Cardinals OF Harrison Bader fills in as elementary school substitute teacher

With MLB players in the midst of the offseason and locked out anyway, some are looking for things to do with their spare time. St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader is among them, but it’s fair to say his temporary job is a bit different than anyone else’s.

Bader filled in as a substitute physical education teacher at Meramec Elementary in Clayton, Missouri, when school returned from winter break. With the regular P.E. teacher out sick, Missouri state senator Brian Williams helped hook the school up with Bader, who led class instead.

“We introduced him as a sub, or a guest teacher, and so they were all like wearing masks and he didn’t have a uniform. It was like, wait a second who is this? What’s going on?” Principal Patrick Fisher told Holden Kurwicki of KSDK.

Bader led the class through a game they created themselves, but he admitted he didn’t see a future for himself in teaching.

“Definitely not going to have a career change,” Bader said. “It was nice though to be in St. Louis and not have to worry about which righty throwing 100 was trying to take my lunch that day.”

The 27-year-old outfielder is coming off a season that saw him hit .267 with 16 home runs, and he took home a Gold Glove Award for his play in center field. No career change is necessary.

Bader has shown himself to be a confident guy in the past. Kudos to him for taking on the challenge.