A Letter to All the Little Leaguers Out There

Dear young ballplayers of America,

Before this is over, I’m going to give you all a tip on how to make it to the bigs. But first, if you don’t mind, I want to tell you a quick story.

It’s 2020. June 25th. I turned 18 a couple weeks earlier, and I’m reporting for basic training at the United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado.  

My family just did a 16-hour road trip from our home in Southern California, and when we arrive, my folks drop me off at the sports center where new cadets do their physicals. Within the first three hours, even before they shave our heads, they gather us at the indoor tennis courts and tell us to stand in formation. 

We don’t know how to do that properly yet. So, it’s a mess. The upperclassmen overseeing us do a lot of moving people around. And then, next thing you know…. 

They tell us all to raise our right hand.  

It’s the Oath of Enlistment. Things get real heavy … real fast. 

You’re basically swearing to risk your life for your country if it’s ever required. To do whatever it takes to maintain our freedoms. To put your life on the line, no questions asked.  

I’d literally just gotten there. 

There’s kids in faded jeans. Dusty sneakers. Band T-shirts. I’m wearing a pair of shorts and these military boots I’d been breaking in for an entire month. A few weeks earlier, we were all in high school chemistry classes. Going to prom.   

And then you get to campus, and … you’re raising your right hand straight away. 

For some people, it’s terrifying. (At one point, I heard an Air Force cadre tell another cadre that one of the basics in his group had recited the oath but now was saying he wanted out.) It can be a scary thing, I guess.

For me, though? That moment…. 

It was one of the highlights of my life. 

I got the chills reciting that pledge. Just from how proud I am of this country. I’m actually getting chills right now remembering back to that time. Because when you love something so much that you’re willing to lay down your life for it? It’s pretty meaningful stuff.

And, truth be told, as much as I love the game of baseball … that’s much bigger than any sport.

I wanted to tell you that story right at the top because it hopefully gives you some insight into who I am, what I’m all about. And I decided it would be good to write you all this letter so that you can truly understand how much it means to me to be playing for the United States of America and wearing the letters U.S.A. across my chest in the World Baseball Classic. 

Instead of just saying, “I’m so honored to represent this country,” and leaving it at that, I felt like it’d be better to share some stories with you. To give you a sense of why this matters so much to me, and also to hopefully help you see that if you work hard enough at something, you can sometimes accomplish what you’ve been dreaming about. 

With me, in so many ways, the military has helped shape my life. From a very young age, because of people in my family who were in the military before me, and everything I saw from them — how they lived their lives and the values they represented — I had the utmost respect for those who serve.

And even though I ultimately ended up transferring to LSU for baseball before graduating from the Academy, the experiences I had there will always stay with me. Those three core values:

Integrity First.

Service Before Self. 

Excellence In All We Do.  

To this day, it’s a big part of how I try to live my life. My respect for our service men and women knows no bounds. I’m in awe of those folks. And all that they do to keep us safe. Anything that enables me to honor those who serve this country, I’m going to do. So knowing that service members around the world will be watching these WBC games, some of them deployed far from home, some of them on active duty … it means everything to me. I just want to make them proud. 

I was never deployed myself, but I know how much pride those individuals take in wearing that uniform — with your name on the right side of your chest and the U.S. Air Force or Army lettering on the left side … because that’s what you put over your heart. 

Not your name, your country.    

Looking back on everything now, I loved being a member of the U.S. military so much. 

I kept the high and tight haircut as long as I could at LSU. (I got a ton of crap from my Air Force coaches when I grew my hair out. Still do. And they absolutely roasted me for the mustache.) Something about me just didn’t want to lose my connection to a lifestyle and set of principles that I respect unconditionally. 

And there’s still a part of me that wishes that on draft night … I could’ve been wearing those dress blues. You know what I mean? To be representing the Air Force at the draft. Then in the bigs, every time I’d pitch, on TV it’d be … Paul Skenes “the proud Air Force Academy graduate.”  

After I left the Academy, I remember thinking: I miss the people. I miss the experiences. But, man … that was hard. I never want to do that again. Since I've been gone, though, that has very much reversed. I truly believe that regardless of what you’re doing, if you want to accomplish great things and be the best version of yourself, you’re going to have to work extremely hard — be disciplined, focused. And I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t put in that time at the Academy, I probably would've spent a lot more time in the minors than I did. So I’m incredibly grateful.  

I’m not sure if you can tell by now, but I love this country. 

When I was 12, I played on the U.S. National Team for the first time, and I distinctly remember how special it felt to wear those letters — U.S.A. — across my chest. We played some games down in Mexico, and even at that age it was a big deal to represent my country. Now, with the WBC, I’m getting to experience that feeling again. On an even bigger stage. 

In some ways, the whole idea of this tournament reminds me of playing ball when I was a kid. Those of us who are doing this … it’s not about money or fame. It really is just about having a genuine love of baseball, and a love for your country. And let’s be real, some people think there’s a risk that goes along with playing in this tournament. Guys have gotten hurt at the WBC. So, for some players, that keeps them away. But for those of us who’ve answered this call, it’s all worth it. You’re making a sacrifice, ramping up earlier. Changing your offseason plans. 

And we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Because we know what this all means. 

How special it is to be wearing the red, white, and blue.  

What makes it even more special is … all the guys on this team, they’re not just great players. They’re awesome people.

So I love that with this tournament, we all get to spend two and a half weeks together. We’re able to really get to know each other. This past All-Star Game, my locker was next to Clayton Kershaw’s, but there was no time for me to really get to know him as a person. That guy’s a legend. But I asked him something about his curveball and that was basically it. Now, we can sit and talk whenever we want. I’m like a kid in a candy store with that.  

Everyone on this team, they’re all here because they do something different than everybody else. And I’m all about finding out what that exceptional trait is. Whether it’s Bobby, or Bryce, or Tarik, and on down the line. It’s been so much fun for me to be able to do that. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.  

But this tournament is not about me. It’s not about any of us, really. 

It’s bigger than any one person. It’s about country.  

That concept is a huge part of what attracted me to military service, and it gets at why I have so much respect for those who are willing to raise their hand and put their life on the line for our country. That sense of a greater good. The bigger picture. 

Our team, we’re not cadets or anything like that. (These hairstyles would never fly.) But everyone on this team … we all understand that when you put on those colors, you’re not just playing baseball, you’re representing something deeper. 

When you’re watching us in this tournament, we hope you feel that too. 

The other important thing about all these guys that I want to leave you with — something that I want you to know and be thinking about while you’re watching us play — is that they all worked their tails off since they were your age to be good enough to be in this position. They’ve dedicated themselves to this sport, sacrificed and grinded and put in work, to be in a position to compete against the best in the world.  

Which brings me back to my promise at the beginning. Now that you’ve stuck with me this far, I’ll finally give you that tip I mentioned. (And I hope your parents are reading this, too.)

“How does my kid make it to the bigs?”

I’ve been asked that so many times. It’s like your parents are looking for a cheat code or something. But I’ll tell you all right now….

It’s not magic. It’s not luck. It’s work! 

Hard work is the minimum if you want to be successful in anything. That’s baseball, and that’s life. Please always remember that. And take that with you wherever you go in this world. 

It will serve you well, I promise.