In his 12-year-tenure with the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez has been hit by 104 pitches, nine of which have come against the bitter-rival Red Sox at Fenway Park. But the most recent incident came nearly three years ago in Boston, an episode that saw tensions flare and Rodriguez get the last laugh.
On August 18, 2013, a few weeks after news broke of Rodriguez’s involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, the Yankees and Red Sox faced off in a Sunday night series finale, and in the top of the second inning, pitcher Ryan Dempster expressed his own feelings on Rodriguez’s alleged steroid use, throwing four consecutive pitches inside at Rodriguez, with the last one drilling him in the left arm.
Dempster, who is retired and currently an analyst for MLB Network, finally came clean on the matter this Monday, admitting his guilt of intentionally throwing at and around Rodriguez that night.
“I did. I did throw at him,” Dempster said, via Reddit.
While the at-bat resulted only in a warning to both benches, Yankees manager Joe Girardi had seen enough, and ran angrily out to home plate umpire Brian O’Nora in a tantrum, which resulted in a dramatic ejection.
“Everyone knows it was intentional,” Girardi told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch after the game. “You can’t allow it to happen. You don’t allow people just to be thrown at because you don’t like them or you disagree with someone. You can’t do that.”
The game would be won or lost without Girardi’s presence, but Rodriguez’s own revenge was soon to come. In his next at-bat in the top of the third, Rodriguez would ground out to short for an RBI, handing the Yankees an early 3-2 lead. By the sixth inning, the Red Sox were back on top, up 6-3, but on a 1-0 fastball from Dempster, Rodriguez silenced the crowd, crushing a solo-shot over the center field wall to cut New York’s deficit to two. His last two plate appearances would come in the seventh and eighth, and conclude with base hits up the middle and to second base, finishing the night 3-for-4 with two RBI in the Yankees’ 9-6 victory.
“Whether you like me or hate me, that was wrong,” Rodriguez said to Hoch. “It was unprofessional and silly. Kind of a silly way to get somebody hurt on your team as well.”
Since 2013, Rodriguez has played in 15 games at Fenway Park, and will visit Boston for the last time as a player this Tuesday in a three-game set against the Red Sox.
