Russell Wilson’s head knows football was the right choice. Baseball still has his heart.
A 2014 Super Bowl champion quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks Adidas Gabriel Landeskog Jersey , the 29-year-old began a week of workouts Monday with the New York Yankees.
”Is this just a stunt?” he said. ”I think that if you really know me, baseball’s been a part of my blood. It’s been a part of who I am and where I’ve come from and what I’ve done. When you see me make plays on the football field, a lot of that’s a direct correlation to baseball.”
Wilson hit six homers in 39 swings as part of a batting practice group that included Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the top sluggers in the major leagues last season, plus Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird.
A middle infielder who hit .229 over 93 games at Class A in the Colorado Rockies’ system in 2011 and `12, Wilson became the Seahawks’ starting quarterback in autumn 2012. He was selected by Texas in the 2013 winter meeting draft and attended spring training with the Rangers.
Wilson was on vacation in the Bahamas early this month when he learned he had been acquired in a trade by the Yankees, his favorite team growing up. While the Yankees gave playing time to football players Deion Sanders and Drew Henson, they said Wilson will not appear in any spring training games; they want to observe his leadership skills, and he wants to soak up the attitude of a franchise with a record 27 World Series titles.
”There’s an aroma around here that I’ve got to figure out, and I can’t wait to learn more about it and use that for my football career,” he said.
Wearing pink sunglasses for BP, Wilson fell short of the fence in his first 17 swings with a 33-inch, 31-ounce Louisville Slugger, a personalized maple model H319C in black. He then hit three in his next four tries, cleared the left-field walkway and clanked his final drive off the center-field batter’s eye.
”It’s just cool being able to pick his brain, that was the coolest part for me,” Judge said. ”When he’s working out Adidas Mikko Rantanen Jersey , everything is for a purpose.”
Wilson was on the field hours early, working with shortstop Didi Gregorius. He and the Yankees were all smiles.
”Watching him take a ball from the outfield that was kind of an in-between hop and watching him moving his feet real well and create a longer hop, that’s a savvy good-player move,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Wilson spoke to the team before batting practice about leadership principles and said Judge and Stanton would be tight ends if they played in the NFL. He wore No. 73 – his football number, 3, is retired by the Yankees for Babe Ruth and his baseball number in high school was 7, retired by New York for Mickey Mantle.
He said his great uncle wears a Yankees cap every day, even to Seahawks games.
”I was always a fair-weather fan. I loved watching the best players, the best teams play. So when I was growing up, playing football, it was the Green Bay Packers at one point, then it was the 49ers, then it was the Cowboys,” Wilson said. ”But for baseball growing up, I was always a huge Yankees fan, and I think it was because I loved the process. I love watching winners win.”
Wilson has no intention to switch sports.
”I love playing the game I play now,” he said. ”Being the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks Adidas Seth Jones Jersey , I’m one of 32 men in the world that get to do what I get to do. It’s the best job in the world, and so for me I’m very passionate about that. And my focus is winning more Super Bowls, doing whatever it takes to do that.”
He doesn’t want to expand to a third sport and dabble with dribbling.
”I wouldn’t be good at basketball. But baseball,” he said, ”it’s like riding bike.”
NOTES: Boone said he likely will break up Judge, Stanton and Sanchez with left-handed hitters in the batting order against most right-handed pitchers. Coming off left shoulder surgery, Judge is slated to play his first exhibition game Wednesday and in another Friday, both times in the outfield. … OF Clint Frazier sustained a mild concussion Saturday while diving into a fence at Bradenton to deny Ryan Lavarnway an extra-base hit. Boone said Frazier likely will miss a few days but not more. ”Foggy, that’s how I felt all day,” said of his condition Sunday.
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Andrew Heaney was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers for a few hours early in his major league career.
Heaney is still hoping to convince their front office they should have given him a longer look five years ago. He’ll get another opportunity Sunday evening when he takes the mound for the Los Angeles Angels in the series finale against the Dodgers at Angel Stadium.
The Dodgers (48-40) gave up two runs in the ninth inning and lost the series opener 3-2 on Friday night, then held on for a 3-1 win against the Angels (45-45) on Saturday.
Heaney was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Dodgers at the winter meetings Dec. 12, 2014, but a few hours later the Dodgers dealt him to the Angels for popular second baseman Howie Kendrick.
Heaney had two chances to beat the Dodgers during the 2015 season, but lost both games. He gave up two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 3-1 loss at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 1 of that season. Five weeks later at Angel Stadium, he gave up five runs and six hits in five innings of a 6-4 loss.
Heaney had Tommy John surgery in June 2016 and made only six starts over the next two seasons.
Heaney (4-6, 3.94) had a solid month of May this season, posting a 2-3 record and 2.41 ERA in six starts. He had a winning mark of 2-1 in June Adidas Artemi Panarin Jersey , but his ERA dipped to 4.45 for the month. In his only start in July, he gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings at the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, taking the loss in the 4-1 defeat.
“It’s sort of been the same old story for a little while, just sort of the big innings where I let it kind of build,” Heaney told reporters after his latest outing. “It’s something where I need to come out and establish earlier, kind of get ahead, and all the other same stuff we always talk about.”
Heaney will be opposed by Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood, who will be aiming to win his fifth straight start. Wood also won all five appearances in May of last season on his way to an 11-0 start.
Wood (5-5, 3.84) probably didn’t expect to have a chance to go over .500 by early July after dropping to 0-4 on May 15.
“Winning is just nice,” Wood told Sportsnet after his latest start, a 17-1 win against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. “Four in a row is nice, especially where I was after that three-start stretch. So I feel good, just trying to keep moving forward and looking towards the future. Hopefully, we’ll keep swinging the bats well and play well going into the All-Star break.”
The Angels are the only American League West team Wood has not faced in his major league career.
He struggled in his only interleague start this season, giving up seven runs and seven hits over 3 2/3 innings in a 16-6 loss to the visiting Oakland A’s on April 11.