A serious health issue has plagued baseball legend Alex Rodriguez. In an interview with CBS Mornings, the former New York Yankees star announced that he is dealing with Gum Disease. And when speaking with PEOPLE, Rodriguez said “didn’t chew tobacco” and “didn’t dip,” despite what people might think.
Rodriguez said he would have “weird routines” while playing baseball that may have affected his gum health, including chewing 36 pieces of gum per day. “We play nine innings, right? I was trying to do four every half inning or two and two… And you would just chew,” he said. “It was a habit that once the inning was over, you kicked that one away and started new. “You do crazy things over 25 years. And this is one of these weird routines that I had.”
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In the CBS Mornings interview, Rodriguez there are plenty of people in the United States that are also dealing with gum disease. “Looks can be deceiving,” Rodriguez said, per Entertainment Tonight. “I just recently went to go see my dentist, and not thinking anything about any gum disease, and then the dentist tells me the news. Then I come to find out that over 60 million Americans have this gum disease. So it’s important for all Americans, all viewers watching to go out there and take care of your teeth.”
Rodriguez went on to talk about the use of tobacco in baseball. Baseball legend Tony Gwynn died in 2014 due to mouth cancer from the constant use of tobacco. “You saw Tony Gwynn years ago passed because of a lot of tobacco use from my understanding,” he shared. “So I’m not sure if it’s tied to that. I never did tobacco. I did a lot of sunflower seeds, but anyways, viewers at home, it’s always better to be safe. Go see your local dentist.”
And this is why Rodriguez is now speaking out about the dangers of tobacco use to young players and other members of the baseball community. “You never tie it together,” Rodriguez said. “To think about just chewing tobacco leading to just the cancer, leading to death and a guy like Tony whose such an amazing guy, played hoops at San Diego State, and a great defender. Gold Glover, and one of the great, great icons of baseball. One of my heroes.”
Rodriguez played in MLB from 1994-2016 and spent the majority of his career with the Yankees. He played his first seven seasons with the Seattle Mariners before joining the Texas Rangers in 2001. The 47-year-old baseball star was traded to the Yankees in 2004 and helped the team win a World Series in 2009. In his career, Rodriguez collected 3,115 hits with 696 home runs and 2,086 RBIs with a batting average of .295. He was named an All-Star 14 times and AL MVP three times.
