American LeagueFrom the moment he stepped on the field at Fenway Park, A-Rod became a lightning rod.
Boos, taunts, singsong chants, echoing around every crooked corner of the old ballyard. And that was just fine by Alex Rodriguez.
"Anytime you have this much interest, it tells you the game is at its pinnacle," he said Friday night.
The All-Star who nearly wound up playing shortstop for the Boston Red Sox stepped smack into baseball's biggest rivalry for the first time, joining Derek Jeter on the New York Yankees' side.
"Public enemy No. 1 and No. 2 now," Rodriguez said.
A husky man standing in a third-base box made him feel welcome during batting practice.
"Hey, A-Rod! What's it like to be Jeter's backup?" the guy shouted.
The Fenway faithful had a field day as Rodriguez went 1-for-4 and made a baserunning blunder in the Yankees' 6-2 loss.
Fans spent all winter revving up following a flurry of major offseason moves by both teams, sniping over the Rodriguez trade and a bit of name-calling between owners George Steinbrenner and John Henry.
"It's the Evil Empire from the Bronx, right?" said Eric Wellmann, one of the Red Sox rooters perched in the seats atop the Green Monster. "I think it's all goodhearted. It's more mean-spirited down at Yankee Stadium, I think."
Yawkey Way was packed several hours before the start of baseball's most-hyped April series in recent memory, the scent of grilled sausages wafting outside the third-base grandstand.
Inside, the park was jammed to see the teams pick up where they left off last October. The Yankees added to 80-plus years of Boston misery with a thrilling Game 7 win in the American League championship series, a playoff that included Pedro Martinez throwing down Don Zimmer and a bullpen fracas involving Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia.
In the Hub, this four-game series was the talk of the city. News about the Celtics' and Bruins' playoff series, the Boston Marathon and the upcoming draft by the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots hardly drew a mention.
AL batting champion Bill Mueller of Boston tried to low-key the whole thing.
"I think it's good for the sport, that it's on national television and everyone gets to see it," he said. "For us, it's a divisional game. We play them 19 times. You try not to get too high for any game."
Maybe, but he sure seemed pretty excited after hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first off Javier Vazquez.
Fittingly, Tim Wakefield threw the first pitch of the night. He threw the final one the last time they played -- Aaron Boone homered on a knuckleball in the 11th inning to win Game 7.
The matchup drew attention nearly 4,800km away, too.
Many Los Angeles players took a break from their preparations for the West Coast's best baseball rivalry to gather around clubhouse televisions in San Francisco to watch the start. Several Dodgers could be heard hooting and hollering as the Red Sox broke out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
At Tropicana Field, former Yankees first baseman Tino Martinez tuned in after Tampa Bay beat Chicago 3-0.
"Everybody likes to watch it," Martinez said.
Cars with license plates from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine poured into the Fenway parking lots.
On board an Amtrak train as it cut through Rhode Island, a conductor politely asked two men -- one in a Red Sox jersey, the other in a Yankees hat -- to move out of the "quiet car" because they were bantering too loudly.
RSS