You’ve experienced tremendous success competing at every level of baseball, but I’m sure your accomplishments are only a snapshot of your journey. What three pivotal moments throughout your life/career helped propel you to becoming an MLB All-Star?
The first was continuing to play baseball after wanting to quit while I was in the minor leagues. During my second year of minor league baseball, I was ready to move on. It had
nothing to do with my performance, because I made the minor league All-Star team that season, but I just wasn’t enjoying playing. There were a few reasons, but the main one was that it was very hot and humid in Lakeland, Florida during the summer, while all my friends and family were enjoying Summertime Chi. But my dad told me “Once you start something, you must finish it—at the end you can decide if you don’t want to do it anymore.” So, I stuck it out until the end of the season and
ended up having a lot of fun. The crazy part about it was that one year later I was called up to the big leagues to make my MLB debut.
The next moment was realizing and reminding myself that the dream wasn’t just to make it to the Major Leagues, but it was to actually become an MLB player. So, I had to keep working and finding ways to improve after making my debut. Through that process, I realized I needed to listen and focus on the things I wasn’t doing well and try to find
ways to improve.
My first full season in the
major leagues with the
Tigers, I led the MLB in
strikeouts. I was also told
I wasn’t fast enough to
play centerfield and I
couldn’t hit for enough
power to play a corner
outfield position at the
MLB level. So, I focused
on improving those
areas, and the next
season (2007), I
accomplished the
20-20-20-20 feat (20
doubles, triples,
homeruns and stolen
bases) and in 2009, I
made my first All-Star
team.
Today’s professional
athletes are
increasingly expanding
their personal brands
beyond the field of
play. Describe your
thought process and
the actions that you
took to define who you
were as a player and
person then and now.