Looks like a trend: as reported in the New York Daily News today, Yankees Alex Rodriguez, Ian Kennedy, Michael Dunn, Ramiro Pena, Damaso Marte, Francisco Cervelli and Alfredo Aceves all visited visited St. Simon Stock, a Catholic grammar school in the Bronx on Monday. Here’s video:
The principal’s statement that the kids “got to see their role models” might be a little cringe-worthy in light of A-Rod’s recent past, but it’s easy to understand getting caught up in the excitement. Let’s give some due credit: the day before, the team clinched first place; many players probably did some celebrating, especially the B-list players just up from AAA ball. They could have cancelled, or worse, shown up looking like bums. But they didn’t just “show up”: it looks like they interacted, and A-Rod gave a nice little speech about respect and teamwork. Nice. Too bad they didn’t close the street outside the school and play some stickball!
Even if this visit was more publicity-driven than what we recently saw on the JR Sport Brief, it’s a nice gesture nonetheless. I grew up about a mile from this school in the 1970s and I assure you: we never saw the likes of Thurman, Catfish, or Reggie outside the ballpark.
