With just one playoff series, A-Rod has pretty much shed his “choker” label.  He came up huge Friday night in Game 2:

None was bigger than his two-out, ninth-inning home run off Joe Nathan on Friday night, a titanic blast into the Yankees’ bullpen that tied the game two innings before Mark Teixeira’s homer won it.

“You’ve got to put that one right at the top,” Rodriguez said when asked where that home run ranks in his career. “It was a very special feeling off a very good pitcher – at a time when we really needed it.”

[via New York Daily News]

And last night, with a timely opposite field smash, he derailed Carl Pavano’s attempt to piss all over a city that already hates him.  A-Rod has gone 5 for 11 with two homers and six RBIs in the 3-game sweep of Minnesota, and it is obvious that he’s raised his game now that it’s the postseason.  Certain players are born with “it,” and Alex Rodriguez is one of those players.  Sure, he’s got great stats, but he’s also got the right combination of intangibles that make him a winner.  Bottom line: A-Rod is a clutch winner, and he’s proving it to the entire world by just dominating the Twins over the course of three games.

I’m hungry.  Some za would be mad clutch right now.