Bob Nightengale covers Alex Rodriguez‘s 660th home run. It might actually cause you to like A-Rod again:

New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who a year ago at this time didn’t know whether he would ever play baseball again, found himself sobbing Friday night, trying to grasp the moment, recognizing what he accomplished.

…

“I was thinking about when I was 18 years old, and I got my first hit here,” Rodriguez said. “My parents were in the stands. I was so excited to play with Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. A week later I faced Roger Clemens.

“A lot of emotions going into it, I’m glad it happened in such a special place.”

He said that after he was roundly booed at the plate, and after Fenway did nothing to recognize the milestone.

There were no congratulatory messages on the scoreboard. No announcement on the public-address system.

Just silence.

The fan who caught the ball would not give it back:

The ball wound up in the hands of a Red Sox fan named Mike Shuster, who was adamant that he would never give up the ball to Rodriguez, despite the efforts of a Yankees security guard.

“I haven’t been good at negotiating,” Rodriguez said, “so maybe I’ll just quit on that.”

We’ll see how much money Mr. Shuster makes from the ball.

Wille Mays was classy:

“Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez on his 660th home run,” Mays said in a statement released by the San Francisco Giants. “Milestones in baseball are meant to be broken.”

Maybe Rodriguez hasn’t changed at all, maybe he’s just putting on an act. Or maybe his year in purgatory really changed him:

“The only thing I can control is what I do from here on out, and how I conduct myself both on and off the field,” Rodriguez said. “I can’t really decide for other people what to think.

“You know I have regrets, and I’m trying to do the best to finish my career on a high note.”

So far, so good. He may not get to enjoy his milestone bonus, but last night at least, he got to enjoy some schadenfreude.