Alex Rodriguez is ending his playing career in fitting fashion with a three-game road trip to Fenway Park before appearing in his final game at Yankee Stadium on Friday. We know the Yankees are going to plan a big sendoff for A-Rod, but what about his team’s biggest rival?
According to Scott Lauber of ESPN.com, the Boston Red Sox are planning nothing more than a “low-key acknowledgement” of A-Rod’s career when the Yankees come to town. While the Red Sox held flattering farewell ceremonies for Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera when they retired, they reportedly will not be doing the same for Rodriguez.
A-Rod’s legacy, of course, is much different from Jeter’s or Rivera’s. The 41-year-old has been linked to performance-enhancing drugs on numerous occasions. He was also part of a midseason brawl in 2004 — the year Boston ended its 86-year World Series drought — with former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek. In the playoffs that season, Rodriguez infamously slapped a ball out of pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s glove while trying to avoid a tag. Red Sox fans have mercilessly mocked him over that for years.
More recently, a Red Sox pitcher intentionally threw at A-Rod back in 2013 after Rodriguez announced he was appealing his 211-game suspension. You can see a video of that here.
Boston fans hate A-Rod. They “hated” Jeter too, but that had a lot more to do with respecting a rivalry than anything else. The hatred for Rodriguez is more authentic, which is why it is not a surprise that the Red Sox aren’t planning to roll out the red carpet for him this week.
