Everyone has someone that they look up to, everyone has a role model. It’s not a mystery why. They influence our actions and motivate us to strive to uncover our true potentials and overcome our weaknesses. Research findings indicate that adolescents who can identify a positive role model in their lives have higher grades and self-esteem than those who can’t, particularly when the youth knows their role model on a personal level. As people age, the notion of having a role model seems ludicrous, seeing that role models are generally associated with children. However adults can still benefit greatly from having some. Family members, celebrities, fictional characters, and everything in between can count. In this case, Brady Short’s role model is not only a family member, but also somewhat of a celebrity.
Short hails from a community in Kingston, NY that has just about every trope you can imagine. Small town, everyone knows each other, etc. Being the youngest of 3, Brady always had two backs to look at in Zack and Avery. In fact if it wasn’t for them, the collegiate infielder we see now may never have been.
“Growing up actually basketball was my favorite sport. Then just being around baseball through my older brothers as I got older, I definitely caught the love of the game that they had and it slowly developed into my favorite sport”, he continued, “My older brothers both had huge success in baseball and I think seeing them, and them being role models for me, I think that helped me develop and want to get better at baseball.”
Being able to pick the brains of people who have found success in the sport you’re trying to pursue is a luxury not many have. Unless your name is Brady Short. Talking about the success of his brothers, Avery currently plays baseball at the Division 2 level with Belmont Abbey college. Before that however, he spent 3 seasons playing division 1 baseball at Siena College. Short’s other brother, Zach, played all three of his collegiate seasons at division 1 baseball school Sacred Heart University before being drafted to the MLB by the Chicago Cubs. He currently plays for the Detroit Tigers.
Continuing on with Zach, I asked Brady how it felt to be the brother of a MLB player, he took the modest route when replaying and said, “That’s not the part I look at the most, ‘my brother is in the MLB’. I just think it’s what he did to get there, I think that’s really the biggest part. He worked as hard as he could and earned everything he’s gotten.”
Brady even missed practice to attend his brothers MLB debut last march when the Detroit Tigers faced off against the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader.
Brady hopes to follow in the footsteps of his brother and play baseball professionally, whether that’s in the MLB or elsewhere.