Growing up, MLB great Alex Rodriguez didn’t have access to proper resources to learn baseball. The former shortstop’s mother had to work two jobs just to make ends meet. As an inquisitive child, Rodriguez used every chance to learn as much as possible about the game. Sometimes, however, that learning also included some negotiating with his mother. 

A year before bidding farewell to the game he spent a better part of his life playing, A-Rod sat down for an interview and spoke of many things, including his first time as an MLB analyst and how he learned playing ball as a kid while trying hard to mediate with his mother. 

Alex Rodriguez on learning to play baseball during his childhood

2015 was one of the most important years in A-Rod’s career. It was the year when Alex made his strong comeback after being suspended from the big league for over a year. The shortstop’s experience as a ballplayer, however, had come to good use during his suspension. FOX called Rodriguez to work as an analyst for the playoffs. Then, after working as an analyst, he appeared on The Michael Kay’s Show to talk about how he felt working as an expert while also shedding light on how he learned to play ball. 

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Talking about his ways of learning the game, A-Rod said, “I learned how to play baseball listening to Ralph Kiner and Tim McCarver. And when I hear his voice (Tim’s), I felt like it was an uncle. Because I was always no matter what we had, and we didn’t have much. Growing up, at 7 pm, when I turned on Tim McCarver, I just felt like I was in a really good place. And my favorite part, not to ramble a little bit, but I really enjoyed while Tanner’s corner and I always had to negotiate with my mom, because those are only 11:30, and it was time for bed, but that was really neat.” 

For those unversed in the sport, Ralph Kiner was a late athlete and broadcaster. During his baseball career, Kiner played for three different teams in the league. As an outfielder, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955. On the other hand, Tim McCarver was yet another baseball legend and commentator who spent the majority of his time playing with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Learning about the game with the help of these two veterans must have been a surreal experience for Rodriguez.

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