At 4:45 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, Alex Rodriguez stood up in the ESPN broadcast booth at Yankee Stadium and motioned down to the sun-splashed field, arms outstretched and palms turned up — the universal look of confusion.
The Yankees had hurriedly pulled their players off the field and canceled batting practice, but the visiting Boston Red Sox were stirring. Alex Cora, Boston’s manager, saw Rodriguez and made a slashing motion a few inches in front of his neck. No game tonight.
Major League Baseball had scheduled just one game on Thursday, putting the Yankees and the Red Sox in the national spotlight to start the nominal second half of the season.