Alex Rodriguez was Erika Nardini’s guest on Barstool’s Token CEO podcast. The retired slugger talked about baseball, business, and the Covid-19 pandemic. You can hear the full podcast here.
It isn’t a shock that Nardini asked Rodriguez about where baseball stands right now as MLB players and owners try to work out a deal to salvage a season. ARod’s position on the need to get a deal done also isn’t a surprise. He compared sports to the favorite blanket or stuffed animal of a child.
“Us as human beings here – we reach for sports and sports as it’s our comfort food,” Rodriguez says. “You know, for baseball, you get to come home a hundred and eighty two nights a year. And at 7:30, you have your familiar team, but you can kind of scream at the TV. You have highs and lows.”
Rodriguez noted that while he is a baseball player, it is not just baseball he misses. He misses all team sports right now.
“It’s something that we cannot underestimate. And I think it’s easy to because it’s just there, sometimes you take anything for granted, but when it’s gone, you’re like, oh, my gosh, I can’t wait to watch, you know, a Yankee game or Cowboys game or Lakers game. And sometimes it’s fun cheering against the team that you hate, like the Yankees and the Cowboys are one that has probably more haters than lovers. And as a Yankee, that was actually fun because every time we went to an opponent stadium, that elevated the experience. I cannot wait for sports to come back!”
