Advice to A-Rod: Give up the Analysis

     For those of you who, like me, are Yankee fans, the tribulations of Alex Rodriguez are well known.   Here is a description from today's NYT:

 This season, he is batting .279 with 26 homers and 93 runs batted in, yet a closer look shows mediocrity.

Rodriguez has 49 extra-base hits. Players with more include Pedro Feliz, Mike Jacobs and Eric Byrnes. His combined on-base and slugging percentage is .871. Players with a better figure include Scott Hatteberg, Reed Johnson and Lyle Overbay.

Rodriguez also leads American League third basemen in errors, with 22. And after striking out 14 times while going 2 for 20 on the West Coast last week, Rodriguez is fourth in the league in strikeouts, with 125.

   The big question circulating through New York, therefore, is: what to do?  How can A-Rod get out of his slump?  A-Rod himself is working hard:

Whatever fans think of Rodriguez, his effort is never lacking. To Rodriguez, who claims not to believe in slumps, the way to correct poor performance is more analysis, more work. But does he overthink a simple game?

“Sometimes, but that’s who he is,” said Reggie Jackson, the Yankees’ special adviser, who counseled Rodriguez in the clubhouse after a 1-for-5 game Sunday. “He does make things complicated, but that’s who he is, and that’s how he’s been successful. It’s very difficult to push back on his style.

   And maybe that is the problem.  He may be trying to hard, and the trying is getting in the way of the performance.  The analysis is clouding his natural instincts and talent.  If Chuang Tzu were a Yankee coach (wow, imagine that!), this is what he might say:

Just let your mind wander along in the drift of things.  Trust yourself to what is beyond you - let it be the nurturing center.   Then you've made it.  In the midst of all this, is there really any response?  Nothing can compare to simply living out your inevitable nature.  And there's nothing more difficult. (56)

     So, A-Rod, let it go.  Don't think about it.  Don't analyze it.  Just wander along on the drift of things - and the hits will come of their own accord.