Boston’s Ryan Dempster hits Alex Rodriguez but fails to get vengeance

When Ryan Dempster hit Alex Rodriguez with a 3-0 pitch in the second inning Sunday night — after missing several times — many assumed he was upholding the honour of those who (supposedly) don't use performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. Along with those players who don't tattle on others who do (reportedly). Anybody who isn't A-Rod, in other words.

After the game, all Dempster would say was that he was trying to pitch inside.
No matter, Dempster's motives might have been unrelated to A-Rod's PED misadventures. A Canadian journalist who recently talked to Dempster said on Twitter of his countryman: So, Dempster hitting A-Rod, which cleared both benches and preceded the ejection of Yankees manager Joe Girardi, was done for the greater good. Dempster obviously took issue with A-Rod reportedly snitchin'. Or was it just for cheatin'? Maybe he does have a problem with A-Rod's PED backstory, but that's not what Dempster told Wayne Scanlan:
That's it? THAT'S why Dempster hit A-Rod? Because of a personal snub! Not because of steroids, or throwing colleagues under the bus, or acting bigger than the game, or for the kids?! Oh, who will think of the kids!
Not only that, but Dempster put A-Rod on base, on purpose, and he came around to score a run.
In the sixth, with Dempster still pitching and nursing a three-run lead, A-Rod came to bat for a third time and hit a home run that started a four-run Yankees rally. New York ended up beating Boston 9-6.

To top it off, as he circled the bases, A-Rod appeared to be screaming obscenities — either at the Red Sox, or at his own bench to pump them up. Rodriguez put a cherry on top of the cake by appearing to do a David Ortiz-like celebratory routine at home plate.

He sure knows how to needle ... people. What an amusing, frustrating and disgusting night at Fenway Park, depending on your point of view.