MLB

Mixed reaction greets A-Rod in Yankee Stadium debut

A week ago, while Alex Rodriguez was still a one-man barnstormer visiting various towns up and down the eastern seaboard, he sat in Trenton, N.J., and admitted the obvious.

“There’s not a bigger compliment than being booed on the road and probably nothing worse than being booed at home,” Rodriguez said.

In his first appearance on the field at Yankee Stadium this season, Rodriguez received every type of reaction.

When his name was called during pregame introductions before facing the Tigers, the majority of the crowd let him have it. Just a minute later, when he jogged onto the field, his presence didn’t raise a sound.

While the Bleacher Creatures included him in their roll call, much of the rest of the crowd tried to drown them out with boos.

And when he came to the plate in the bottom of the first with Ichiro Suzuki on second, the vast majority of fans cheered and some even gave him a standing ovation.

When he struck out to end the inning, the fans turned on him once again.

After declining a pregame introduction before Opening Day when he was on the disabled list, Rodriguez finally got to find out what fans in The Bronx thought of him after becoming embroiled in the Biogenesis scandal during the offseason and suspended by Major League Baseball for 211 games — a ban he is appealing.

Rodriguez first stepped back on the field three hours before first pitch last night and the few privileged fans in the stands and on the field allowed into The Stadium before the gates opened had first dibs at the third baseman.

But there was almost no reaction while he took batting practice. Those already there clamored for autographs after he was done and Rodriguez granted their wishes.

Manager Joe Girardi admitted he didn’t know what to expect from the fans.

“The only thing you hope, when you walk into a ballpark, whether you’re at home or the visitor, it’s not personal,” Girardi said before the game. “That’s the only thing you hope. I mean, the fans are going to react the way they’re going to react. They buy the tickets. It’s part of it.”

Vernon Wells, a big-ticket free agent who struggled in both Toronto and Anaheim, was never reviled the way Rodriguez is, but he has been the target of boos from the home crowd.

“If that kind of stuff affects you as a player, you probably shouldn’t be playing,” Wells said. “People have opinions. People have feelings toward a certain thing and the same people that boo will be the same people that cheer when you get a hit. It’s just the nature of the game.”

Rodriguez’s problems may not go away so easily — not with the controversy surrounding him.

“People aren’t going to feel sorry for you,” Girardi said. “I think [for] the players, your fate is not determined by what happens in the offseason or during the season. It’s determined by how you play on the field.”

So far, Rodriguez has played fairly well, but unless he finds a way to resuscitate this Yankees season, it might not be enough to sway public opinion. Girardi said he didn’t have an issue with Rodriguez being on the field during his appeal.

“I know people all have their opinion whether he’s guilty or innocent or whatever,” Girardi said. “I think baseball has negotiated a process that says a player is entitled to appeal. And he’s allowed to play during that appeal. So he’s playing under the rules of the game. And for that, that’s part of it and you deal with that.”

Rodriguez entered last night’s game with three hits in 11 at-bats, along with two walks and a hit-by-pitch since returning, and, at least on the field, has impressed the manager.

“I think his swing has probably been a little more explosive than I thought it might be,” Girardi said. “You never know how a guy is going to react after a second hip surgery. My thought is he’s just missed a few balls and he’s squared up some balls. But I’m pleased with how his lower half is working. And I wasn’t sure how that was going to work when he came back from this second hip surgery and being older.”

dan.martin@nypost.com