A-Rod Quest for 3,000 Heats Up Yankee Stadium
New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez is what was needed to make today’s Yankee Stadium feel like the previous one. The raw and passionate emotion from the old stadium has finally made the new one feel old thanks to the new favorite son of the Bronx A-Rod. On Thursday night when he came to the plate, looking for his 3,000th hit the fans went crazy, as they wanted to see history.
However, Sam Dyson who has less than 100 innings in the major to his credit was pitching for the Miami Marlins. Dyson knew Rodriguez needed only one hit and he did not want any part of baseball history last night.
Dyson brought heat against Rodriguez with each of his pitches reaching 97 mph or higher. Fans were standing with their phones taking video of the moment, but with each pitch, the 38,000 plus fans became angrier and angrier, until finally Rodriguez walked.
With the walk, the fans last night lost their opportunity to be a part of history to see only the 29th player to reach 3,000 hits.
They taunted the Marlins pitcher with chants that describe one’s buttocks that begins with the letter “A.†The chants were loud and clear and Dyson was peppered with “You Suck!†“You Suck!â€
The pitcher claims he could not hear the fans chanting, but the fans and everyone else watching the game know better.
While Dyson was the villain last night, A-Rod was the hero. Suspended for all of last season, the veteran spent Thursday afternoon doing volunteer work for a youth baseball initiative with Rob Manfred the commissioner.
He also donated a bat that recorded his 2,000 RBI to baseball Hall of Fame and then went out and recorded two hits to move to 2,999 for his career.
Rodriguez said it is hard to describe the feeling each time the fans scream and clap so hard for him. He says that the fans support has helped after hearing boos in some years past and sitting out all of last season.
Rodriguez has stayed out of trouble, acted correctly and most importantly, play very well, all of which have won the fans hearts over again.
A-Rod remains one hit shy of 3,000, but he was able to bring back the old feeling for one night in the Bronx and likely most of the Big Apple.
Rodriguez will get another chance in front of the home fans at Yankee Stadium on Friday as the Yankees open a three-game series with the Detroit Tigers. Justin Verlander will be starting on the mound for the Tigers and will try to keep Rodriguez from bringing the Yankee crowd back to life again.
