Rodriguez chalks up save by coming to boy’s aid

BOSTON – For the first time in his New York Yankees career, Alex Rodriguez was cheered in Boston this week, but it had nothing to do with anything he did on the baseball field.

Rodriguez risked his life Tuesday to save an 8-year-old boy from getting hit by a fast-moving truck on Newbury Street, the boy’s father, Joe McCarthy, said Thursday. The boy, Patrick, is a diehard Yankees fan living in Red Sox Nation.

“I can’t express enough gratitude,” Joe McCarthy said. “He saved my son’s life.”

Rodriguez said he was about to enter a car when he noticed a truck heading in his direction and quickly decided to step back to protect himself. But when he turned around, he saw young Patrick running into the street and directly toward the utility truck. A-Rod said he acted instinctively, immediately grabbing the boy and pulling him back with him.

“I was trying to get out of the way, and the kid was running the other way,” Rodriguez said before Thursday night’s game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “He was about to run into the street and I kind of just put my arm around him. We both almost got run over.”

“It was just unbelievable, truly a God moment,” Joe McCarthy said. “A-Rod could have been seriously hurt, but that didn’t stop him. It was the best catch of his career.”

Joe McCarthy said he, Patrick and the boy’s mother, Grace Bochicchio, had just left Niketown. McCarthy said he was off to the side and didn’t see the situation develop, but heard the sound of a screeching truck, “oohs” from the crowd, then cheers. When he looked up, he saw his son in Rodriguez’s hands as well as a few stunned expressions from onlookers.

“The kid was running into the street and he was about to get run over by a car,” Rodriguez added. “From his vantage point he couldn’t see the truck coming.”

Patrick told Rodriguez how much he followed the Yankees while still in his arms.