WHAT DID I DO? Alex Rodriguez looks perplexed during the third inning of the Yankees’ 10-3 victory over the Red Sox last night at Fenway Park. (
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BOSTON — Embrace the hate.
As far as Red Sox Nation is concerned, the left field wall is not the only Monster in this ballpark. Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees made the most of playing the villain last night at Fenway Park.
Rodriguez has always been hated here — remember Jason Varitek’s catcher’s mitt sandwich? — but Rodriguez was ready for this A-Roid Challenge.
“I feel good,’’ Rodriguez said before the Yankees shellacked the first-place Red Sox 10-3 at Fenway Park, getting home runs from just acquired Mark Reynolds and Amazin’ Alfonso Soriano.
Rodriguez went out and proved it. The confidence grows each game like the controversy. He’s a much different hitter than last year.
“My swing is night and day from last year,’’ Rodriguez said after the victory. “I shouldn’t have been out there last year.’’
Give the Yankees drug-stained third baseman credit for not running away from a fight. Two hours before the game, Rodriguez gave a press conference in the visitors’ dugout, saying he was not A-Rat — and strongly denied dishing the dope on teammate Francisco Cervelli and Ryan Braun.
A “60 Minutes’’ report said members of A-Rod’s inner circle leaked the names of Cervelli and Braun to Yahoo! Sports in the Biogenesis scandal.
Rodriguez strongly denied that report and said he spoke with Cervelli earlier in the day.
“It’s not true,’’ A-Rod said to a massive media contingent.
Rodriguez was booed loudly each time his name was announced to the largest Fenway crowd of the season, 38,143 fans. It was an intense clubhouse before the game with reporters 10 deep in the small room. Reynolds’ locker was put right next to Rodriguez’s locker. Welcome to the Bronx Zoo.
“I had to get out of here for a while,’’ Reynolds said jokingly. “I’m used to having only about six reporters in the clubhouse.’’
Rodriguez knows the Yankees’ offense has picked up since he arrived, a point he made to me in a pregame chat.
When Rodriguez went to the plate in the first-inning against lefty Felix Doubront he was slammed with boos for nearly a minute. A-Rod calmly said hello to home plate umpire Bill Welke; gave catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia the traditional tap of the bat to the shin guards. Rodriguez lined into a double play to end the inning and the crowd erupted in cheers.
For the night, Rodriguez was on base three times with two singles and a walk and lined out twice. He is hitting .300. Reynolds and Soriano provided home runs over the Green Monster. They were the offensive heroes, but A-Rod set the tone that the Yankees were not sheepishly coming into Fenway.
Rodriguez is consistent. He is not going to act disgraced at any point during this due process. Just how does he deal with the boos?
“We’re in playoff baseball right now, every game means the world to us,’’ he said. “We’re trying to stay very focused and collected in here and stay very united. No matter what’s thrown at us, our focus is to win games. That’s the only thing we care about right now. The reaction is pretty close to usual.’’
The Red Sox have shown themselves to be vulnerable, losing seven of 11. A-Rod and the Yankees know this is their time to make a dent in the deficit.
Rodriguez did admit it will be a “bumpy’’ seven weeks, but teammates are amazed at how he has been able to glide along through controversy, sailing through stormy seas he has helped create.
“He seems to be handling everything like nothing is wrong,’’ Vernon Wells said. “Some people can do that. Some people can’t. From the outside it looks like he can handle it.’’
With this win, it’s too early to start recalling images of the 1978 Boston Massacre, but if the Yankees win again today and tomorrow, well, this story gets more intriguing.
Sure, A-Rod “loves’’ all his union brothers. Sure, Red Sox fans are blissfully singing “Sweet Caroline’’ and still enjoying their first-place perch.
This is going to be great theater the rest of the way.