Podcast

The playoffs are upon us and am excited to announce there will be another Baseball and Business World Series Meetup. Last year we had a great group of guys come out to watch Game 4. Everyone enjoyed getting to watch the game while chatting baseball and business.

This year we will once again be having a meetup in Ft. Lauderdale. If you are in South Florida or going to be in the area, we’d love to have you come out. If you are outside of South Florida, we are looking to expand future meetups. The obvious key is having people that can help coordinate the logistics. If you are interested in bringing a meetup to your city, please send us an email.

We are making sure this is kept exclusive for our community. Location details will be sent privately as the image below is going to be posted to all social media pages. To RSVP and receive the location details, please email luke@baseballandbusiness.com.

I know we will have a great crowd and look forward to seeing everyone who was there last year along with new faces.

By Luke Melms

Baseball is a game of peaks and valleys. It always has been and always will be. We have all experienced storms in life. Baseball is a game where in the midst of an 0 for 20 feels like the storm will never end.

Living in South Florida not far from the coast, I evacuated South Florida recently to safer ground to stay with my brother in Tennessee as Hurricane Irma approached. In total about 7 million Floridians left the state which clogged freeways trying to get out to neighboring states and eventually back in. On my drive, Google Maps multiple times on the drive there and back rerouted me using back roads to eventually re-enter the freeway while going around accidents causing major delays.

As I thought about how valuable this tool was as I drove on these unfamiliar roads, it got me thinking about Baseball and Business and how it is aimed at doing the same for the community as a whole. Current and former players face scenarios and decisions frequently that are uncharted territory. The only way to solve our problems is to move forward with some guidance from a source that can see beyond what you can.

We are all very conscious of where we are and have ideas on where we want to eventually whether it be in baseball, business or our personal life. The power of GPS is that it knows not only where you are but without question exactly where you want to be. Learning from others who’ve gone out ahead and already done what you’re looking to do can provide detours around the spots that are susceptible to hangups. It doesn’t mean you can avoid the work altogether but can learn from the lesson others learned along their way.

The last couple weeks have provided some great stories through former players with all uniquely different stories within the game and after it as well. The common thread though is the resiliency to bounce back after baseball ended. Part of our DNA as baseball players is developing the skill to move on versus allowing our previous game or at bat to effect the current moment.

As the baseball season wraps up, some have seen it unfold as expected and others not so much. The future will always be unknown. However, there can be beauty in these unexpected spots even when it doesn’t go the way we want. We can only control so much. Our only choice is to embrace the moment.

Above was a picture I took at a park Sunday night in the city I stayed for a few days. Between the mountains, unique shades in the sunset and the baseball field backdrop, it was quite a sight. Meanwhile at the same time in Florida the hurricane had made landfall. It’s important that we realize everything is happening with a purpose. None of us avoid driving at night because we can only see 200 feet in front of us. We trust the process. We know we’ll see further once we get another 200 feet ahead. Life works the same way whether it is baseball or business. Let’s embrace where we are today and work to move a step closer to where we want to be.

Luke Melms is the Founder of Baseball and Business. Click here to connect with him on LinkedIn. 

By Chris Lubanski

To say that baseball has been an enormous influence in my life would be an understatement. The myriad chapters I experienced from the countless hours playing soft toss in the basement with my dad to competing for nine seasons as a professional player afforded me some amazing opportunities. My baseball accomplishments—national high school player of the year, Team USA medalist, a Major League Baseball First Round draft pick—built the foundation that allowed me to excel and graduate from the University of Pennsylvania and enter the competitive world of finance once my career on the diamond was over. This foundation that baseball paved for me can be broken down into three words: prepare, perform, persist.

I recall some advice that a coach once shared with me many years ago, “…talent alone isn’t enough, you need to harness it, develop it.” That stuck with me even as a small boy and certainly a “fact of life” that I witnessed once I reached high school and began to travel the circuit as a prospect on the national stage. Crisscrossing the country playing for the USA Baseball National Team program while participating in numerous high profile scouting events, I was competing with and against “the cream of the crop” in venues from Arizona to Missouri to Florida as well as the top players in my own backyard. I discovered quickly that to have a fighting chance of realizing my potential and goals I had to outwork everyone else. I also had to adapt to changing circumstances, pick the brains of those who had already achieved success and hone my instincts to help make me a better, smarter, and more productive athlete. The approach that I subscribed to was simple but powerful:

Prepare. So many things in life are out of our control but preparation isn’t usually one of them.  My dad would always ask me, “Is there someone out there working harder than you?” I decided early on that accomplishing my goals would not be undermined by the lack of effort. I would go the extra mile again and again to prepare myself. That preparation led to greater confidence while strengthening my tools and abilities.

Perform. The world can be aggressive and, ultimately, performance counts.  You may be the hardest worker on the planet but results matter…in school, in baseball, in business, and in life. Get the job done or, better yet, perform to exceed expectations. Baseball prospects learn that “someone is always watching”. How you perform and how you conduct yourself personally and professionally can make a difference, positive or negative, in the long run.

Persist. Adversity may strike, situations will change, and competition can intensify. Persevering can be key. You are more in the driver’s seat than you may think at times. Failure can be common but the real tragedy in failing is not rising above it.  Very often, you will need to battle through and move past the obstacles while always searching for better, more creative ways to reach your goals. Sometimes those goals won’t be realized regardless of your best efforts. When that happens, look deeper for all the lessons learned and apply them as you begin to explore new paths, opportunities, and relationships.

Little did I know while I was playing baseball that this same exact approach—prepare, perform, persist—would guide me as I transitioned from professional sports to full-time college studies to an entirely new career. After spending two decades with the game I love, looking ahead to many years in the big leagues, and devoting all of my time, effort, and heart to becoming the best baseball player I could be, my climb to Major League Baseball was derailed by injury. It was time for other doors to open and although the bulk of my experience was as an athlete, the fundamentals of achieving success in the classroom and in business would be the same regardless of what was behind those doors. It’s not always about where you start but where you finish. The values that propelled me as an athlete continue to drive the accomplishment that I strive to attain today and tomorrow.

Chris graduated in 2016 from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently is a Financial Analyst with Wells Fargo in Philadelphia. Click here to connect with Chris on LinkedIn. 

By Carlos E. Delgado, MS

Understanding failure is understanding success. Failure provides the best opportunity for readjusting, reconnecting and learning.

Baseball is a game of failure. Knowing this, failure should be embraced rather than feared. Baseball players know that these letdowns are a necessary part of the success journey.

Baseball was my greatest teacher. I was blessed with the opportunity to play in one of the most elite high school baseball programs in the country. We did not rank lower than 25th in the nation during my four years there. Needless to say, failure was not an option in that program. The need to be perfect in every aspect of my game drove me to spend long nights reading self-help essays, journaling, taking extra swings in the cages, and catching as many bullpens as humanly possible. Yet, I was not a starter… failure. That’s the way I saw it in my eyes, anyways. In fact, I technically failed in all of my 4 years of high school as I was never a full-time starter for the Varsity team. I failed. However, somehow, I was able to obtain a scholarship to play NCAA Division 1 baseball. While others were in awe of this accomplishment, all that was running through my mind was “Great! Now I’ll get to fail at an even bigger stage!”.

Even though I knew I was going to fail, and I did, I still wanted to prove to myself, my teammates, and my coaches that I was the hardest working player on that field. I wanted to outwork failure so I embarked in this journey to breathe, eat, and sleep baseball. Everything I did in my daily routine, I did it with the sole purpose of becoming the best baseball player I could be. I even chose Psychology as my major because I felt it would give me an edge on how to handle my pitching staff, how to deal with egos, and to be a leader within my team. Being a catcher, I had to be a leader. Late nights consisted of eating right so that I wouldn’t be sore the next day, doing my homework so that I would be eligible to play, then going to the field at around 11:30 pm to work on my swing a little more. I did all of that but yet I failed. I never hit over .230 and broke the school record for most passed balls in a season.

Failure was my companion or so I thought. For many years after, I couldn’t bear to see a baseball, or a glove, or a bat. Watching baseball games gave me so much pain and confusion. I thought “How were these guys able to be so consistent? They couldn’t possibly work harder than me. There’s no way!”. A long time had to pass before I realized that failure was just there to teach me lessons. What I saw as failure were actually accomplishments. Failure drove me to win a high school state title as a freshman. Failure paved the way to a Division 1 program. Failure gave me the opportunity to play on national television. Failure gave me three conference championship rings with my name on them.

This epiphany gave me the confidence to work within the front office of a Major League Baseball organization because understood that failure is just life’s greatest teacher. I was able to take advantage of my 30% success rate. Failure is now guiding me and teaching me through my journey as a businessman.

Baseball and business share an important factor: perspective. Early on, players and entrepreneurs learn that they must accept failures as challenges, rather than blockades. Successful businesses are often founded on countless failures. Profitable entrepreneurs maximize their 30% success rate, and do not focus on a 70% failure rate. An optimistic perspective allows this to happen. Maintaining a positive mindset drives business to the next level. This is because accepting failure provides an opportunity for readjusting, reconnecting, and learning.

The negative connotations that are placed on failure are man-made. Imagine if you never knew that failure was bad. Instead, you grew up knowing that failure was a leaning opportunity. How much easier would life be? It would allow baseball players to embrace strikeouts as an opportunity to perfect their swing and their approach. Similarly, embracing challenges would allow entrepreneurs to discover an untapped market or new business idea.

This theory proves how the skills gained through the game are relevant when applied to the business world. Unbeknownst to seasoned players, they have the tools necessary to succeed in any professional endeavor.

Carlos worked within Human Resources in the Miami Marlins organization and recently took on a new role in Pennsylvania as an HR Recruiter for ESCFederal. Click here to connect with Carlos. 

By Rick Hester

My career goal as a youngster from Elizabethtown, North Carolina was to play Major League Baseball. After my high school career at East Bladen High School, my student-athlete path continued to North Carolina State University, Southeastern Community College and Clemson University. I was also fortunate to spend three seasons with the Texas Rangers organization.  Those three seasons were primarily in rookie and A ball leagues. I spent those three seasons in Sarasota, Florida, – Burlington, Iowa – Daytona Beach, Florida – and finally in Salem, Virginia.

The highlight of my professional career was in the spring of 1984 as a starting pitcher for the Burlington Rangers. I was called up to pitch mid-season for the parent Texas Rangers Club against our AAA affiliate Oklahoma City. Back in those days, most major league clubs scheduled a mid-season game against their AAA teams. In many cases, the major league club would be continuing their major league schedule the next night. For that reason, they did not want to use their major league arms for the exhibition game so they would call up minor league prospects and watch them perform. I pitched in relief, got the win and received the game ball. That night was certainly the best moment in my professional baseball career.

My baseball career ended during spring training on Easter Sunday in 1986 when I received my release from the Texas Rangers. My dad had driven all night from North Carolina to Plant City, Florida to see me pitch. By the time he got to Plant City, I was no longer a Texas Ranger. I felt so bad that he had driven that far. Earlier that morning, the Rangers had given me the option to receive a release, be assigned back to Daytona Beach or possibly discuss a non-playing position in the Texas Rangers organization. I chose the release.

I will admit that I was a little depressed for a few days after my release because I knew my dream of playing in the major leagues was over. I could have tried out with another organization but decided to start another career path. I went back to school and completed my undergraduate degree in political science/public administration which took a year to complete. I owe a great deal of thanks to my family for their love and support during this transition period.

My father, Robert Hester, had served as an elected county commissioner in Bladen County, North Carolina throughout my teenage years. I had seen firsthand the positive impacts he had on our community. I decided to pursue a career in local government with the dream of one day being a city or county manager. I wanted to one day have a positive impact in a community.

I started my career in Johnston County, North Carolina which is about 25 miles east of Raleigh. My first position was an entry-level position in the planning and land use office in 1987. Along the way, I completed a master’s degree in public administration. In 1999, I became the County Manager in Johnston County and am fortunate to still serve in that role today.

I am so thankful and appreciative of the opportunities baseball provided me. I traveled the country and developed lifelong friendships. Those experiences as an athlete have greatly helped in my career and life.

To those players whose baseball careers and dreams of playing major league baseball have ended, know there are new opportunities for you. You likely have a large network of family and friends. It is important to let them know you are moving into another chapter of your life. Their support during your transition will be extremely helpful. Once they know what your interests are, they may be in position to help or possibly connect you with a prospective employer in their network. Pray about it, stay positive and never give up in the pursuit of your new dreams.

If you’d like to connect with Rick, click here to view his LinkedIn profile.

By Luke Melms

I am always thinking of new ways to bring value to the Baseball and Business community. The idea I have been floating around is building a scholarship for current college players. Division 1 football teams can give up to 85 full scholarships and Division 1 basketball teams 13 full scholarships. This allows both sports to equip most of the team with a full ride. Meanwhile, baseball players get the short end of the stick as each team is only allowed to give 11.7 scholarships often forcing them to be broken up fractionally. In addition the D2 level sees the number fall to 9 full scholarships and obviously zero at the D3 level. Regardless of the program, tuition costs are real factor for where a student can actually attend and play.

To help bridge this obvious gap, Baseball and Business would like to see what can be done to help a few student-athletes by creating a scholarship. At this point, this is an idea which needs the funds to make it a reality. I am throwing this out to the Baseball and Business community directly for a few reasons. First, you may work for a company that would possibly be interested in being a sponsor. Secondly, you may own your own company or be in a position where you can decide where to allocate marketing funds or funds that may be earmarked for this type of cause. Finally, you may be a student-athlete and want to be on the front end of knowing about this possible opportunity.

My initial idea is to create three different scholarships for a dollar amount that would be determined based on interest from corporate sponsorships. Student-athletes would submit their entry by sharing their story through video or writing allowing students to pair up what they believe is their best communication vehicle. Student-athletes would share how their baseball playing experience is helping mold their future ambitions in business.

1. Best video story
2. Best written story
3. TBD category

Not only would a few people receive scholarships but would help all entrants simulate the real world situation of being one of many competing for a job. Written and verbal communication skills are two of the most important factors weighed in the interview process of pursuing a job. Baseball players are used to competing on a baseball field but getting a job is a much different type of competing. It is my vision that this could help develop skills that can’t be gained in a classroom.

I would love to see this come together and be able to award a few scholarships in January heading into the second semester and 2018 college baseball season. If you have any suggestions, feedback or resources that could help make this a reality, please send me an email at luke@baseballandbusiness.com. Your help is greatly appreciated!

By Luke Melms

You guys did it last week. Jake’s article made its way around all of social media whether it be on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter thanks to many of you liking, commenting and sharing the article. Here’s a screenshot showing how the article being published drove traffic on the day of and in the days following.

There’s a lot more people that know about Baseball and Business as a result. Former USC player Pete Wilkinson was one of those who resonated with the article and left a comment.

Baseball and Business is evolving into a great way for people to connect and reconnect. While there’s much division throughout the world, we have an opportunity to create a story around being united as a baseball community. Baseball is an international game with guys of many nations and races. This should be celebrated.

We are going to kick off a project called The One Teammate Project today that will run through the end of the baseball season. Would you be willing to tell at least one current or former teammate about Baseball and Business?

If the answer is yes, here’s a few ways you can easily participate especially with how connected we all are through social media…

1. Post to social media…share this link on LinkedIn from the Baseball and Business page or share the www.baseballandbusiness.com link on any social media platform
2. Send a text…send the website link
3. Make a phone call…take a few minutes while you are driving in the car anyways and reconnect with someone you haven’t talked to in awhile

Let’s see what can happen through the next couple weeks.

By Jake Gronsky

I can’t really say I’m a success story though I can’t really say I’m a failure.  I guess I’m stuck in the tug-of-war reserved for former athletes that have tasted enough success to remain content with their careers but never enough to be satisfied with the sport.  Perhaps it’s the rite of passage that must be endured for the few that are fortunate enough to wear a professional baseball uniform. Maybe it’s a wake-up call to realize that I’m a self-loathing bastard who lost sight of the fact that it was, and always will be, an honor to play this game.

Whether it was on a local little league field listening to coach tell us how their son is the next Derek Jeter, on a college diamond with your eye on a dream, or in a minor league dugout in the outskirts of Chicago, playing the game of baseball has been the single greatest journey I’ve ever been fortunate enough to trek and I am eternally grateful for every step.

This story is not a 20-some-year-old know-it-all writing about a half-baked philosophy on life, but rather, this story is simply starting over, and this is my story of trying to make sense of it all.

It’s the moment of bitter reality that the game of baseball has clearly moved on, but dreadfully, you haven’t.  It’s the moment that you have no idea what your past 20 years were spent working towards, and it’s the moment where you look in the mirror and ask yourself the only question that you can’t answer – now what?

This story is that moment.

—

It’s 8:00 am on a Sunday morning and I am staring out the window to a desolate cornfield in central Pennsylvania.  I’ve watched this field rise from dirt to corn only to be stripped, cut down, shredded into hay, then fall to dirt once again. Now I can’t help but feel like the corn is the only thing on this earth that understands what happened to my career.

“You want coffee, Hun?” I hear in a sweet country accent from the end of the table.   She notices I haven’t touched the menu since my dad and I sat down and walked over with a mug of coffee in one hand and the pot in the other – two items that have become extensions of her own two hands in the last 25 years.

“Water’s fine for me, thank you,” I say, finally picking up the menu as she pours my dad a cup. I can’t help but notice she is one of central PA’s finest.  The scuffs on her shoes match the calluses on her hand, and the grin on her face matches the wrinkles around her eyes.  She’s lived well, lived slowly, and lived between Sunday morning with King James and Monday morning at the diner.

I envy her.

She embodied a contentment with life that I somehow lost on this journey of baseball.  Somehow the dangling golden carrot of the big leagues overshadowed the joy and respect I had for this game and turned it into a desperate need for upward mobility; as if every step I took through the ranks was seen as merely a stepping stone for the next.  She has all she ever needed right in front of her and I had all that was left.

We couldn’t be any more different.

She came back and took our order but as I handed her the menu, she stopped and read “Monmouth baseball” out loud, trying to pinpoint why that name sounds familiar. Then, like a jolt of lightning hit her, “Oh! You’re the baseball player!”

I’ve grown to hate that expression.

When I was a boy, I dreamed of not just playing baseball, or playing baseball professionally, I dreamed of being ‘a baseball player’. Specifically, and definitely, I wanted to be a baseball player.  Then, I was fortunate enough to become just that.  My three years in professional baseball could seem more like a vocation than a career to some lifers staring down the barrel of a 15-year minor league sentence, but in those three seasons my dream finally became a reality, and my identity finally became just that – a baseball player.

But now I’m not and I finally understand the anger in Tom Buchanan’s voice when his only words after being introduced to Jay Gatsby are, “I’d rather not be the polo player.”

For a former athlete, a past career feels like a past life and this new one will forever live in its shadow.  We are just the cornstalk stripped of its fruit, waiting to be turned into hay.

“Ah, yeah, I did play.” I politely say trying to ease my way out of the conversation.

“Cardinals, right?”

“Yeah, the Cardinals’ organization.”

“That’s a tough deal, that minor league system stuff.”

Minor league system? I thought to myself.  Never did I meet anyone in this town that even knew minor league baseball wasn’t just one actually league (usually just referred to as AAA thinking it is all the same) so she has my attention.

Luckily, my dad is more willing to talk about baseball and my career than I am so he picked up where I faded away.

“Ohh, yea, real tough.  There are 7 different levels, you know.  He was undrafted and made it up to High-A, but you know, gotta make room for those bonus babies.”

“It’s a shame,” she said, “my son made it to AA, and was released for a guy that never hit over .150, but, they gave him a million bucks, and they gave my son a plane ticket.”

Did she just say AA? Did she actually understand the hierarchy system of minor league baseball? Now I’m intrigued.

She leaves to place our order, and my dad asks me to look up her son’s stats.  I was already one step ahead and began reading through – she was right.  He got totally screwed.

He lead almost every team he played on in hitting, home runs, and extra base hits.  He was a two time all-star in the three years he spent in AA, but after his standard six year minor league contract he was released.

She came back with our order and my dad asked what happened to him after he was released.

“Well, it was hard.  I don’t think he really knew what he wanted to be other than a baseball player.  He didn’t want to go play…umm,” she says snapping her finger trying to catch the word. “Where’s the place everyone plays when they don’t make it?”

“Indy ball,” I said without missing a beat, “Indy ball.”

“Yeah! Indy ball. He didn’t want to play there, so he finished up his degree, but it’s hard for him.  He says he can’t even watch baseball anymore, nor can I.  It’s just so hard seeing your son like that.  You know, lost.  But my son is tough.  There’s just so much more to my son than this game,” She takes a breath and her voice softens, “I just hope he finds it.”

Her words connect with me and instantly start etching themselves into my mind.

And she was right.

Maybe it’s not the distance we travel in this game but the times we can feel the miles trekked.

Maybe it’s not how tall we are but how tall we stand.

Maybe it’s not about the glory we tried to achieve but the legacy we leave.

And maybe it’s not about what we wanted to be, but rather, who we became that was the true currency of the game.

And now, it’s time to find that.

I look back out onto the cornfield.  I see the ragged, cut, and twined hay of my career just waiting to be fed to the livestock, but when I take a step back, I see that it was not cut just to be stripped, shredded, and forgotten.

It was cut down and harvested because without pulling the corn from the stock, the entire field would wither and die on the vine.  It was a job well done. The farmer cut it down not because it was unwanted – he cut it down because he had to – because it had finished its job, and the season was over.

The greatest thing about a season is that it begins and it ends, or perhaps, it ends, and therefore it is allowed to begin again.  Life on a baseball diamond was the single greatest season my life was fortunate enough to hold, but now it’s time I make sure the fruit doesn’t ripen on the vine and wither away.

It’s time to cut it down.

It’s time to allow myself the greatest gift the game has ever given me – a fresh start; a chance to look beyond the game of baseball and become who God has created me to be.

It’s time to begin again.

My dad finishes the conversation for me, but I can’t help but feel a sense of pride.  Her son has since found a good career off the field, and I think he found what his mother was hoping he would find.  He played the game hard, and played it the right way – as I believe I have – and I can’t help but hold a childish sense of optimism about the next chapter that I have unknowingly entered into.

My dad and I wish the waitress and her son the best and leave the diner.  My dad notices me crack a smile but doesn’t say anything.  I start the car and he smiles too.  For the first time in a long time, we both know exactly where I’m going – forward.

Jake Gronsky retired from professional baseball following the 2016 season and recently started working at Stream Companies, a full service advertising agency based in Pennsylvania. If you would like to connect with Jake, please reach out to him through LinkedIn by clicking here. 

To learn more about what Jake is up to with writing, visit his website at www.jakegronsky.com.

By Luke Melms

This last week the NCAA ruled a college football player ineligible because he makes it known in his videos he is an athlete on his YouTube channel which generates ad revenue. In fact, he’s a marketing major using a creative way to develop real world skills with the little time he has to get practical experience. While the NCAA continues to create obscure hurdles and baseball hits record revenues, many of the players responsible for making the machine so profitable are left with breadcrumbs relatively speaking. While there are lawsuits that have been filed to try to fight back, it is really only a band aid to the bigger problem. The real solution is a movement to put power in the players’ hands to change their future. This has never been more needed than now.

I thought I’d take this week’s email to peel back the curtain and share a bit of the story behind Baseball and Business that has brought us all together. The two most common questions I get asked about Baseball and Business are…

1. How did you come up with the idea?
2. What is the goal of Baseball and Business?

While Baseball and Business is one of the top resources today to empower baseball players to win in business, there is a much more meager beginning to this story.

Baseball and Business was created out of my journey of navigating the transition from playing college baseball to being in the business world full time. After completing my junior year of college on the field and in the classroom, I decided to forgo my senior year to pursue an entrepreneurial venture with high upside potential and much risk. I had accumulated much knowledge in sales and marketing after accumulating $70,000 in sales of kitchen knives during the worst economic environment seen since the Great Depression. Needless to say, this built a lot of business confidence.

In making the leap, I realized that despite my previous experience I was unprepared as I not only entered the business world full time but was in a position to be self-sustaining as a full-time entrepreneur. After three years of treading water, I decided to return to school for my senior year. The experience of completing a undergraduate degree at 25 was humbling but planted a seed to a bigger idea which years later would become Baseball and Business.

While I don’t believe the knowledge in these last classes itself was the missing link, the degree allowed me to get a job that built up relevant experience that could be stacked on going forward. Similarly, this is why just about every draft baseball no matter which round they are selected in starts in the minor leagues before ever stepping foot on big league diamond. Having time to develop a solid foundation is a key to success in baseball and business.

My first two jobs after graduation ranged from working for a smaller company mostly concentrated in one state to a publicly traded company with a nationwide presence. Along the way, I started to connect with like-minded current and former college and pro baseball guys. In having these conversations, a common thread I heard from many players was that they didn’t feel adequately prepared when the time came to transition from playing baseball to being full time in business. After hearing these stories and going through the highs and lows of the transition myself, I wanted to create resources that would allow current and former college and pro players to be better positioned to succeed in business.

This led to starting Baseball and Business with the goal of helping current players learn how to maximize business opportunities while on the field and those who are no longer in the game learn how to create long term success in business.

One of the most powerful takeaways I’ve had from my own experience is the power of a story. All of our stories contain valuable insight. The exclusive network brings current and former college and pro baseball players together that can relate to the different phases of the journey in both baseball and business.

Baseball and Business Meetup in Ft. Lauderdale During the 2016 World Series

The most valuable lesson I learned from playing baseball that carries into business is focusing on playing one specific position and relying on teammates to do what is outside of it. No one would go out on a baseball field and compete by themselves and believe that should hold true in business too.

If you are reading this, I am glad you are a part of this movement to change the trajectory of your own life and others like you. I am fully committed to continue making the Baseball and Business community more valuable.

Out of all the conversations I’ve had, I can share there are many guys who are willing to share their story, make connections and make sure no man gets left behind as just a baseball player. Baseball and Business is a group of men committed to having success in business just like they did in baseball.

By Luke Melms

Football and basketball teams can be bailed out by halftime, boxers can be saved by the bell but baseball doesn’t find itself with a clock for good reason. There’s no way around three outs in an inning or running out the clock to avoid playing all nine innings.

Time of games has been a hot topic within pro baseball. Personally I find the emphasis on trying to trim off minutes way too likely to water down the game. The pitch clock is an idea I’d rather not see make its way into the game.

While I don’t believe timers belong anywhere on a baseball field, I do believe one can be the easiest way to track towards a goal in business. Creating deadlines not only creates a priority but also builds in accountability. As simple as it may seem I’ve found putting a countdown on a whiteboard one of the best ways to keep my eyes in front of the deadline I’ve created. Having to erase it and put a new number on each day has been a system I’ve found to work.

The scoreboard in baseball can do the same. Whether it inside or outside baseball, we often find a new level of capacity when our back is up against the wall. The best example on a baseball field I can recall is a big league game I remember watching in 2001. The Indians came back to beat the Mariners after being down 12 runs going into the 7th inning. The rally included a five run 9th to tie it before going on to win in extra innings 15-14.

We all have at least one thing we’ve been wanting to do but haven’t quite made the full commitment to follow through yet. Last week I announced the soon to launch Baseball and Business podcast. The announcement automatically builds in the accountability to follow through on my word. I thank each of you who emailed back with some feedback and ideas. I am excited to roll out this project soon.

If you’d like to share a goal on your mind and would like some accountability, I’ve created a post in the LinkedIn group to leave a comment on. Let’s get some engagement going and hold each other accountable to attainable goals before the year ends. Leave your goal with a specific deadline in the comments. Click here to be taken to the post.