In an attempt to make a comeback after suspensions and injuries have essentially kept him out of baseball for the past two years, New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez has reportedly enlisted the services of another controversial superstar in his day, Barry Bonds.
According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, Rodriguez is training with Bonds at the Future Prospects facility in San Rafael, California:
A couple of sources—actually buddies whose kids train at the facility—tipped me off to the Bonds-Rodriguez sessions, which obviously made quite a few up-and-comers do a double take. The kids looked, listened and admired the all-time home run leader working with the onetime heir apparent, proprietors of a combined 1,416 homers talking ball.
Rodriguez reportedly took two photographs at the facility and posted them to Instagram. Here he is training on the field:
And here he is in the cages:
Rodriguez last played in 2013, when he hit .244 with seven home runs and 19 RBI in 44 games and looked like a shell of the player who once seemed like a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. The numbers certainly bear out Rodriguez’s claim to election to the hall one day—he has 654 career home runs and 1,969 RBI—though his part in the steroids scandal that rocked baseball in recent years jeopardizes his claim.
Despite that, Rodriguez seems keen to attempt a comeback at the age of 39, when some would argue Major League Baseball would rather see him retire. Bonds can’t turn the clock back for A-Rod, but perhaps he can help build a new stroke that takes into account the limitations that come with aging.
Rodriguez is certainly banking on Bonds doing just that.
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