguez and joined him again this year with the Yankees. "He always works hard, but this time he had a scowl on his face. He wanted to prove a lot of people wrong, and I think he's doing that."
Rodriguez was named the American League player of the week yesterday after hitting seven home runs in seven games. It is the precursor to what surely will be his third American League MVP award in five years. Rodriguez is hitting .318 with 52 home runs, 140 RBI and 132 runs scored.
"The game is not that easy," Mientkiewicz said. "It's not normal what he's doing."
The seeds of a special season were sown on those winter mornings when Rodriguez would unlock the gates at Alex Rodriguez Park, the $4 million facility he donated to Miami five years ago.
"Alex literally has the keys to the place," Hurricanes baseball coach Jim Morris said. "In the winter, he's usually out there before anybody else shows up."
Rodriguez was driven by what he considered a sub-par 2006 season that was punctuated by going 1 for 14 with no RBI in a four-game loss against Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.
"We all talked after Game 4 in Detroit. I pretty much knew I had a checklist of things to do, and I went to work on them right away," he said.
According to Mientkiewicz, Rodriguez is motivated more by failure than success.
"He remembers a lot and he remembers the feeling he had last year," the first baseman said. "He pushes himself so hard to do this. I think if you ask him, this is what he envisioned."
The Yankees have 19 games remaining starting tonight in Toronto. Rodriguez has a chance to break the American League record of 61 home runs by Roger Maris in 1961. He also could become the first Yankee to drive in 150 runs since Joe DiMaggio had 155 in 1948.
The last Yankee to score to 140 runs was Rickey Henderson, who had 146 in 1985. Before that you have to go back to DiMaggio, who scored 151 times in 1937.
Rodriguez could join Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa and Hack Wilson as the only players in history to hit .320 with 55 homers, 145 RBI and 140 runs scored.
Other than Sosa - whose accomplishments are blemished by the suspicion of steroids use - there hasn't been such a season since 1932.
For Rodriguez, runs scored and RBI are the statistics he finds most meaningful.
"That's what helps you win," he said. "You need runs to win. I heard Hank Aaron say that once and I always remembered that."
This week will be a challenge. Rodriguez has hit only .243 with one home run in 10 games against Toronto this season. The Yankees then travel to Boston and are scheduled to face Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling.
"It's easier to get up for those games because those are two good teams that give us trouble," Rodriguez said.
Mientkiewicz and Rodriguez had dinner in Kansas City last week, and already there was talk of when they would start working out once the season was over.
"He's talking about not taking any time off," Mientkiewicz said. "No matter how far we go, he wants to start up the next week. He never stops trying to get better, and that's what makes him great."