Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez piloted the Texas Rangers for more than a decade from behind home plate. Now, the 14-time All-Star catcher and soon-to-be Baseball Hall of Fame inductee is giving his knees a break, and standing tall and firm to help the very community that gave him a warm welcome to the U.S. at 19 years old.
Rodriguez is stepping up to the plate to serve as the official ambassador for the Supreme Lending Celebrity-Am at the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson. His involvement was made possible thanks to a new three-year partnership between the mortgage lending company and the PGA tournament.
You see, when Rodriguez retired, he traded in his wooden bat for a golf club to hit the links five days a week. But, before he pulls out his driver at Tuesday’s event at Dallas National Golf Club, he’s putting in some customary pregame work.
Pudge Rodriguez and Michelle Kinder talk about the importance of discipline.
On Monday morning, Rodriguez dropped by the Momentous Institute, a gem of a school that offers kids up to the fifth grade an education like no other. Sure, they learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic, but at the core of those subjects are lessons in self-care and self-control. The belief is, that as important as coming up with the correct answer for ‘two plus two,’ it’s just as imperative that children learn how the brain functions so they can remain in control of their own physiology, and ultimately, their own emotions, reactions, and relationships.
The institute is a mental health powerhouse that provides more than 6,000 kids and their families road maps to build and repair social emotional health. And, the AT&T Byron Nelson, which is powered by the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, has donated more than $150 million to the Momentous Institute since its inception.
“He’s [Rodriguez] a great role model for the kids at the Momentous Institute, and we are proud to have him hitting cleanup for us on this one, as we work to support young people in our community,” Supreme Lending founder Scott Everett said.
To kick off another monstrous week for this great PGA TOUR tournament and the Momentous Institute, Rodriguez jumped at the chance to talk with the school’s fifth grade class.
A Hall of Fame Sit-Down
Attached to a slew of microphones to accommodate the local media in attendance, Rodriguez held his arms straight out in front of him and told the kids, “I feel like a robot,” for a few laughs.
Maybe his comfort level in a classroom came from his mother, a one-time elementary school teacher, who retired for a brief period only to come back as a principal for the last 15 years of her career.
As soon as Rodriguez sat down next to Michelle Kinder, the executive director of the Momentous Institute, he got right to the point.
“One of the obstacles I had in my career was my language. That was one of the toughest parts of my life,” he told students. “I came here from a very small neighborhood in Puerto Rico, and to come and learn the language was difficult. But guess what? When you establish goals in your life the way I did…None of that affected me. I came in and started to learn the language slowly. Just learning a few words per week, so I could communicate with pitchers and my teammates. After that, two years later, at the age of 19, I was in the Big Leagues.”
The kids, who all spoke Spanish, looked on in awe. Rodriguez spent the next 30 minutes switching between English and Spanish to deliver his story and answer well thought out questions from young inquisitive minds.
Rodriguez learns about settling his “glitter.”
He told them about playing 162 games per season for 21 years , and how he would arrive at the stadium at 1:30 p.m. for a 7:05 p.m. game to study batters’ tendencies, and make notes to pass along to his team’s pitchers and pitching coaches. All those reports he wrote? They were only good for that first run-through of the batting order. Then, he’d have to remember what pitches worked and what didn’t for the remainder of the game.
“Discipline is very important,” he explained to the kids. “Just make sure you have good discipline in school and with your parents at home. They’re here for you and support you, and they love you, so you have to love them, and respect them the same way they respect you…I’ve got great parents at home. They are the best two fans, and if I’m in the Hall of Fame, they’re Hall of Famers, too.”
But, don’t think the lessons just flowed one way. At the end of Rodriguez’s time with the students, he was presented with his very own “Glitter Ball,” a snow globe-like device that helps students “settle their glitter.”
“When you’re frustrated, you shake it, and wait for the glitter to settle,” one student told Rodriguez. “It gives you time to calm down so you can see clearly and make good decisions.”
Sounds like a tool just as powerful as a bat, and maybe one to throw in the golf bag, too.
