Alex Rodriguez reveals how football skills helped him in crucial MLB on-field moment

New York Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez is widely considered one of the best MLB players since the turn of the century. On Thursday, the former All-Star slugger shared insights on what made him excel at baseball.

The three-time MVP started his MLB career as a shortstop with the Seattle Mariners but was equally successful as a third baseman after making the switch for the New York Yankees.

In an Instagram video on Thursday, the former World Series winner revealed how his football skills helped him in baseball while dissecting a play from his Yankees days. In the clip, Rodriguez dove to snag a line drive at third base and relayed a bullet throw to first baseman Mark Teixeira to tag out the batter.

"This is a play in Oakland where my football background helped my baseball. It was a ball down the line. I dove, I stood up, composed myself, the ball got stuck a little bit in the web, just like, sometimes, you can't find your seams as a quarterback. I channeled Alex, the 16-17-year-old quarterback at Westminster Christian, not Alex the third baseman for the New York Yankees.

"I got up nice and tall, found my target marked it, like I'm finding my tight end down the seam, and I threw a bullet a strike across a diamond for an out, and this is one of the reasons why being hyper focused on baseball alone, especially when you're young, under the age of 15, is a big mistake, the more sports the better."

Alex Rodriguez was a dual athlete after he transferred to Westminster Christian School. Later, he was recruited to play baseball and football at the University of Miami. However, Rodriguez declined a scholarship offer from the program, signing for the Seattle Mariners as a 17-year-old in 1993.

Mariners manager recalls first impression of Alex Rodriguez

The Yankees took on Alex Rodriguez's former team, the Mariners, in a three-game series this week. Ahead of Wednesday's game, Mariners manager Dan Wilson talked about his first impression of Rodriguez after he joined the team.

"I had a chance to see him in spring training some obviously, and then getting a chance to come up for the first time, it wasn't hard to recognize the talent that was there and just the type of player he was going to become," Wilson said. "It was very apparent from day one.

"And, he was a guy who worked hard. He was very curious. He asked everybody questions about 'What does it take to be a big leaguer? What does it take to be a good player?' He was always picking the brain of a veteran and just a very curious guy."

The Yankees made it four wins in a row after a come-from-behind 6-5 win on Thursday to sweep the Mariners.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

Know More

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash