Resilience, it appears, runs in the Pollock family
by Cary Osborne
Baseball has often asked AJ Pollock to be resilient. Life decided to ask him to be more so the last few months.
On March 19, days after baseball shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pollock and his wife, Kate, welcomed their first child to the world. Baby girl Maddi Mae Pollock was born three months premature and weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces.
And nearly a month ago, with Maddi still in the hospital but progressing, Pollock was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Honest — using words like frightening, frustrating and emotional — the veteran outfielder detailed on Friday the adversity his family has recently faced. But Pollock — a player who has dealt with misfortune in his Major League career in the form of severe injuries — also showed a trademark toughness and optimism with his words, particularly about his daughter.
“It’s been very emotional. It’s been amazing. It’s been scary. It’s been frustrating. A lot of emotions,” Pollock said. “But she’s in a really good place right now.”
Pollock said his illness may be a blessing in that now he has the antibodies for it. However, he did have to fight off some uncomfortable symptoms while he was ill.
The second-year Dodger said he had a sleepless night about a month ago when his air conditioner at his Arizona home broke. Then came the first signs of COVID-19. He said he had a headache and body aches throughout the day. With a newborn baby still in the hospital and wanting to be careful, Pollock decided to take a COVID-19 test. Shortly after, he was informed that he was positive. He had days with body aches, congestion and loss of taste and smell.
Pollock said he and his wife were extremely careful after the birth of their child, locking down at home with exception to trips to the hospital to see Maddi.
Maddi had to be quarantined at the hospital, which was difficult for the new father, who at one point went 14 days without seeing her. Though Kate didn’t contract COVID-19, she went 10 days at one point without seeing her new daughter.
“Yeah, it was a tough time,” Pollock said.
Maddi is now up to eight pounds. She’s still in the hospital but improving — showing an athlete’s will like her parents AJ, the baseball player, and Kate, the former Notre Dame lacrosse player.
Pollock said the hope is that Maddi can leave the hospital in the next few weeks, but he doesn’t know for certain. The next checkpoint is getting her off a feeding tube and eating on her own. Pollock said Kate encouraged him, despite the challenges of the last few months, to get back to playing baseball.
“She said, ‘Could you really look at the guys in the World Series from our couch?’” Pollock said. “I was like, ‘I can’t. But I want to do what’s best for you and what’s best for Maddi.
“Everyone has their own decision to make. It’s a really strange time. If I chose no, if I chose yes, people would be for it or against it. But it helps when your whole family’s on board, and they want you to play.”
Pollock said the lethargy and other symptoms of COVID-19 subsided a few days after his diagnosis. By Day 10, he resumed baseball activities at his home. Yet, he was unable to report to the Dodgers until Tuesday.
Pollock returned to a packed outfield — with Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger cemented as the regular right and center fielders, respectively. Joc Pederson started 59 games in left field last season and figures to be a prominent figure for the Dodgers in 2020. Utility players Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor are also in the mix.
Pollock, a 2015 All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner with Arizona, appeared in 86 games in 2019 with the Dodgers. He started 58 games in center field and 18 in left field. (From Sept. 2 through the end of the regular season, he played left field, with Bellinger shifting from right field to center field.) Pollock missed 62 games due to a staph infection in his elbow and subsequent procedure to remove hardware from a 2016 surgery. Since 2014 he has lost 356 games due to injuries
“I’m excited to play with good players. You look back on your career and you say you played with some pretty amazing players, it’s going to be a great story,” Pollock said. “We’ll see how everything shakes out. I know this is going to be a big team effort. Whenever you win the whole thing it takes a full team.
“I haven’t talked to Doc (Dave Roberts) too much about stuff recently. I just got here a couple of days ago, but I’m going to assume it’s going to be pretty similar (to last year). I’m just going to focus on feeling good at the plate, feeling food in the outfield, getting my legs under me. There will be a lot more opportunities. We’ve got the (designated hitter) now, so there will be at-bats.”
