Bobby Marx interviews Yankee right fielder on World No Tobacco Day
Editor’s note: The following is a transcript of an interview conducted by 10-year-old Lawrence resident Bobby Marx with professional baseball player Paul O’Neill of the New York Yankees. The interview was conducted as part of a World No Tobacco Day event May 31 in New York CIty. The following report was presented to Bobby’s fourth-grade class taught by Kathleen Lobo-Petrone at Lawrence Intermediate School.
Paul O’Neill is a right-fielder for the New York Yankees.
He is an All-Star and a great hitter.
Today, World No Tobacco Day, Paul O’Neill went to the Manhattan Center for Science and Math to talk to high school kids about why they shouldn’t smoke. He did it because his father died of emphysema. And also he thinks it’s important to help kids.
I had the chance to interview Paul O’Neill because my dad helps to stop smoking and works with a lot of sports teams (in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton).
Here are the questions I asked and the answers he gave me:
Bobby: Who is your best friend on the Yankees?
O’Neill: Andy Pettite is my best friend. (He also told me that when Andy is having a good game he stares down the batters at the plate.)
Bobby: Why is it important for baseball players not to smoke?
O’Neill: I don’t think that only baseball players shouldn’t smoke, but everyone shouldn’t smoke. It affects everyone and it’s a deadly habit. (He also told the students that he’s seen, first-hand, how much smoking and spit or chew tobacco can hurt people. He’s known baseball players who have suffered through operations and had to have their jaw removed and have died because they used tobacco. His message to kids is: make your own choices and decisions. Don’t do something that can hurt you just because people say it’s cool. Smoking is not cool).
Bobby: What do you enjoy most about baseball?
O’Neill: I’ve played baseball my whole life and always enjoyed it. I’ve also enjoyed winning the World Series as a player in New York.
Bobby: What do you do in your spare time?
O’Neill: I play with my kids and I play the drums.
Bobby: What are the names of your kids and their ages?
O’Neill: My son Andy is 10, Aaron is 7 and my daughter Ali is 4 years old.
Bobby: What is the most important thing to know about hitting in baseball?
O’Neill: The first and most important thing is to see the ball. You have to try to see the ball as soon as it leaves the pitcher’s hand.
(The next question was my dad’s question. He knew that Paul O’Neill plays the drums. My dad plays the drums too.)
Bobby: What kind of drum set do you have?
O’Neill: I have two sets, a set of Pearl drums at home and a set of DWs here at the stadium.
I think that Paul O’Neill is a nice guy because of how he talked to the high school kids and me about not smoking. I feel lucky to have met him.
NOTE: As a follow-up to this report, the class plans to send a joint letter to O’Neill comending him for his anti-tobacco work. For more information on World No Tobacco Day, log on to http://www.wntd.org.