Is Kate Hudson Responsible for A-Rod's Boost at the Plate?

By PopEater Staff Posted Oct 9th 2009 04:30PM

UPDATE: A-Rod Drives in 3 Runs in the ALDS Game Two, Including a Game-Tying, Two-Run Homer in the 9th

The New York Yankees came out looking strong against the Minnesota Twins in their first game of the ALDS with a 7-2 victory. A major factor in the win was the performance of Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, who broke a postseason slump of 0 for 19 with runners in scoring positiom, with two hits and 2 RBIs. He looked calm and determined, not pressing like in failed playoff runs past and one must wonder what caused the difference.The protection he's getting from Mark Teixeira batting in front of him? The admission to steroid use before this season that cleared his conscience? Many would argue that the real cause was sitting in the stands cheering him on: girlfriend Kate Hudson.

Of course, this isn't the first time A-Rod's dated entertainment royalty. After all, his relationship with Madonna rocked tabloids last spring -- a year that the Yanks didn't make the playoffs. So does a different star make the difference?

"The funny thing for A-Rod is what a difference there's been between his time with Madonna and his time with Kate Hudson. And, really, the way that he's shifted in public persona to match the relationship," says New York Daily News sports writer Jesse Spector. "The whole Madonna thing for him was fraught with tales of late-night sneaking around and Kabbalah, as Madonna is always in the headlines for doing crazy stuff, while when you see Kate Hudson, it's usually something innocent like, "Look! Kate Hudson's buying an ice cream cone!"

"For the first time since he got to New York in 2004, A-Rod seems happy to just be a ballplayer who's playing well and dating a pretty actress," Spector tells PopEater. "For someone like A-Rod, who's struggled so much to find himself and deal with his own stardom, maybe that's just what he needed."

"She's certainly not hurting his game," says Jesse Derris of Sunshine, Sachs & Associates, which has a fast-growing sports practice. "He looks relaxed at the plate and ready to go. Hell, the Yankees should retire her number if he keeps hitting in the clutch."

So how does the relationship between K-Hud and A-Rod compare to the pairing of another famed sports couple, Jessica Simpson and Cowboys QB Tony Romo?

"So far, Kate Hudson has definitely been a better good-luck charm for A-Rod than Jessica Simpson was for Tony Romo, but anything happening with A-Rod short of breaking his leg would be an improvement over Romo's time with Jessica," claims Spector who compares Simpson to Kim Basinger's jinx-happy diva in 'The Natural.'

Game By Game: Madonna vs. Kate

We wanted to take an honest apples-to-apples look at the impact on Madonna and Kate on A-Rod's performance. This is why man invented stats.

Trying to track down an official start date for the Hudson A-Rod fling was difficult, so we decided to go with a Page Six item linking the two on May 19th. From there, we crunched numbers with help from Elias Sports Bureau stats on ESPN, looking at his hits, RBIs and home runs.

We looked at his first twenty games since that "dinner date" and here's how it broke down:

Getty Images

For a game-by-game analysis of A-Rod through the Hudson era, look here:

ESPN/Elias

Now, what does it say about Hudson's overall power when root-root-rooting for the Yankees? Well, we had to then compare this stretch to a twenty game span from last summer when Madonna and A-Rod were linked together.

We took a look at the 10 games prior to and following Cynthia Rodriguez filing for divorce from A-Rod, citing their union was "irretrievably broken because of the husband's extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct." Madonna told PEOPLE at the time "I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage" and she was not named in the petition, but her "friendship" with A-Rod was said to be a factor.

So, from June 27 to through July 20 of 2008, here's the impact of Madge on the slugger.

Getty Images

Game-by-game breakdown during that time? We've got you covered:

ESPN/Elias

OK, pretty much a wash, right? We'll go extra innings for the tiebreaker. Madonna attended a Yankees game on June 22, 2008 when the Yankees played the Reds. A-Rod had no hits and one strikeout. Kate Hudson was in the stands on June 6 when the Yanks and the Rays clashed. A-Rod had a home run. Bonus points for Hudson for A-Rod surging to 30 HRs and 100 RBIS in a shortened season due to hip surgery and his best playoff game in four years on Wednesday night.

Bottom Line: Best girl to have cheering you on: KATE HUDSON

(Additional Reporting by Jo Piazza)