By Mariel S. Clark, Jim Scott and Jason Tucker
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — As rumors continue to swirl about the breakup of starlet Kate Hudson and Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez the question on everyone's mind is, "How will this affect the Yankee's season next year?"
Many Yankees fans, including former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, credit Hudson as the reason A-Rod and the Bombers won the World Series. So, DNAinfo put this theory to the test by charting A-Rod's relationship with Hudson against his successes on the field.
"I think her influence on A-Rod was extremely positive,” Giuliani told Bonnie Fuller's new Web site, Hollywoodlife.com.
He may be right. Pre-Hudson, A-Rod was a postseason loser and in a batting slump, sporting a dismal .136 batting average as he attempted to come back from off-season hip surgery.
Enter Kate Hudson. On May 16, just one day after the couple was spotted making out at an Upper East Side restaurant, Rodriguez hit a home run against the Minnesota Twins. He would homer in his next three games.
When the starlet made her first appearance at Yankee Stadium, just two weeks later, the slugger's average had already risen to .257.
By the time A-Rod and the Yanks hit the postseason, Hudson's magic was in full swing; Rodriguez broke out of an 0-for-29 postseason hitless streak to knock in two runs in the Yankees 7-2 win over the Twins.
And on Nov. 4, Hudson's status as good luck charm was sealed as A-Rod scored two runs and the Yankees took their 27th World Series championship.
Now that the couple is splitsville the team may have to say goodbye to a repeat in 2010. A-Rod is back to striking out, this time at a Miami restaurant with a "leggy blond," the Daily News reported.
"It was quite funny," a diner told the News. "He must have hit on her three times, and three times she didn't want anything to do with him."
"For someone who had just split from his girlfriend, he seemed very happy and relaxed — not at all sad."
Meanwhile, Hudson took her mother, Goldie Hawn, to the premiere of her latest film "Nine." At the film's Chelsea after-party, Hudson was spotted chatting up Madonna, who also dated A-Rod last year, the New York Post reported.
Madonna may have lent a sympathetic ear but she couldn't drown out painful music.
When Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind," the un-official Yankee's World Series anthem, played during the party, Hudson mouthed a silent scream, the Post reported.
"When the cameras were on Kate she was all smiles. But privately you could tell she has had her heart broken," a source told the paper.
If the couple doesn't get back together not all may be lost for New York sports fans. The hapless Knicks could always use a little luck and forward David Lee is single. How about it Kate?
