Ex-Yankees All-Star reveals how Alex Rodriguez taught him an important lesson

Former New York Yankees star Nick Swisher spoke about his days in pinstripes and revealed an important lesson he learned from Alex Rodriguez. The former All-Star outfielder spent four years with the Yankees, where he played alongside several big all-time greats.

During that period, Rodriguez was at the peak of his career, and Swisher took the opportunity to learn about the importance of having a daily routine to build consistency on the field.

The New York Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez ahead of the 2004 season, and the infielder went on to become one of their most iconic players of his generation. In New York, Rodriguez won two AL MVPs and a World Series title in 2009. Despite the controversy about the use of PEDs surrounding him, there's no doubt about Rodriguez's talent and hard work off the field.

Former Yankees star Nick Swisher, on the Diggin' Deep podcast, spoke about how much he learned from the players around him in his career. Swisher singled out Rodriguez's consistency and off-the-field discipline, and how it taught it an important lesson (from 45:39):

"I always gravitated towards the Hall of Famers and the All-Stars because I wasn't that good, so I had to learn from them. Teach me, what are you doing that I'm not doing. ... I just feel like I've been so blessed to learn from so many different people. I've played with mutliple Hall of Famers and I used to just chew their ear.

"Alex Rodriguez was so consistent in his work every single day. That's what I took away from Rod. Like, every day he was prepared. He'd go in there, he'd get his body right, he'd be in the gym, he'd be stretching. He'd be down at the cage at the same time every day, doing the same routine off the tee, front flips and then over hand. I'm like, damn, I don't have a routine like that. I need to learn how to do that."

During his four years with the Yankees, Nick Swisher won the World Series alongside Alex Rodriguez and made the only All-Star appearance of his career. During that time, Rodriguez's devotion to his craft taught him what it takes to become one of the best players the sport has ever seen.

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Alex Rodriguez gifts young fan a Naz Reid jersey after getting caught up in a courtside brawl

Sunday's NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons saw a courtside brawl, which led to five players and two coaches getting ejected in the aftermath.

During the brawl, a young Timberwolves fan got caught up in the middle of it but luckily left unscathed.

New York Yankees icon and minority owner of the Timberwolves Alex Rodriguez witnessed the bust-up and made a classy gesture towards the young fan. He gifted the kid a Naz Reid jersey in the aftermath of the brawl.