'We Want A-Rod' chant erupts at Fenway as A-Rod stays on the bench
As A-Rod sat on the bench Tuesday night with the New York Yankees playing the Boston Red Sox and his remaining innings in pinstripes ticking away, something happened you’d almost never believe.
The Red Sox fans that filled Fenway Park starting changed A-Rod’s name. And not even to mock him. They were chanting, “We Want A-Rod!”
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A-Rod wasn’t playing. He’s not playing Wednesday either. The Yankees could have used him as a pinch hitter. They didn’t. A-Rod and his manager Joe Girardi just sat there, listening to the latest weird development in a weird week that will end with A-Rod back home in Miami and the Yankees freed of his services after his final game on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
What did Girardi say after the game (a 5-3 loss for the Yankees)? This, according to Dan Martin of the New York Post:
“It’s part of it,” manager Joe Girardi said of the crowd’s reaction. “I’m sure I’m going to hear it, but I’ve got to do what I think is best. … I know he wants to play. Who wouldn’t?”
Red Sox fans, of course, have spent years hating A-Rod. They tried to trade for him but the Yankees got him instead. His tumultuous time in New York has included batting a ball away from then-Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo in the playoffs and famously getting drilled by another former Red Sox pitcher, Ryan Dempster.
Don’t listen to this chant and think it’s necessarily a forgiving endorsement of A-Rod. Something else could be at play too. Red Sox fans are smart enough to know that chanting, “We want A-Rod” puts the Yankees in an uncomfortable position. If fans want to see him and the Yankees won’t put him on the field, well, awkward.
And this we know for sure: People in Boston loving to pester the Yankees will continue long after A-Rod is gone.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
