Humans will always hold that thirst for knowledge and the continuous pursuit to get better. Throughout this past week many of us have been locking ourselves indoors, grasping at any sports content we can get our hands on. All over the internet we’ve seen people take to their phones to show how they’re making the best of their circumstances and continuously trying to get better at their craft. It has forced many of us to get creative when it comes to our workouts. One of the beauties of social media is its ability to let us share information with many people, very quickly. In a time when most athletes schedules would be jam packed, they have found themselves having more time to turn towards social media to interact with their fans. They are in the same boat as us, stuck inside to keep themselves busy. They understand that their fans miss them playing just as much as they do. By being more present on social media these athletes are allowing us to hear content created directly from themselves. It not only creates a deeper relationship with them, but younger aspiring athletes can have an opportunity to pick their brains.
Three time AL MVP Alex Rodriguez will be sharing some of his vast baseball knowledge on Instagram at 5pm on Monday. Who doesn’t love free online classes? On Saturday night A-Rod announced his virtual baseball clinic, “A-Rod Baseball Bunch,” through a video message on his Instagram and Twitter. A-Rod chose this title as a nod to “The Baseball Bunch,” a 1980s syndicated tv series which taught kids about the game of baseball. The show featured stars such as, Johnny Bench, Tommy Lasorda with a variety of other guests. In his video message, A-Rod told his followers that he will be talking about every aspect of the game, any trick or drills he did that prepared him for MLB and you can even ask him questions.
From what I’ve seen, you either hate or love A-rod. I was never a big fan of A-Rod growing up, just because Jeter was my favorite player. But 2009 A-Rod was the person that brought me and a bunch of other Yankee fans to his side. It was truly that year that he earned his pinstripes for good. Ever since then I have always been a big fan of his, especially now that he’s in the booth on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Probably because he has all that Yankee bias, but he fully embraces it. You can hate A-Rod, but any time you have the chance to hear personally from some of the sports greatest players, you put down your ego and listen. When you have so much time on your hands, use it to become a smarter athlete and keep your mind muscles at work. These athletes aren’t just doing this for any reason either, they want to continue to have the sport grow and allow people to learn even when we are so distant from the sport at the moment.
I wish there was more to report about today, but the A-Rod virtual clinic felt worthy enough of passing along to my readers. We have to continue to make the most of the situation and I salute athletes like A-Rod for trying to keep the sport growing despite the challenges we face today. Follow A-Rod on Instagram and tune in at 5pm to hear him talk some sports.
Until tomorrow I leave you with Tyler Austin, former Yankee, hitting an OPPO TACO in a baseball game in Japan yesterday because that’s where we are at right now. It also gives me hope that if they were able to get back to playing that we can soon follow suit.
The Washed Up Athlete 