Great, more pressure

The NY papers are depicting ARod riding into the Bronx on a white horse, a savior, a returning hero.

Um, sorry. This is not a good move.

The erstwhile ARod, an all-time talent, is not one who seems to react well as the pressure rises. Pressure turns carbon into diamonds but for some reason, in baseball with ARod, it turns a diamond often into dust.

Expecting him to return and go bonkers and save the Yanks is both unrealistic (for the fans to expect) and unfair (for ARod). The last thing we need is for him to struggle to find his groove while the fans ride him incessantly. He's returning from injury; give the guy a chance to get back to form.

Maybe this time will be different. Maybe ARod truly conquered his inner demons last year after admitting in Spring Training that all was not rosy with he and Cap'n Jetes. Maybe he'll relish the adoration and attention that he's bound to get and use that constructively to hit like he did last April. The truth is, however, that the Yanks DO need ARod to come back and spark this catatonic offense. Badly. Nothing would make me happier. However, I am dialing my expectations back a notch.

I'm hoping for the upside surprise.

UPDATE 5/23/08: ARod hit 2.5 home runs in his first two games as well as 1.5 doubles. The half of each is the HR that was erroneously called a double. He still doesn't look comfy running hard, but right how, he's delivering that upside surprise that I hoped for. I'm excited. Now, if that can only rub off on his teammates bats. They've won 2-3 since he returned.