Eight Years to One Swing: The Leadership Power of Staying Ready

The moment lasted only seconds: a deep fly to left, a runner tagging, a celebration erupting. But for New York Yankees backup catcher J.C. Escarra, that moment had been eight years in the making.

Last month, Escarra stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. He wasn’t a top draft pick or a prized free agent. He was a 30-year-old rookie who had spent nearly a decade in the minor leagues, driving for Uber, substitute teaching, and holding on to a dream that many told him to let go.

Dedication to the craft is nothing new to Escarra, a native of Hialeah, Florida, and the son of Cuban immigrants who arrived in the U.S. with “nothing, just the clothes on their backs.” Watching his father work as a cable technician and his mother as a nurse, he learned early the value of perseverance and perspective, qualities that have carried him to the big leagues. 

With one out and the game tied, Escarra delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly. The box score will show only a single plate appearance, but behind it lies a powerful lesson in emotional resilience, humility, and preparation.

“My story, what happened, makes it all worth it,” Escarra told reporters after the game. “Those are the moments that I’ll never forget. These are things you dream about as a kid, and it’s all unfolding in real time in front of my eyes.”

In sports, as in life, it’s easy to keep going when the path is linear, the applause is loud, and the rewards are immediate. It’s much harder when the audience is gone, the vision gets blurry, and each day feels like a question: Why am I still doing this? Especially amid the daily grind of minor league baseball. 

That’s when many players could quit, coast, or quietly check out. But leaders who break through, true leaders, stay ready. They do the invisible, tedious work, prepare for a moment that may or may not come, and sharpen their skills not because someone is watching, but because they made a promise to themselves.

“I am usually one of the first guys in and one of the last guys to leave,” Escarra told MLB.com.

In every high-functioning organization, team, or locker room, there are people like Escarra. People who show up every day with no spotlight, no certainty, and no shortcut. And yet, when the moment comes, they’re the ones who deliver, not out of luck, but because they stayed ready.

So here are some key questions for each of us:

• Are we doing the work when no one’s watching?

• Are we preparing not just for the next task, but for the next critical opportunity?

• Are we staying ready—mentally, emotionally, and physically—for when our moment arrives?

Because it will. And when it does, we won’t have time to “get ready.” We’ll either be ready or not. Escarra’s story is about perseverance, self-belief, and the discipline leaders cultivate over time.

One swing, one moment, eight years of preparation: That’s the power of staying ready.

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