The New York Yankees are facing nearly insurmountable odds and are struggling at a historic pace in the 2012 MLB playoffs.
Superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez has taken the brunt of the criticism for the team and was benched in Game 3 against the Detroit Tigers. So far this postseason he has hit a paltry .130, striking out 12 times with only three hits and no home runs.
Rodriguez has been hitting so bad that Joe Girardi was forced to leave a $30 million player on the bench for the most important game of the Yankee season.
The Yankees are down 3-0 in the series and need a miracle like the one that happened to them in 2004, when the Red Sox came back from the same deficit to win the ALCS.
Rodriguez has ran out of ideas on how to bust out of the slump, but a good friend of his has some advice for the star. And he's a superstar himself.
Following a preseason game on Tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant spoke with reporters about a conversation he had with the struggling Yankee slugger.
"We spoke a couple of days ago," Bryant said of Rodriguez, whom he befriended on the set of a commercial a few years ago. "You can only control what you can control. You go out there and do the best job you can. If they take you out of the lineup, it's really on you to be a good teammate and support the other guys, which he's good about doing."
Rodriguez has not hit a home run since early September and has no RBIs in the playoffs.
"I just say to him, 'You're Alex Rodriguez. You're A-Rod. You're one of the best to ever do it,'" Bryant said. "I think sometimes he kind of forgets that and wants to try to do the right thing all the time. Which is the right team attitude to have. But other times you really have to put your head down and say, 'Hell with it' and just do your thing."
There is no doubt that Rodriguez is one of the most prolific players of all-time and has offensive numbers that could rival many in baseball history.
"We're different," Bryant said. "But you're talking about, 'He's one of the best to ever play.' I think really the difference is, sometimes he forgets he's the best. ... Where, I don't."
But right now, A-Rod is not that player. The Yankees are down 3-0 and while it isn't his entire fault, Rodriguez hasn't helped matters either.
As reported by the NY Post, in Game 1 after Rodriguez was pinch hit for, he was seen flirting with two women sitting behind the Yankee dugout. The report says he gave the women a baseball and asked for their phone number.
Manager Joe Girardi had no comment on the report on Tuesday and the article even prompted Rodriguez's girlfriend to chime in on Twitter.
"Gotta love the gossip mills. It's amazing how ppl get their kicks, huh?"
Bryant knows what it's like to deal with pressure and the idea of carrying a franchise on his shoulders.
"We know what it takes to get to that level," he said. "The consistency, the sacrifice, the work ethic, the constant scrutiny, that's something we all have in common -- from golf to cycling to swimming to basketball to baseball."
Rodriguez did not have a chance to answer his critics in Game 3, but he possibly will be back in the lineup for Game 4 with the Yankees season on the line.
"Hopefully the next game they'll kind of give him a chance, maybe put him back at third and let him respond to the pressure, which I think he'll do."
