No Stink: Alex Rodriguez is Fresher Than Ever for MLB Opening Day

Alex Rodriguez on his latest Lysol campaign, Nike deal, and sports pop culture legacy.

Alex Rodriguez has teamed up with Lysol for MLB Opening Day. / Lysol

Alex Rodriguez has been present in MLB for over 30 years. Whether on the field during his playing days or in the broadcast booth now, Rodriguez has always remained fresh. It makes perfect sense that the baseball legend teamed up with Lysol again on MLB Opening Day.

After supporting equipment managers last year, Rodriguez is championing the tireless work of sports officials and making one part of their job easier – tackling the stink of post-game laundry with Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. 

Players, coaches, and parents can show appreciation for officials by visiting LysolStrikeOutStink.com and nominating a referee to receive Lysol Laundry Sanitizer to beat the stink in the post-game laundry.

As part of the exciting announcement, Sports Illustrated's Kicks On SI spoke with Rodriguez about his new commercial, history with Nike, and important place in sports pop culture.

What made you want to partner with Lysol for a second straight year?

I had a lot of fun in year one, and I learned a lot. The commercials are super fun. Anytime you get a chance to do something cool that has a double bottom line in which we're highlighting umps and refs that do such a great job and it doesn't get a lot of love for it.

Through this commercial, I've learned a few kind of fun facts. Like sweat leads to bacteria build-up, which can cause stink in sweaty postgame laundry.

Lysol Laundry Sanitizer kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria in laundry. After any baseball game, you stink it up, and umps have a lot of equipment, and Lysol does its thing.

Are you using the Lysol Laundry Sanitizer at home or on the road?

Ironically, my daughter's a sophomore at the University of Michigan. Every time I go up there, there are three things we must do.

We always end with dinner, and then I always go and take her to a supermarket, and then I have to do laundry with her. We use Lysol every time I go up there and do laundry with my daughter.

Alex Rodriguez uses the Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. / Lysol

Why is it more important now to champion sports officials?

There's so much conversation and narrative around robots replacing umpires. That's a big no for me because I think officials are such a big part of our game, especially the human element and the emotion side of it.

Look, in that job, no matter what, you're gonna have one fanbase be upset with you. That's a guarantee. So that's that's a tough job.

Did you ever think your appearance in the MTV Rock N' Jock Softball Challenge was going to remain so iconic in sports culture?

Yeah, it was a really cool time in pop culture with softball, baseball, and MTV. It was just like a moment in time that I think none of us who are this age will ever forget.

Alex Rodriguez negotiated his first sneaker deal with Phil Knight. / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

If you were a rookie, would you sign with Nike again?

Oh, yeah, 100%. It's interesting; in my entire career, I only wore one glove, one shoe, one bat, and one glove. All the way through, I'm a Nike guy; I was then, and I am now.

You had some iconic Nike commercials. Do you have a personal favorite?

I like the one when my first or second sneaker came out, and I put it in a blender. You got to remember that we were in Seattle and were very close to Nike in Oregon and Phil Knight had a big presence there.

I personally did my deal with Phil, and it was such an honor and a great thrill to negotiate my contract with Phil Knight, who has obviously built one of the great companies in America.

What shoes are you wearing these days?

I wear a lot of Jordans. The Air Jordan 1s. I still rock them.

Alex Rodriguez wore Nike throughout his entire MLB career. / Andrew Weber-Imagn Images

Last question: when are we going to get retro A-Rod jerseys on Mitchell & Ness? (The people want them!)

Well, we got to talk to Michael Rubin about that. I'm down.

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