BOSTON – Friday marks the end of the work week for most people. For Alex Rodriguez, it will mark the end of an era.  A-Rod will play his final game as a Yankee Friday night against the Rays, saying goodbye to the New York fans that have loved him, hated him and felt everything in between over the past 12 seasons.  “Tomorrow is about me thanking the fans for putting up with me for such a long time,” Rodriguez said after Thursday night’s 4-2 win over the Red Sox. “They were with me through thick and thin. You know, ’09 jumps off the page. That’s a day and a ring that we’ll have forever. It’s a memory that we’ll have forever.”  The Yankees plan to honor A-Rod with a ceremony before the game, which was moved back to a 7:35 p.m. Details are hush-hush, but with a sold-out crowd ready to bid farewell to the controversial, polarizing slugger, it figures to be a night to remember.  Joe Girardi shouldn’t refuse to give A-Rod the Jeter treatment  “I’m sure that I’m going to wake up full of emotions and it’s going to be very exciting,” Rodriguez said. “My girls get in around mid-day. It should be fun.”  A-Rod revealed Thursday that he had asked Girardi earlier in the week if he could play third base in Friday’s Stadium swan song, but Girardi denied the request.  “It would have just been fun again,” Rodriguez said. “It wasn’t a big request. I get that we’re playing games, so I totally get the answer. Obviously I played as a Yankee, a big portion of it was playing third base. I thought it would have been fun.”  Girardi indicated that Rodriguez’s lack of work in the field – he hasn’t played there since May 23, 2015 – and the fact that the Yankees sit only 3½ games behind the Red Sox for the second AL wild-card spot were enough for him to veto the idea.  In a pinch, Yankees go to A-Rod in win over Red Sox  “It’s not that I wouldn’t like to see it, but we’re in a part of the season where we’re trying to win; we’re still in this,” Girardi said. “It would be different if everything was determined. I still believe that we can win.”  Girardi was nearly forced to use A-Rod at third during the Yankees’ series in San Diego in July, even telling him to get a glove from the clubhouse as the Yankees tried to force their game against the Padres to extra innings.  “It was a fun request and I don’t have any problem with Joe saying no on that,” Rodriguez said of this week’s events. “I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. He’s probably saving me some embarrassment, so that’s not a bad thing.”  Girardi hasn’t been having much fun with A-Rod’s final week as a Yankee, though he didn’t face any lineup questions before Thursday’s game as he penciled the 41-year-old designated hitter – the same one the Yankees have kept on the bench for weeks – into the cleanup spot for the series finale at Fenway Park.  A-Rod's rough road to Hall: 2/3 voters surveyed won't vote him in  As A-Rod prepared for the end of his Yankee tenure, he continued to brush off questions about whether his future could include a playing stint with another team.  Rodriguez has never actually uttered the word “retire” since Sunday’s announcement that the Yankees would release him later in the week. Asked whether he views Friday as his final game as a Yankee or the final game of his career, he hinted at the latter.  “I’m focusing on this is it,” Rodriguez said before the game. “This is it. I’m not looking beyond that. I value the pinstripes; I value this organization. To me, this is it.”  He did add that should any intriguing opportunities present themselves – his hometown Marlins, perhaps? – he would clear any decision with Hal Steinbrenner, who gave him a contract through the end of 2017 as a special advisor/instructor.  “I’ve been so focused in on this week,” Rodriguez said. “I have plenty of emotions, I don’t even have time or energy to think about anything else. I’m really looking forward to my last seven or eight at-bats.  “Anything outside of Friday, we can talk next week and that will be a new set of questions. Right now, it’s really about tonight and tomorrow.”  Girardi’s understanding regarding A-Rod’s advisor deal is that he can still decide to play elsewhere if he so chooses.  “It’s hard to take the uniform off,” Girardi said. “He has never mentioned that he’s retiring. And he might get the itch.”  With only four homers standing between himself and the 700-home run milestone, A-Rod admitted it will be tempting to swing for the fences in his final at-bats.  “Yeah, for sure,” Rodriguez said. “I was trying (Wednesday) night; I’m not going to lie. I was going for it.”  When it was pointed out to A-Rod that Babe Ruth hit three homers in a game during the final week of his career in 1935, he tried to downplay such possibilities for Friday’s game.  “I have enough pressure as it is,” Rodriguez said with a smile. “I haven’t played a lot of baseball lately, so I’m just trying to make contact tonight.”
When Joe Girardi informed A-Rod that he would start only Thursday and Friday this week, A-Rod made one additional request to his manager.