by Owen Hetherington
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Taking Ryan Dempster Deep After Being Thrown At (August 18, 2013)
Rodriguez stepped into the batter’s box to face Red Sox starter, Ryan Dempster, as the entire Fenway Park booed him. Just a few weeks prior, Major League Baseball announced that Rodriguez would be suspended for the entire 2014 season for his use of banned substances in the Biogenesis scandal. The suspension intended to suspend Rodriguez for the remainder of the 2013 and the entire 2014 seasons. However, Rodriguez appealed Major League Baseball’s suspension, which allowed him to continue playing after MLB’s decision. In his first plate appearance leading off against Ryan Dempster, Dempster threw the first pitch behind Rodriguez. He then threw two more balls to bring the count to 3-0 where Dempster hit Rodriguez with his fourth pitch in the elbow. The Fenway crowd turned their boos to cheers as Rodriguez went to first on the hit by pitch.
In the end, Alex Rodriguez got the last laugh. In the sixth inning he took Dempster deep on a 1-0 count. He ended the game going 3-for-4 and 2 RBIs to give the Bombers a 9-6 win over Boston.
