“It was a scary time” - Alex Rodriguez opens up on how early planning was key to post-baseball stability

Since his retirement from the world of baseball, Alex Rodriguez has gone on to make an empire in the field of business. The sportsperson turned entrepreneur is the founder of A-Rod Corp., which has spread its investments in multiple sectors, including sports, real estate and other diverse business products.

But long before Alex Rodriguez had the vision of creating a brand out of his name, he was an MLB player unsure about his own future. During the Aug. 7 episode of "The Deal" podcast hosted on Bloomberg Original by A-Rod and Jason Kelly, with special guest former NFL Players Association Executive Director, DeMaurice Smith, Rodriguez spoke about the insecurity during the 1994 MLB lockout.

"You know, [DeMaurice] mentioned 1994. I was an 18-year-old rookie playing for Lou Piniella and in front of Ken Griffey Jr. and on August 12th, we walked off the field and I was 18 years old and I called my mom. I said, 'What do I do now?'.

"It was so stressful in 1994 when I saw teammates who had mortgages and houses, who maybe had one too many cars and said, 'When is my next paycheck going to be?' and it was a scary time," Rodriguez said.

The MLB lockout in 1994 was a result of a dispute between the owners and the players. It reduced the season to 113 games, while teams played only 144 games the following year.

Rodriguez credited icons of the North American sports leagues like DeMaurice Smith, who have paved the way for players to not only speak up against the establishment of the league and teams' ownership but also secure themselves through planning off the field.

"And I'll tell you, you never think about leadership until you need leadership. And in 1994, that started me thinking, 'Boy, I better have a plan for life after baseball,' especially when the average career is five and a half years.

"You make 90% of your money income from age 20 to 30, and less than 5% of us have a college degree. So that's when people like De Smith are giants because they really impact your entire life," Rodriguez added.

DeMaurice was on the podcast, promoting his new book "Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game," which gives an insight into the NFLPA's negotiations during the 2011 NFL lockout.

Alex Rodriguez reminisces retirement game at Yankee Stadium

In a heartfelt post on his Instagram account, Alex Rodriguez went back in time, remembering the final game of his MLB career on the 12 August, 2016, against the Tampa Bay Rays. He posted a video of him embracing his two daughters, Natasha and Ella, and captioned the video:

"One of my favorite memories as a dad".

The Yankees released Rodriguez from their roster the following day and he remained as a special instructor through the 2017 season. In 12 years for the Yanks, he batted at .283 with 1096 RBIs and 351 home runs.