This November will mark the 33rd anniversary of “the straw that stirs the drink" signing with the Yankees, and even after more than three decades of baseball in the Bronx, Mr. October still remains the most significant free-agent acquisition in Yankees history.
Already a three-time world champion, George Steinbrenner brought Jackson to the Bronx to end the Yankees' 15-year World Series drought, and he made good on his deal in his first season in the Bronx.
"One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era," Jackson's plaque in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium reads. "A prolific power hitter who thrived in pressure situations."
It’s a statement that should have been true of another pinstriped star, and still could be when this season is said and done.
Just over five and a half years ago, Brian Cashman made what appeared to be the most significant trade in Yankees history, though that is certainly debatable at this point. Cashman brought Alex Rodriguez to the Bronx to fill a gaping hole at third base and in the middle of the order, left vacant by Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez two seasons before.
A-Rod arrived in New York as the best player on the planet, and his tenure in the Big Apple was supposed to extend the Yankees' current dynasty another 10 years, at least.
Instead, Rodriguez only helped to extend the Yankees' most recent World Series drought.
This season, the Yankees escaped the ALDS for the first time since 2004 — the last time they also played Minnesota in the first round. And the last time they reached the ALCS was also due in large part to A-Rod's success against the Twins in the division series.
Rodriguez single-handedly demolished the Twins in '04, hitting .421 with four extra-base hits in four games. He manufactured the series-winning run with a double, a stolen base and a wild pitch against Joe Nathan (the man he embarrassed in Game 2 of this year's ALDS).
After A-Rod's monster division series in 2004, the rest of the postseason looked like a formality for the Yankees, and when they went up 3-0 on the Red Sox in the ALCS, it looked like Rodriguez would make good on his deal in his first season, the same way Reggie had done 27 years prior.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the Fall Classic for the Yankees, and A-Rod's persona and postseason reputation took a turn for the worse.
Saying that Alex Rodriguez's postseason performance from Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS through Game 4 of the 2007 ALDS was the ugliest display of clutch hitting in baseball history wouldn't be a stretch. And while it might be hard to pin the Yankees’ postseason failures during that time solely on him because of the incompetent pitching staffs Cashman created, A-Rod certainly deserves a solid part of the blame.
Rodriguez’s inability to hit in the clutch, coupled with his off-the-field drama and recent admission of using performance-enhancing drugs, turned the greatest player on the planet into the most commonly-used punchline on the planet. A-Rod became a tabloid regular, and was often cited as the one aspect of the game holding the Yankees back from returning to glory.
Last Wednesday, A-Rod drove in two runs to help the Yankees to their first postseason win since Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS against the Indians.
Two nights later, he made the new ballpark in the Bronx shake for the first time when he used Nathan's 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth to do some yard work.
And two nights after that, he went to work again, hitting a game-tying home run to right field as the Yankees turned off the lights for baseball in the Metrodome.
Since the beginning of A-Rod's postseason resurgence nine days ago, members of the media are finally believing in the much-maligned superstar, and opposing managers are once again giving him the respect he is owed.
But it wasn't too long ago that A-Rod made quick work of the Twins all by himself before becoming an automatic out in the championship series. It wasn't too long ago that the Yankees were sitting on the doorstep of championship No. 27 before the offense turned sour and the pitching became mortal.
That's not to say that Rodriguez will fall back into a black hole in the batter's box during the playoffs, but it is to say that this story has been written before.
Five years ago on Oct. 16, the Yankees demoralized the Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALCS at Fenway Park. A 19-8 beatdown of the Red Sox left the Bombers within one win from their seventh World Series appearance in nine years.
But the following night at Fenway Park, everything changed when Kevin Millar drew a five-pitch walk off Mariano Rivera and his impeccable control to start the ninth inning.
Friday night in the Bronx, A-Rod can begin to change it all back, and he can begin to change his postseason reputation and, most importantly, his legacy. But first, he will have to prove that he is a postseason hero, not just an ALDS hero.
