Boone Logan Talks How Alex Rodriguez Impacted His Career

Boone Logan walked into the Colorado Rockies locker room on Sunday morning and was greeted with the news that Alex Rodriguez was retiring from baseball on Friday. For Logan, it was a big moment as he credits Rodriguez with changing the way he approaches the game on a daily basis.

Logan and Rodriguez were New York Yankees teammates from 2010-2013 and Colorado’s left-handed specialist remembers distinctly how A-Rod helped transform him into the pitcher he is today.

“There were times when I was scuffling in New York and he actually a couple of times went out of his way to sit me down and talk about my preparation,” Logan said. “It got blown up, of course, because the New York media had to know what he was telling a lefty reliever and he finally had to spill the beans.

“It was just a personal deal. We sat down and talked about my preparation. He said, ‘I see you on the computers looking at scouting reports and hitters and stuff. I like that but do you take it out there? Do you any game plan when you actually go out and step out on the field with these hitters?’ He told me has a game plan with every pitcher and how he was going to attack them. That’s when it kind of clicked for me. I thought I might do all of this preparation before games but I guess I just go out and throw. It never transferred over.

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“To me, it was one of the biggest pieces of advice I’ve ever had. He sat me down for 20 minutes in front of my locker and we just talked. He was very positive about it and really opened my mind to what I could do to help myself and help the team. I pretty much think about it every day when I do face certain hitters. There are hitters I face a lot and they’re power guys. I have a game plan and, every time I think about the game plan, I think about when Alex talked to me about preparation.”

Logan said he was a bit surprised by the news of A-Rod’s retirement but also had felt it might be coming for a few days.

“I’m kinda shocked but I’ve been hearing talk about him retiring lately,” Logan said literally minutes after finding out. “I don’t know if he’s getting pushed out or just saying he’s not going to play and hang it up.”

Boone Logan knows there will be a lot of question marks about Rodriguez and the legacy he leaves on baseball. However, he also knows the man and teammate who took the time to sit down with him and help his career. Logan says that’s what he will remember most.

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“I actually played with him. It’s a shame that he got popped for whatever he was taking, but he was still a competitor and he still worked really hard and cared about the game a whole lot,” Logan said. “I played with him for four years and I know how he is. He cared big-time.”