Motivational Speaker Entertaining The Yankees
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The real entertainment at Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday was inside the New York Yankees clubhouse before the game.
Donnie Moore of the evangelical ministry Radical Reality became the latest motivational speaker brought in by manager Joe Girardi. Moore tore apart a soda can and a telephone book with his bare hands. And he took a frying pan and rolled it up.
"Like a burrito," Girardi said.
Players were astounded as Moore grunted his way through the demonstrations of strength and focus.
"The message was you can control what you want to do," second baseman Robinson Cano said. "Don't let anybody decide what you want to do. You decide what you want to do, and you decide your own destiny."
In the past, Girardi has had Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, sprinter Michael Johnson and Navy SEALS address the team.
Moore is a chapel leader for the Oakland Athletics. He was brought to the Yankees by Chad Bohling, New York's director of mental conditioning.
Girardi said he got to know Moore through Jim Lefebvre, a Chicago Cubs manager when Girardi was in the organization two decades ago.
"I think to be successful in this game you have to push yourself to a limit," Girardi said. "And I think that's what some of his demonstrations are. He's pushing himself to a limit. You're not going to see me try it."
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