‘This is it’: A-Rod set to bid adieu

BOSTON — And so it has come down to this: tonight at Yankee Stadium against the Rays is the last game of Alex Rodriguez’s baseball career.

The 41-year-old designated hitter made that pretty clear before the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Thursday night after seeing that manager Joe Girardi had not only kept his promise to pencil him into the lineup, but batted him in the cleanup spot against left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.

• A-Rod to play final game Friday, to become advisor • ‘This is it’: A-Rod savors final games • Justice: In the end, A-Rod’s love of baseball shines • 10 numbers from A-Rod’s iconic career • Peers praise A-Rod for legendary career • Teammates recall A-Rod’s passion for game • Rogers: Machado has friend A-Rod on mind • A-Rod’s announcement caps emotional week • A-Rod’s player pageSights & soundsA-Rod on retirementA-Rod to become an advisorCashman, Girardi on A-RodYankees booth on A-RodTeammates discuss A-Rod

“I’m focusing in on [these games] as this is it, I mean, like, this is it,” A-Rod told a group of reporters in front of his locker in the cramped visitors’ clubhouse. “I’m not looking beyond that. I value the pinstripes. I value this organization. To me, this is it.”

A-Rod was 0-for-4 in the game and was vociferously jeered by the sellout crowd of 38,161 every time he came to the plate. He said he conjured images of battles against numerous Red Sox past each time he stepped into the left side batter’s box.

But the booing was just the way it should have been, A-Rod added.

“They’re passionate fans. They love their team,” A-Rod said, standing in front of the same locker afterward decked in a dark suit. “Just like in the ’80s, Celtics-Lakers was good for basketball. Red Sox-Yankees has been good for baseball, and tonight was a good thing.”

Despite going hitless, Rodriguez drove in the game’s fourth run with a bases-loaded bouncer in front of the plate during a three-run eighth against side-armed reliever Brad Ziegler. The RBI was A-Rod’s first since he hit his last homer against the Orioles in the second inning at the Stadium on July 18, but it wasn’t what he had in mind.

• A-Rod delivers bat to fan, reduces another to tears

“It was fun. It was a lot of fun to be out there,” A-Rod said. “It was a kind of funny hit in the end. Not how I pictured it when I woke up this morning.”

Tonight, the Yankees will have a pregame ceremony honoring Rodriguez, beginning at 6:50 p.m. ET. First pitch has been pushed back to 7:35 p.m.

When it’s all over, Rodriguez will have played in 2,784 games during the course of 22 seasons, and that’s with missing 118 games in 2013, recovering from hip surgery and the …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com