Rosario helps bring awareness to animal welfare

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Baseball players rarely have free time during the season. In those few down hours, some players get into hobbies like photography, drawing or maybe they play video games. But Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario uses his time to visit the zoo.

For as long as Rosario can remember, he’s had a love for animals. He’s said that if he wasn’t a baseball player, he would’ve considered becoming a veterinarian.

“I’ve loved animals since I was a kid,” Rosario said in Spanish. “I think it’s really important to give a little bit of love to these animals.”

So, what better place to continue that passion away from home than the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo?

The Guardians try to find initiatives in the communities that relate to their players. When the idea was presented to Rosario that he could partner with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoological Society, there was no hesitation.

Twice already this season, Rosario has made trips to the zoo for multiple hours. His last visit came at the end of June and no child or worker in the area was beaming more than the 27-year-old professional baseball player.

“I think my favorite part of seeing Amed is he lights up when he’s around the animals,” said Andrea Ponikvar, the director of advancement for the Cleveland Zoological Society. “He seems to be kind of a reserved person, but when he is in front of an elephant or a wolf or a gorilla, his face lights up, he asks so many questions, the passion is there.”

Rosario had his requests in before he arrived at the park. He needed to visit the wolves. Last time, he got to interact with elephants, helping feed, bathe and take care of them behind the scenes. This time, he was ready to learn about how endangered species like gorillas and wolves are protected in Northeast Ohio.

The workers at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo can hardly contain their excitement for Rosario’s visits. Not just because a public figure is helping provide attention to the zoo’s research efforts, but because they rarely have a guest as enthralled by the research, the nutrition studies and the lives of the animals quite like Rosario.

A golf cart waited for Rosario at the zoo’s entrance and he immediately hopped on and sat with the zoo staff, rattling off question after question. As soon as he got explanations of how a gorilla with heart disease is cared for, he’d ask about the 18-month-old baby gorilla, who was climbing the fence to sip Gatorade out of a straw.

Rosario learned about how there are just 300 gorillas remaining in the world and just 240 wolves. He got to hear about the incredible research Cleveland Metroparks Zoo does to better the lives of gorillas and he got to watch a feeding with the wolves, learning how the caregivers need to make sure each one eats since there’s a clear pecking order of who’s the most dominant in the wolf pack.

He was fascinated with it all.

Sure, Rosario visits the zoo for his own pleasure. But the shortstop is making an impact without having to do much at all. His presence and his platform are enough for people to realize that the zoo has a Zoological Society – a group dedicated to raising money.

“It just helps us spread the word about what we do,” Ponikvar said, “and how people can help us improve animal welfare and research and conversation around the world.”

“I want people to see me doing this and become interested in loving and helping animals,” Rosario said.

Rosario made this trip even more special by finding another way to raise awareness for the zoo. After his first visit, he asked local cleat designer Jonathan Hrusovsky to create a zoo design for his next pair of cleats. Hrusovsky put 42 hours of work into the design – the most of any shoes he’s ever made – and surprised Rosario with a pair of cleats that had more than 10 animals depicted on them and a sign that read, “Cleveland Zoological Society.”

Rosario wore the cleats during his game that evening and asked the Guardians to send them back to the zoo as something they could auction off to help raise more money.

“They’re awesome and I’m very thankful to all those people that customized these cleats,” Rosario said.

Rosario learned about what projects were next for the zoo as he was walking out of the park. He was told if he wanted to come back again, he could learn more about the hospital the zoo has to take care of the animals. He grinned from ear to ear and said he’d be bringing his friends.

“We will have Amed Rosario come back to the zoo any time he wants,” Ponikvar said. “It’s so special.”