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A-Rod provides some much-needed pep by crashing Stony Brook University Hospital virtual happy hour

Everyone is trying to find ways to blow off steam during this pandemic, and for some Stony Brook University Hospital workers, their virtual happy hour had a legendary guest.

News 12 Staff

May 14, 2020, 12:00 PM

Updated 1,646 days ago

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Everyone is trying to find ways to blow off steam during this pandemic, and for some Stony Brook University Hospital workers, their virtual happy hour had a legendary guest.
The doctors and general surgery residents at the Long Island hospital have geared up a weekly Zoom happy hour.
But an offer to crash the party by none other than former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez caught Dr. Anish Shah's eye.
"I just said we are doing this call, love for you to be there," said Shah.
And two hours later … sure enough, A-Rod was there. For the next five minutes he became part of the Stony Brook team.
"It was just a friendly conversation, he's just an easy-going guy," Shah.
For the first few minutes, A-Rod asked about the doctors and how they were doing, while they asked him about how things were going in his household, which includes superstar Jennifer Lopez.
"I'm a family man and just wanted to know how his family was doing," says vascular surgery chief resident Edvard Skripochnik.
"I was really hoping J-Lo would pop her head in there," says general surgery resident Jessica Simon.
The more A-Rod talked, the more other doctors joined in. And before departing, he tried to impart some positive words.
"I think you have a great opportunity coming out of this challenging time," said Rodriguez. "I think the ones who are going to win big are the ones who invest in themselves, through mind and body."
The doctors say they feeling a jolt of energy and positivity from those five minutes with A-Rod, which created a memory that will last a lifetime.
"The "all in this together" has really become the catch phrase in all this," says general surgery resident Anthony Ferrara. "Having someone like him come and say hello to just some people from the Island really brought that home."