John Farrell and Dempster himself both insist that the Sox pitcher didn't 'intend' to bean Alex Rodriguez last night but nevertheless, we all know he did.
After the Yankees went down without a run in the 1st inning, the sent Alex Rodriguez to the plate in the top of the second with no outs, nobody on and with Boston leading 2-0. What happened next well, one watching the game could judge just by the reaction of the crowd. In the blink of an eye, the boos emanating from A-Rod's sheer presence on the feild turned to cheers roaring in favor of Ryan Dempster's pitch behind Alex Rodriguez. Through the reminder of the at bat, the boos never returned as Dempster continued to pound the inside corner of the plate.
Those cheers never died down but they came to a climax on the 4th pitch when Dempster finally made contact with A-Rod, catching him on the elbow guard. A-Rod simply stood there. Dempster betrayed no emotion while home play umpire Brian O-Nora issued warnings to Dempster as well as both benches (which soon emptied).
Those cheers never died down but they came to a climax on the 4th pitch when Dempster finally made contact with A-Rod, catching him on the elbow guard. A-Rod simply stood there. Dempster betrayed no emotion while home play umpire Brian O-Nora issued warnings to Dempster as well as both benches (which soon emptied).
But for Yankees manager: Joe Girardi, warnings were not enough. He came flying out of the dugout, fists flying, spit racing out of his mouth all while asking, demanding that Dempster be tossed from the game. When all ended, the only person going home early was Girardi himself.
The Red Sox would go on to lose the game by a margin of 9-6.
But regardless of the score, nearly 24 hours after the adrenaline of watching baseball's most hated man get drilled with a 90 mile per hour fastball has subsided, one begins to wonder many things. If Dempster had not plunked Rodriguez would Boston have won the game? Did A-Rod deserve it? And in a question with an obvios answer: did Dempster intend to hit him.
Well we know the answer to one of those questions. Fact is, in the court of public opinion, A-Rod did deserve getting hit. He has obviously been cheating, he hasn't really hired the most admirable of followers and above all he has ratted out his own teammates, a rule that is far from unwritten among MLB clubhouses. It seems that every day something new has come out about Alex Rodriguez and for Ryan Dempster he obviously wanted to add his own chapter...in the form of a hefty bruise on the Yankee 3rd basemen's arm.
But in an answer to the 3rd question posed earlier Dempster defied what we all knew. He insisted that the hit by pitch was an accident.
“No, I was just trying to pitch him inside,” he said.
“Regarding the first at-bat to Rodriguez, much like Ryan has done many, many starts, that he establishes his fastball, and there are hitters in a given lineup he’s got to establish it in,” Farrell said in a similar tone.
But their firm denial soon turned to a far less rigid collection of words.
“I don’t know that he hit him on purpose. I don’t think he did,” Farrell said.
But while Farrell was relatively cool headed, he understood the rage coming from Joe Girardi.
“Do I understand why Joe was upset? If it’s one of my players, yeah, I’m going to interpret a certain way on our side as well.”
But back to that first question.. That being: if Dempster had not beaned A-Rod would Boston have won the game? Well, no doubt about it, the anger and thirst for retribution sure ignited New York. They would tie the game in that second inning then take the lead in the 3rd. From then on, the Sox would fight back and eventually jump out to a 6-3 lead going into the 6th inning. The Sox were winning and beating up on CC Sabathia. The game seemed over until once again A-Rod's excellence made it a game again.
Once again leading off an inning, Dempster well, didn't try to take Rodriguez' head off and in the end, A-Rod would get the last laugh belting a solo shot to center field kicking off what would become a 4 run game changing inning.
“I knew he got it when he hit it,” Dempster said about. “I’m sure any time any hitter gets hit by a pitch, when you hit a home run the next time up it always probably feels good. That’s just reality. It was unfortunate because it started off the inning with a run when you’re trying to get the leadoff guy out.”
“I’m disappointed in the fact that I couldn’t hold a 6-3 lead,” he said. “That’s the bigger story. We’ve got a game right there in hand to win and I didn’t do a very good job of making pitches in the sixth inning. I’ve got to execute better. The guys go out there and score a bunch of runs off a guy like [CC] Sabathia, you’ve got to go out there and make your pitches and hold your lead and I didn’t do that.”
The Red Sox lost last night, 9-6 your final. Their once impenetrable 4 game lead on the East has fallen down to just 1 single game. And....in a far more violent situation, Alex Rodriguez was beaned by Ryan Dempster and no matter the effect it had on the game, it happened.
The Red Sox need to move on and win these next few games in San Francisco.
To see a full video of the incident click here
Also, you may comment below with your thoughts on the A-Rod incident. Is Ryan Dempster a hero for hitting Rodriguez or was he out of line in his actions?
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