Back in love with baseball, Fox looks to make big impression

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- If someone would’ve told a 12-year-old Jake Fox that in just six years he’d be drafted by a big league team, he wouldn’t have believed it.

The young infielder was burned out. He played so much baseball growing up that by the time he was playing in more tournaments (like Cooperstown’s 12U baseball tournament) and dedicating more and more time to games and practices in his preteen years, he grew tired of the same routine. He loved playing basketball and football, and found himself with other interests he wanted to pursue rather than only dedicating his time to baseball.

So, he stepped away.

“I got a little burnt out,” Fox said. “Just playing every weekend, practicing. When I was younger, it was a lot. I just kind of needed some time off.”

Baseball was naturally in his blood. Fox’s father spent a handful of years in the Minor Leagues and it was only natural for Fox to envision following in those footsteps. Baseball was his life, and he couldn’t imagine any other future. But for a brief spell, he decided to stop playing and thought he'd lost sight of the dream.

“I think the break was kind of what changed everything and what helped me out a lot,” Fox said. “My dad was always like, ‘Whatever you want to do. I don’t care. I’ll support you.’ So when I told him I didn’t want to play, he said, 'That’s fine. Go do what you love. Just work hard at whatever you do.’”

What he loved at the time was basketball and, simply, just being a kid. But little did Fox know at the time that his unconditional love for baseball was still there. When a friend asked him to play in a baseball summer league for fun just after his freshman year of high school, he fell in love with the game all over again.

“I think it was just having fun playing again,” Fox said. “It made me realize I missed it and I loved it more than I thought.”

The dream of becoming a professional baseball player was back on the table. But at the same time, Fox was entering his sophomore year of high school and only had a summer league season under his belt. If professional baseball couldn’t be a realistic option by the time he was a senior, Fox was sure to set up a solid backup plan, committing to play at his dream school -- the University of Florida. But the limited time he had after returning to the game immediately put him on professional scouting radars.

Just before the 2021 MLB Draft, Fox moved into his dorm room in Florida. He said his baseball coach wanted the freshmen to get to campus early to get an understanding of what college ball would be like before making a huge decision -- should their phones ring on Draft night.

Fox, though, knew exactly what he’d want to do in that scenario. He just needed it to happen.

“I didn’t sleep at all that night,” Fox said of the night before the second day of the '21 Draft. “I knew the second day was probably the day when I was going to get called. I was just texting my agent, calling my agent back and forth, but it was awesome. I woke up the next day, had some family and friends over and just kind of waited.”

His phone rang and it was Cleveland on the other end of the line. The club selected Fox in the third round (95th overall) as one of the only two position players it would take in the entire Draft. Without hesitation, Fox decided to make the leap.

“I don’t even think I can even describe it,” Fox said. “It was the craziest feeling, the coolest feeling ever. There was a lot of relief because of how hard people worked up to that day to finally reach that point and then start a whole new journey of getting to the big leagues and being the best player you can be, so it was pretty cool.”

Just three years earlier, Fox decided to pick up his glove again. Before long, his hard work had helped to turn his dreams into reality.

“I’m definitely blessed with just having natural ability and talent and just being able to learn quick,” Fox said. “I think playing basketball, I was always moving my feet, and that helped me a lot at shortstop. So it helped my athleticism a lot, too. It wasn’t too hard to get back into baseball.”

And now that he’s back, he’s not worried about ever falling out of love again.

“It's completely different now that I'm six years older,” Fox said. “I love it.”