Derek Jeter reaches out to A-Rod, gets silence from former teammate

Alex Rodriguez, appearing on Michael Kay's ESPN Radio show before his final game at Fenway Park on Thursday, was asked if he had talked with “Derek” since the 41-year-old A-Rod announced that Friday would be his last day as a Yankees player.

“With who?” Rodriguez said.

“Derek Jeter,” he was told.

“About what?” Rodriguez responded to what came across like a diss towards the Yankee icon.

It seemed more likely that Rodriguez didn't hear the question clearly and acknowledged Jeter had reached out to him, but his “inbox is completely full,” so he didn't get back to his one-time BFF.

The two were close friends when they were rookie shortstops more than 20 years ago, but the relationship soured over the years even after Rodriguez bumped himself to third base in deference to Jeter when he joined the Yankees via a trade from the Rangers in 2004.

Still, A-Rod is managing to get a little love in the unlikeliest of places.

Red Sox fans sarcastically serenaded the soon-to-be-gone Yankee with a chant of "We want A-Rod" before they turned it into a chorus of boos when he finally got up to the plate.

"We want A-Rod!" #Yankees #RedSox pic.twitter.com/a5CuaSI2Sv

— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) August 10, 2016

It is not exactly clear what Rodriguez will do after abruptly ending his career when the Yankees release him from his contract following Friday's game against the Rays at Yankee Stadium, but, surprisingly, he wasn't granted a start at third base for his final game.

“CC [Sabathia] is on the mound [Friday],” Rodriguez said after manager Joe Girardi bluntly said no to A-Rod's request to play the hot corner one last time. 

“There’s a lot of history there, and I thought it would be a fun way to go out. The fans of New York remember me more as third baseman. … I can at least make routine plays. That would’ve been fun for me and our fans.”

It would be fun to see A-Rod at third one last time. Just don't expect Jeets.

Red Sox dump 'offensive,' 'racially insensitive' David Ortiz bobblehead giveaway just hours before game

The Red Sox canceled a David Ortiz bobblehead giveaway at Fenway Park five hours before their game against the Yankees on Tuesday night because the figurines were considered "offensive" and "racially offensive" by the team’s president.

Batting next in the #SoxPromos lineup: The Papi Bobblehead! 💪
Be there this Tuesday: https://t.co/uQuufOJ7ez pic.twitter.com/ayeZvGw9Ym

— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) August 7, 2016

The bobblehead was a likeness of Ortiz holding a microphone, a tribute to the emotional speech he made at Fenway five days after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 where he famously proclaimed, "This is our f-ucking city."

"It was an inaccurate portrayal of David,”  Sam Kennedy said after approving of the giveaways months earlier. “It doesn’t really look like David. Number two, I personally thought it seemed to be an offensive portrayal of him and racially insensitive.

"If I was feeling this way, certainly other people would," Kennedy added. "So we pulled the plug."

Kennedy said the 15,000 bobbleheads would be returned to the manufacturer, BDA Inc., of Woodville, Wash., and a new model shipped out. Now all ticketed fans for Tuesday’s game will receive the new bobbleheads in the mail, not just the first 15,000.

“Everybody will receive one,” Kennedy said.

Ok I can see why they cancelled Ortiz bobblehead night pic.twitter.com/3E9AtWgxOy

— Connor #2019Champs (@connortheOGfam) August 9, 2016

Before the game, Ortiz said he was unaware of the situation.

“That’s supposed to be me?” he said after looking at a photo of the bobblehead with the odd white lips.

Ortiz went on to say he agreed with the team’s decision.

Michael Kay says tipsy Red Sox fan thought Yankees announcer was Curt Schilling

It sounds like Yankees bases weren't the only things left loaded at Fenway Park during Monday night's punchless 4-3 loss to the Red Sox.

Longtime New York Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay says he encountered a tipsy Boston fan who insisted the YES Network announcer was former Red Sox pitcher and censored ESPN analyst Curt Schilling.

Kay tweeted about the boozy encounter: "Somewhat inebriated Red Sox fan came up to me demanding I autograph his ticket. 'come on Curt. You're my favorite.' Thought I was Schilling."

Somewhat inebriated Red Sox fan came up to me demanding I autograph his ticket. "come on Curt. You're my favorite." Thought I was Schilling.

— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) September 1, 2015

But the similarities between the two men are noticeable — especially through beer goggles.

And some of Kay's Twitter followers pointed that out:

@RealMichaelKay @ihateprospects you both have enormous (enawmous) heads

— Judge BROsner (@JudgeBrosner) September 1, 2015

Is that a Sharpie stain on your sock?

Rusney Castillo forgets how many outs there are, and throws ball to fan in stands (VIDEO)

Rusney Castillo's heart was in the right place, but the Red Sox right fielder's brain seemed to be somewhere else when he made a grab in right field and tossed the souvenir ball to a fan in the stands Wednesday night.

Too bad it was only the second out and there was an Indians runner on base.

The brain-freeze occured in the seventh inning of Boston's 6-4 win over Cleveland when Jose Ramirez popped up a fly ball to Castillo. The Red Sox fielder reeled in the ball and then flicked it into the Fenway stands to some fans waiting with their gloves outstretched — which would've been a cool gesture if the inning had been over. 

Abraham Almonte tagged up at first and casually strolled over to third on what was officially ruled as a throwing error on Castillo.

But since Castillo willingly threw the ball away, was it really an error?

Jason Kipnis struck out in the next at-bat — so no damage was done.

But at least the ball has a nice little story behind it now.

CC Sabathia explains four-letter message to David Ortiz after strikeout (VIDEO)

There was a tense moment between the Red Sox and Yankees Thursday night after CC Sabathia loaded the bases and had to face his old nemesis Boston slugger David Ortiz during the fifth-inning of a 1-1 game.

Not 2004 Red Sox-Yankees tension mind you, but intriguing still the same.

And after his inning-ending strikeout of Ortiz, just about everybody could read Sabathia's lips after he flexed, did a little jig and yelled at Ortiz: "Get the f**k out of here!" 

It would be quite a boost for the Yankees if they could get this CC Sabathia back. pic.twitter.com/Uu4p2JDFUh

— Yankeesource (@YankeeSource) August 7, 2015

After the Yankees' 2-1 victory, Sabathia, for his part, said it wasn't personal. The 35-year-old righty, who has been tentative on the mound, said he was more pumped up Thursday than he'd been in a while.

"Obviously I was a little fired up and I think that little passion can be an issue," he said. "It's a fine line with me, so I'm going to have to be careful. But it worked for me tonight."

At least Big Papi took the celebration in stride:

Ortiz didn't mind Sabathia screaming: "When I go deep, I put on my show, too."

— Brian MacPherson (@brianmacp) August 7, 2015

These days you take whatever fireworks in the old rivalry you can get.

Angels rained out for 1st time since '95, forcing doubleheader

The torrential storm which dumped buckets of rain on Southern California Sunday, forced the postponement of what was to have been an ESPN-televised game between the Sox and Los Angeles Angels.

The teams waited for nearly 2½ hours before the game was finally called.

The rainout was the 11th in the 49-year history of Angel Stadium and the first since June 16, 1995, when the Angels were washed out of a game against the Chicago White Sox. The Angels had played 1,609 consecutive home games without being rained out.

The team's Twitter account attempted to put that fact into a fun context:

FUN FACT - The last time we had a home rainout, @MikeTrout was 3 years old...Legend has it, he hit for the cycle in a t-ball game that day

— Angels (@Angels) July 20, 2015

And while the ground crew got a chance to stretch their tarp-pulling muscles for the first time in a while, the stadium itself didn't seem up to the task.

"Unfortunately, you never really know how your drainage system works until you get enough water, and there's so much standing water in that outfield that just has nowhere to go," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's going to be like that all night tonight, probably tomorrow morning. The rain is predicted to stop shortly, but the field was unplayable, with no way to remedy that.

"Was there a clog? I'm not a landscaper, but I don't think it's ever been tested like this. It's a lot of rain. Don't think anything is clogged. It's just saturated."

The grounds crew and other field personnel tried to squeegee the outfield during the rain delay, but the effort proved futile.

But upbeat Los Angeleans saw a silver lining in the postponement. Besides bringing water to the drought-stricken area, they get to see two games on the same day.

The teams are scheduled to play a day-night doubleheader Monday, the first doubleheader to be played at Angel Stadium due to a rainout since Aug. 5, 1988.

Red Sox bench Pablo Sandoval for mid-game Instagram like

Pablo Sandoval found himself sort of unfriended — make that benched — by the Boston Red Sox after the All-Star third baseman was caught liking some Instagram photos in the locker room bathroom — during a game.

In the midst of Boston’s 5-2 defeat in Atlanta on Wednesday,  Sandoval excused himself from the dugout and liked multiple pictures — including this one — of fellow Instagram user @diva_legacy.

Happy Sunday 💋 #love #friends #photooftheday #selfie #amazing #followme #follow4follow #like4like #look #instalike #igers #picoftheday #instadaily #instafollow #fun #iphoneonly #instagood #bestoftheday #instacool #instago #summer #follow #webstagram #colorful #style #swag

A photo posted by @diva_legacy on Jun 14, 2015 at 5:46pm PDT

The likes happened at about 9:20 p.m., according to the Instagram timeline, while Boston was batting in the seventh inning. Sandoval was the sixth batter due up in that inning of a game they would eventually lose.

It would be the Red Sox’s eighth loss in nine games.

The social media activity during the game was first noticed by Barstool Sports. Sandoval admitted it was him liking the photos of the woman during the game, according to ESPN, adding that he was in the bathroom at the time.

Maybe he was liking the photo a little too much.

Red Sox fan who was hit in the face by shattered bat at Fenway Park leaves hospital: Report

The Massachusetts woman who was seriously hurt when a broken bat flew into the stands at Fenway Park last week has been released from a hospital.

Officials at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston say that Tonya Carpenter was discharged and transferred to a rehabilitation center.

Doctors describe Carpenter's recovery as "excellent" and say she's getting stronger every day.

The 44-year-old Red Sox fan from the town of Paxton, suffered what police initially said were life-threatening injuries during the June 5 game between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics. She was struck in the head in the second inning when the bat of Oakland's Brett Lawrie shattered and shards of wood flew into the seats along the third-base line where she was seated.

The game was halted for a few minutes while she was rushed out of the stadium, then resumed. 

After the game, Lawrie sent her a note and flowers in the hospital. Those same flowers reportedly accompanied her to the rehab center.

Organizers say they've received donations for Carpenter, who works for a construction company, from Red Sox and Yankees fans, alike, and even some from overseas.

Major League Baseball is now reviewing fan safety at stadiums. 

David Ortiz calls Jacoby Ellsbury a 'rich bitch' on national TV (VIDEO)

Besides scouting reports on the opposing team's starting pitchers, David Ortiz might want to meet with the television techies to discuss microphone hot spots the next time he prepares for a game.

Live ESPN mics embedded in Yankee Stadium's second base caught Big Papi calling Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury a "rich bitch" for his ex-teammate's impressive $153-million contract during Sunday night's game.

Ortiz was obviously joking around with Ellsbury, who was his teammate with the Red Sox for eight years. 

Hall and Oates would be proud.

Pedro Martinez still holds grudge against Jorge Posada for insulting his mother and starting famous brawl: Report

The old Red Sox-Yankees rivalry has lost some of its edge over the last few years but whenever you mention Pedro Martinez, it seems like the bad blood is still at full boil.

On Wednesday, Martinez — the newly elected Hall of Famer — admitted that the one Yankee whom he despised most was Jorge Posada.

And it was personal.

Martinez, appearing on Daily News Live, made it clear that he still holds a grudge against Posada, claiming the ex-Yankee catcher carried their running feud too far at one point by insulting the Red Sox pitcher’s mother and instigating the famous brawl when he infamously decked Yankees coach Don Zimmer (video at bottom).

“Between Latinos you don’t mention anybody’s mother,” Pedro said. “And I never forgot that one. To this day.”

Martinez was on the TV show with fellow newly elected Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Craig Biggio when he made the revelation.

When host Jonas Schwartz asked why, Martinez said, “Because Jorge always seemed to have a bad attitude toward me.”

And, under further questioning, Pedro admitted to making fun of Posada’s ears at times, saying:

“I call him Dumbo, but that’s no reason for him to want to kill me.”

Martinez wasn’t clear if Posada’s insult helped ignite the brawl or the remark was delivered after Zimmer had charged Pedro and wound up on the ground.

"It was just competing," Martinez said of Posada. "But he was always mad at me for some reason.

“Then he let it go a little bit too far with the Zimmer incident. Between Latinos you don’t mention anybody’s mother. I did not appreciate that. I know it was in the heat of the situation, but that’s sensitive to Latino players."

And it was the mother of all brawls.

Red Sox fans chant for Derek Jeter at Fenway (VIDEO)

There wasn't any chance Derek Jeter was going to play at Fenway Park Friday night— after he asked for a day off for the first time in his 20 year career — but Red Sox fans still honored the Yankees' captain by chanting his name during the game.

The retiring Jeter said he was so emotionally spent from Thursday's heartwarming and exciting Yankee Stadium farewell the night before that he couldn't muster enough energy to play.

Still, that didn't stop Red Sox fans from showing their rival of two decades a little love in the middle of Jose Pirela's at-bat in the third inning while Jeter took it in while riding the pine:

Red Sox fans cheering Jeter and the Royals celebrating a post season berth?

Welcome to Bizarro World.

Jeter, Gardner thrown out during embarassing 2-6-3-4-5-3 double play (VIDEO)

The Little League World Series ended last week but, after this play at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night, Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner might want to get a few base-running pointers from the 12 and 13 year-olds.

The two veteran players fell victim to an unbelievable base-running gaffe which ended up being scored an unlikely 2-6-3-4-5-3 double play against the Red Sox — even without the ball making contact.

The embarassing brain freezes began while Gardner was on first and breaks for second. On the throw down, Jeter begins to stray from third base. The Captain loiters too long and too far and is thrown out by Jemile Weeks. 

Then Gardner, usually a speedy and opportunistic base stealer, gets caught in a rundown before getting tagged at second by Allen Craig during a headfirst slide.

Both players walked back to the dugout with their heads hung low after the bizarre sequence of events.

It was almost a disastrous play for the slumping Yankees although the mistake didn't cost them the game.

"Gardy did not get a good jump and he has to stop. Jeet had third base easy," an angry but relieved Joe Girardi said after the 5-1 victory. "Running into two outs, I wasn't real happy about it."

It's going to be hard to make the playoffs — and rightfully so — with sloppy plays like that.

Dustin Pedroia leaves game after taking elbow to head (VIDEO)

In the second inning of Saturday night's Red Sox-Rays game, Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia took a Logan Forsythe elbow to the head on a tag play.

Pedroia had to leave the game as a precaution.

At first, considering the Rays-Sox recent skirmishes, it looks like Forsythe was swinging his arm intentionally towards Pedroia's head:

But calmer heads prevailed and, as you can see from another angle, Forsythe was only moving his arm to avoid the tag:

Forsythe claimed the contact was not intentional.

''The only move that I made was to try to swim-move the tag to get out of the way,'' he said.

Red Sox manager John Farrell said Pedroia was dizzy after the play but improved later.

Red Sox fan takes out entire row of people going for foul ball (VIDEO)

A desperate Red Sox fan dived across the other fans in his row and was still unable to make the grab on Yoenis Cespedes' foul ball Friday night at Fenway.

While the enthusiastic man was willing to sacrifice staining his plaid shorts and taking out a few of the people around him for the sake of a prized souvenir, he might want to show a little consideration for his fellow fans the next time he's in a crowd.

And, as any Bugs Bunny fan knows, this is the proper etiquette:

A's go ahead with Yoenis Cespedes T-shirt giveaway despite being traded (VIDEO)

Yoenis Cespedes was once a bright star for the Athletics but, after being exchanged for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes before Thursday's trade deadline, La Potencia will soon be a washed up memory in Oakland.

Washed up as in an old faded T-shirt sort of way.

While Thursday's trade seemed to benefit both clubs, it left the A's marketing department with an unusual dilemma because Saturday's game at Oakland's O.co Coliseum was supposed to be Yoenis Cespedes T-shirt night. 

So the A's decided to just go ahead and give them out anyway.

Today's @ynscspds Yoenis Cespedes T-shirt giveaway by #Athletics two days after trade to #RedSox. pic.twitter.com/qSlxzFItTX
— Janie McCauley (@JanieMcCAP) August 2, 2014

Lester, who made his first start for the A's in the giveaway game, weathered the awkward situation, for an 8-3 win over the Royals.

Meanwhile, Cespedes went 1-for-4 with a run scored in a 6-4 Red Sox loss to the Yankees.

Did Red Sox fan possibly rob David Ortiz of a home run? (VIDEO)

At Saturday's Red Sox-Rays game, a Boston-rooting fan at Tropicana Field potentially took away a home run off the bat of slugger David Ortiz.

Ortiz thought it was out of the old park, but the Sox fan's sno-cone catch seemed to give the ball a little assist over the wall.

So after the umpire review, Big Papi got a double via fan interference instead of a dinger.

Best part was the fan's reaction to the umpire's ruling and attempt to sway the call.

Jackie Bradley Jr. throws a baseball over the outfield wall ... from home plate (VIDEO)

Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. is known as an excellent fielder but wanted to show everyone that he has a pretty good arm as well.

During Saturdays' batting practice, the Boston centerfielder took a short hop behind home plate and threw a ball over the Fenway Park center-field wall just to prove it.

That's a heave of about 400 feet from the plate as the crow flies — or as a Big Papi home run sails.

Don't believe it? Well check out the video below:

Napoli calls Tanaka 'idiot' after serving up game-winning fastball (VIDEO)

Masahiro Tanaka probably didn't know the English word idiot from idol before Mike Napoli smashed a game-winning fastball off the Japanese pitcher Saturday night. But there was no need for a translator after the Yankees' ace shook off catcher Brian McCann's call for a splitter, then a slider before generously serving Napoli an ill-advised fastball.

FOX video cameras caught Napoli calling Tanaka the I-Word after he drilled a two-out, two-strike homer off of him in the ninth inning (Video at bottom) to give the Red Sox a thrilling 2-1 win at Yankee Stadium. 

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal later caught up with Napoli, who backpedaled on the comment.

"Nothing toward him," Napoli said, according to Rosenthal. "I thought he was going to throw me a split in the dirt. He had been getting me out all night on it."

Idiot in Boston is still a good thing. Right?

In any language — not good.

Smiling Red Sox ballgirl makes sensational catch of line-drive foul ball (VIDEO)

This fearless Red Sox ballgirl sacrificed her body for the sake of the Fenway Park fans during Thursday night's game against the Indians.

As she reached up to snag a hard line drive hit foul by Michael Brantley, she kicked over her seat, slipped over the wall and still managed to make the grab.

Crowd safe. Sox win. Good night in Boston.

Verlander offers imaginary oxygen mask to Holaday after first MLB triple (VIDEO)

When Tigers backup catcher Bryan Holaday hit his first MLB triple, Justin Verlander had a little fun mocking his teammate while he caught his breath standing at third Friday night.

After Holaday chugged his way around to third base, Verlander offered the winded catcher a little support via a pantomimed oxygen mask as the rest of the dugout cracked up laughing.

It's amusing because backup catchers are not known for their speed and Holaday is big and slow and well ... you get it.

But it was the Red Sox who could have used a little huff from Verlander's fake oxygen tank after they ran out of gas and lost to the Tigers 6-2.