BOSTON - Alex Rodriguez wanted to join the Red Sox. He never thought he'd be a Yankee. And he couldn't be more in the middle of the American League Championship Series.
During the winter, Rodriguez was actively involved, and physically and emotionally invested, in working out a complex deal that would allow him to move from the Rangers to the Red Sox. He was crushed when it collapsed and it appeared he would be stuck in Texas.
Little did he know it was the best thing that could have happened.
"It was a huge blessing in disguise," Rodriguez said. "I was obviously disappointed because when you work at something so hard and long, and the intricacies of the deal were very complex, so when something like that falls through I was very disappointed.
"But never in my wildest dreams did I think a month, two months later I'd be wearing pinstripes."
The Yankees stunned the baseball world when they traded for Rodriguez and moved him to third base, and they delivered a pretty good blow to the Red Sox, too.
"We knew that would be a fringe benefit," Yankees GM Brian Cashman said.
Things didn't work out that badly for the Sox. Had they acquired Rodriguez - the deal ultimately derailed when the players' union objected to the restructuring of Rodriguez's contract - they would have traded Manny Ramirez, who had an MVP-caliber season, and Nomar Garciaparra, who was dealt later.
"Ultimately, in a roundabout way, everybody seemed to benefit," Cashman said.
Rodriguez, after a slow start, has been a big hit in New York. He got three big hits in Game 3 Saturday, including a run-scoring double in the first and a tying home run in the third.
Rodriguez has heard plenty from Sox fans, especially when he went 1-for-17 during an April series at Fenway, but he has handled the situation well.
"It's almost ancient history for me," he said after Saturday's game.
"It's just kind of ironic that I'm here playing for the Yankees now."
So, Rodriguez was asked, is playing third base for the Yankees better than playing shortstop for the Red Sox would have been?
"Being the first-base coach for this franchise beats anything else, no question," Rodriguez said. "Without a doubt."
