He has next to nothing to do with the Yankees' season being finished by the first week of August.
In fact, after missing four months recovering from hip surgery and morphing into the face of the Biogenesis scandal, he has looked better than expected.
Yet tonight at Yankee Stadium, a frustrated Yankees fan base likely will greet Alex Rodriguez, who makes his Bronx season debut, with a shower of boos.
PHOTOS: POST COVERS A-ROD THROUGH THE YEARS
Rodriguez is saying hello while the reeling Yankees are saying good-bye to postseason hopes.
Rodriguez has played in three games since his 211-game suspension was announced Monday and the Yankees are 0-3. He filed a formal appeal Wednesday and, health permitting, will be around for the season's final 49 games in which the only thing worth watching will be Mariano Rivera's countdown to retirement.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Alex Rodriguez was heckled by the fans in Chicago. A similar welcome could be awaiting him at the Stadium tonight when he makes his first appearance in The Bronx since his failed ALCS last October.
After Wednesday night's crushing 6-5 loss in a dozen innings to the White Sox, the Yankees spent yesterday's off day knowing they were a season-high 11 1/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox and seven lengths out of the second wild-card slot.
Booed in Chicago every time he came to the plate or fielded a ground ball, Rodriguez said he doesn't know what the reaction toward him will be at the Stadium.
"I am not sure,'' Rodriguez said when asked what type of noise awaits him.
Asked how he would like it, Rodriguez said, "The same way you would like it.''
There is no chance the Stadium will rise as one to welcome back the 38-year-old, three-time MVP.
Not after the Biogenesis mess. Not after he batted .120 (3-for-25) with a dozen strikeouts in last year's postseason when a hip injury turned his swing into goo.
Not when he was caught by a Post photographer flirting with a pair of women behind the Yankees' dugout during a playoff game he wasn't playing in.
Rodriguez will have sympathizers, but they will be outweighed by those looking to vent at a player who has been a lightning rod since the 2004 day he arrived in town.
"I am just super excited to get home and put on the pinstripes in front of the greatest fans in baseball,'' said Rodriguez, who went 3-for-11 with three singles in three losses to the White Sox. "I am looking forward to getting back home. I have waited a long time. It's a privilege to get home on a Friday night.''
From last year's miserable October to hip surgery in January to the Biogenesis scandal and a fractured relationship with the Yankees hierarchy, Rodriguez has fought battles on physical and mental fronts.
So, even though the Yankees were swept by the awful White Sox, Rodriguez found peace in Chicago.
"It's been probably the most comforting three days I have had in a long time, being around my teammates and coaches and getting the privilege to play baseball, which I love to do,'' said Rodriguez, who is fifth on the all-time home run list with 647.
Rodriguez spent the bulk of his hip surgery rehab program in New York, where he says the reaction from people was strong. However, mob mentality will be in play tonight.
"The public has been great, very supportive,'' he said. "New York fans are the best. They want you to play hard and they expect big things and they expect victories.''
He says hello. The Yankees say goodbye, and nothing Rodriguez does can change that.
george.king@nypost.com
Would you boo Alex Rodriguez if you were going to Friday's game?
0 comments:
Post a Comment