Maybe it was because he’s a 41-year-old with seemingly nothing left in the tank. Maybe it was because it was the ninth inning, the Boston Red Sox were winning by three runs, the beer taps already were shut off and the crowd wanted to embarrass their benched arch enemy.
Or maybe, just maybe, the Fenway Faithful truly wanted to see Alex Rodriguez — the bane of most Red Sox fans’ existence — in his final days as a Major League Baseball player, even if the intention was to then boo the crap out of the New York Yankees slugger.
Whatever the case, Red Sox fans flipped the script during the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees at Fenway Park by chanting, “We want A-Rod!” as the retiring three-time MVP rode the pine.
Rodriguez admitted before the game he was “disappointed” about not playing as he prepares to retire Friday, marking the end of a fascinating MLB career that began in 1994. Yankees manager Joe Girardi previously indicated that Rodriguez could play in as many games as he wanted leading up to Friday’s final farewell in the Bronx, but the skipper changed his tune Tuesday, saying his job is to put the best team on the field in search of a win. Clearly, that no longer includes Rodriguez, who’s hitting just .204 with a .609 OPS in 234 plate appearances this season.
Still, it’d be nice to see A-Rod penciled into the Yankees’ starting lineup as his career winds down, especially in Boston, where he’s one of the most hated opposing athletes in the city’s long sports history.
Some Red Sox fans might not want to admit it, but there’s a good chunk of people who will miss A-Rod when he’s gone. Because as much as he might seem like a scumbag, he also is incredibly fun to root against — to the point where one must chant for him in order to root against him, apparently.
