Any avid sports fan would love the opportunity to sit down with one of the all-time greats of a given sport, watch a game with him, and soak up all of his knowledge and opinions on what is happening in the game.
FOX Sports gave fans as close to that opportunity as they will ever get, as they live streamed baseball great Alex Rodriguez giving real-time game studio analysis during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Facebook Live.
The segment covered the first 2 1/2 innings of the game between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers and gave viewers a unique second-screen experience.
While watching the live action on one screen and Rodriguez accompanied by sportscaster Kevin Burkhardt on the other, viewers got the inside scoop on the retired New York Yankee’s opinions on the game as well as some personal stories and tricks of the trade.
Questions submitted by fans were also answered, including what the X-factor was for the Dodgers and his opinions on Kris Bryant.
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FOX Sports also recently streamed unscripted footage featuring Rodriguez with analysts Pete Rose and Frank Thomas talking about batting on its Facebook and Twitter page.
In this uncut raw footage, it is almost as if you are standing there with three legends talking with them about how to hit the ball.
Rose — the Hit King — teaches Rodriguez and Thomas that you never let a pitcher tell you you’re in a slump and that if you are struggling, you either move closer or further from the plate, go up or down in the box, choke up or down on the bat more, make the bat heavier or lighter, but never change your swing.
“Your swing is what got you into the big leagues,” Rose told the sluggers. “You change your positioning in the batter’s box.”
These two videos allow the viewers to act like they are standing there with the legends and lets the fans get first-hand knowledge, as if they are being told this information themselves.
It is always going to be a fan’s dream to have these types of conversations with great athletes, and with Facebook Live streams, Fox Sports got them one step closer.
Just three legends talking baseball. @AROD, @PeteRose_14 & @TheBigHurt_35 discuss hitting. #NLCS #postseason pic.twitter.com/USawlFQbtS
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 21, 2016