Lou Merloni Grew Up Going to Fenway Park. Then He Hit a Home Run During His First At-Bat in the Iconic Venue (Exclusive)

Merloni played with the Red Sox from 1998 to 2002, and then rejoined the team in 2003. The athlete also played for the Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Indians), the Los Angeles Angels and the San Diego Padres — but his heart always belonged to Fenway Park.

"It's a show up, it's a grind, it's a work ethic, it's a refusal to give in and just keep fighting, keep working, and have it all come together and be able to play at Fenway Park and play in the big leagues for, for me, parts of nine years was a dream come true," Merloni shares.

"I played six years of my nine-year career in Boston, and when I went elsewhere, and we walked into Yankee Stadium as a member of the Padres or the Angels, it just wasn't the same," he admits. "Fans would still love their team, but I had a different uniform on, and it always felt like you needed that Red Sox-Yankee rivalry where the fans are all over you."

Aside from Fenway, Merloni says his second-favorite stadium to play in was "Yankee Stadium."

"As a member of the Red Sox, I'd have to put that in there, because I have gone there without that uniform on, but you play 162 games; when the Red Sox and Yankees play, whether it's at Fenway or Yankee Stadium, it feels different," he says. "It feels good to have that kind of emotional bump at times throughout a year, when it could just turn into another game. It's never another game when you're a member of the Red Sox and Yankees playing each other."

Merloni and the Boston Red Sox are part of the MLB's new program, Playing with Heart, which features a lineup of baseball legends, clubs and ambassadors who will share their personal stories about high cholesterol and how it may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Merck, along with the WomenHeart patient education network and nine professional baseball teams, will also host in-stadium events to provide education about bad cholesterol and to help encourage adults to learn more about the increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

One of the reasons this program is so important to Merloni is that bad cholesterol runs in his family.

Boston Red Sox' first baseman Lou Merloni
Credit: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty

"I have high bad cholesterol," he shares. "It's funny because one of the things people feel like is they're in good shape, so they don't really need to go to the doctors and get tested."

"When I was in the big leagues, we used to get our testing done in spring training. The doctor would always come to me and say, 'You have high cholesterol,'" he remembers. "I worked out 11 and a half months a year. I was 27 years old. I was in the best shape of my life. Even while I was playing, my cholesterol was high."

Merloni notes that his parents have also "dealt with it," so he knows it's "part of me."

"This is who I am. It's something that I have to keep an eye on, and I have to communicate with the doctors, and I have to stay on top of it," he tells PEOPLE.

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Chicago White Sox base runner Carlos Lee (L) and Boston Red Sox shortstop Lou Merloni in 1999
Credit: JOHN ZICH/AFP via Getty

One reason Merloni thinks he can reach MLB fans and the Red Sox community is that he's part of it.

"I grew up there, so I was a fan. I was a player there, and now I'm a broadcaster. I'm one of them; I grew up in that area. I am like you. I am 55 years old. I have a family. I enjoy watching the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and the Celtics," he explains. "This is not coming from somebody from the outside just trying to get you to do something for no reason. This is somebody that lives here that, you want to think, has a connection with encouraging you to do this because it is the right thing to do."

"Adults, sometimes they don't want bad news. They don't wanna go to their doctors. They don't wanna hear it. They wanna live their life," he continues. "The best way to live your life is to keep communicating with your doctor. Maybe you don't even know what your high bad cholesterol level is. Find out what that number is."

While he emphasizes that "baseball's part of my blood," he notes that "obviously, high bad cholesterol is as well."

"I'm proud that America's pastime, the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Astros, these teams are involved, and this is something that's going on in ballparks, in stadiums, programs to educate. Baseball fans are coming, enjoying the game, while I'm allowed to educate. It is personal to me."

Read the original article on People