Relationships come in different shapes and sizes. Whether in the game of baseball or in life itself, relationships play a crucial role in success, development, and growth. They become even more critical in moments you experience failure. Our most recent Beyond Baseball podcast guest Jacob Turner couldn't emphasize more the importance of relationships.
Turner was one of the highest-paid high school draftees in MLB history. The Detroit Tigers took him 9th overall in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft. Then just 18, he signed for $5.5 million and made his major league debut at 20. He thought he had everything. Like many players before him, the game humbled him fast.
"In professional baseball in particular…it can be so easy to get caught up thinking that you are the coolest thing ever because you are a professional athlete," Turner said. "My first couple of years I thought I was super cool. I was a first round draft pick, I signed for a lot of money. I was like 'I'm important. I am an important person.' and when I started failing I was like man I am not that important and this thing could end any day."
Failure comes at you fast in baseball. And Turner experienced the game's ups and downs that most players who try to find consistent success face.
"Failure is an inevitable part of life and failure in baseball is just kind of magnified," Turner said. "You are seeing it in front of all of these people, they're letting you know that you failed. You're going home and if you are on social media they're reminding you all night long that you failed…then you gotta go to the field and do it all again the next day."
Turner took those moments of failure as learning opportunities and opportunities to build relationships with those around him. He quickly learned that at the end of the day, even through moments of failure, the people you develop strong relationships with will be there to support you. Having those relationships in the game helps you learn to forget the moments of failure and grow from them quickly.
"Relationships are about actually caring about people and caring about people has nothing to do with what their job title is," Turner said.
As he continued his career in baseball and post-baseball career, Turner focused even more on relationships. Caring about people and realizing there was so much more to him than just his baseball career, even though that was important.
"People fail to realize that relationships are like this long game and that's why a lot of times people don't put the effort into them," Turner said. "There can't be an agenda when you are building a relationship, it's just you actually caring about an individual."
Turner wound up playing seven years in the Major Leagues, spending time with the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Washington Nationals, giving him plenty of opportunities to build relationships. He even spent time in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), which opened his eyes even more to the importance of building relationships, especially with those having to immerse in a new culture.
"The team atmosphere is way different," Turner said. "What is also unique is how supportive all of those guys were of me coming in, and it gave me a completely different perspective I wish I would've had when I was playing in the states."
"That same perspective is how I should have been treating all these guys coming from Venezuela, my teammates from the Dominican Republic, my teammates from Cubs," Turner said. "They are coming to this entirely new setting and sometimes all it takes is somebody smiling at you and patting you on the back."
Turner's career was full of success, failure, highs, lows, unique opportunities, and much more. When it was all said and done, Turner found a way to stay humble and grateful and take the lessons he learned and the relationships he built into his life after baseball. For many other players who feel lost trying to find their identity outside of the game or those feeling lost in life, building relationships with people you care about will stick with you forever.