The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After watching Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm make his breakthrough in the Major League with the Miami Marlins, Lucius Fox is eagerly waiting for his opportunity with the Kansas City Royals.

Fox, a switch-hitting infielder, was acquired by the Royals from the Tampa Bay Rays last week Thursday in exchange for Major League outfielder Brett Phillips. Fox was Tampa Bay’s No. 26 prospect at the time of the deal and he became the No.25 prospect with the Royals.

“It’s been good. They welcome me here with open arms and made me feel right at home since day one,” said Fox about his transition to his new team. “The general manager, the assistant general manager and everyone in the front office, they just been preaching to me how they like my skills set and what I can do on the field.

“My whole goal when I came here was to try and help KC get back to the World Series after winning the title in 2015. I just want to get back out there and help this team win another World Series. So I’m happy and excited to be here. I’m around a lot of guys I know, so the transition was easy and comfortable, so I’m just excited to get to work.”

Coming off a left hamstring injury that he sustained while in Tampa Bay, the 23-year-old Fox is currently in Kansas City going through his rehab with his third professional team in his young career.

He’s participating in games at an alternate site about 20 minutes away from the Royals’ ML games where he’s hoping that he will end up on their final 25-man active roster.

“It means a lot. Even since I was a kid, I always wanted to play in the Major League,” said Fox, who was introduced to the game by coach Rico Seymour at the age of seven at Freedom Farm. “Being on the Royals’ 40-man roster is a lot of responsibility, but I’m ready for it.

“It’s everything that I dreamed about and so now that I am so close to achieving my goal, I want to make the best out of my situation. Hopefully I can be on the active 25-man roster soon.”

When he does achieve that goal, Fox will follow Chisholm, who became the seventh Bahamian to get promoted to the big league with the Marlins on Tuesday night.

“It will be huge for the Bahamas to have two Bahamians playing in the Major League at the same time,” Fox said. “Me and Jazz came up around the same time and we want to show that the Bahamas has some more talented players. We’re from a small island, but we carry plenty weight.

“We just want to inspire the younger players as we proudly represent the 242 on the biggest stage in baseball. We know that the Bahamas is rooting for us and so we just want to continue to inspire kids. So I’m even more inspired by Jazz making it. I’ve watched him make his progress. We talked yesterday (Tuesday) and when he got called up, I felt like I got called up too.”

The duo are living the dream that was started by Andre Rodgers in 1957 with the New York Giants. As an infielder, Rodgers also played for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Outfielder Tony Curry then played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cleveland Indians from 1960-66; outfielder Ed Armbrister played for the Cincinnati Reds from 1973-77, including the 1975 World Series when he was involved in a controversial bunt in game three; pitcher Wenty Ford played for the Braves in 1973 and outfielder/designated played Wilfred Culmer played for the Cleveland Indians in 1983.

Antoan Richardson, now a first base coach with the San Francisco Giants, was the last Bahamian to play in the Major League in 2014 with the New York Yankees in his second sting. He made his first appearance in 2011 with the Atlanta Braves.

Fox, described as a fun-loving guy, who wants the best for others, is a role model whom players strive to emulate. He’s considered a hard-nosed player who, like Chisholm, leaves everything they have on the playing field.

After attending St John’s College up to grade six, Fox moved to St Augustine’s College for one year where he began to flourish as a softball/baseball player.

But without any of the Max D or I Elite programme established yet in the Bahamas, Fox decided to move to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to showcase his talent at the American Heritage School in grade eight at age 13.

“I made that transition as a very young guy so that I could be seen by the scouts,” Fox said. “I have no regrets because I’ve learned a lot through those years. It made me who I am today. I didn’t have my parents there, so I had to do a lot of things on my own. But if I had a chance to do it all over gain, I would still do the same thing. I wouldn’t change anything about what I did to get where I am today.” He not only gives credit to Seymour, but also Greg Burrows Jr, Geron Sands and Greg Burrows Sr for the roles they all played in their development in his early days at Freedom Farm.

But he said he could not have done it without the sacrifice that his father, Lucius Fox Sr made when his son came and told him how he was interested in playing baseball and eventually wanted to become a pro player.

“He didn’t know much about the game then, but learnt everything he needed to know and he gave me every opportunity to be successful,” Fox said. “He paid for extra lessons, bought me my equipment and sent me to school away. He didn’t have to do that, but I’m thankful that he did.”

His mother, Dotlee Fox, was hesitant about sending her son off to the United States at such a young age at first, but he said she finally agreed and accepted the decision. He noted that whenever he needed a listening ear or some words of advise, she was just a phone call away.

Among the younger boys whom he has inspired, Fox said his younger brother Dante is as just as keen as going through high school in the United States so that he can get under the radar of the Major League scouts to eventually sign a pro contract too.

“I know he can do it. He’s putting in the work. He looks up to me in everything he do, so I have to set a good standard for him,” said Fox, of his 15-year-old brother, who is home schooled with Bahamas Global.

Additionally, Fox also has a sister, D’Antae, a 13-year-old student at St John’s College, who play softball. He consider he to be his best friend. But unlike her brothers, she hope to become a lawyer.

“Whatever I can do to help her, I would,” he insisted.

For Fox, who is now playing with his third professional organization, the main thing is to get back on the field and prove that he deserve to be a Major Leaguer.

“I got traded with a hamstring strain and I’m slowly recovering from it. It kind of slowed down my progress,” he admitted. “But we want to focus on getting healthy again. Once I do and I get my feet under me, hopefully I will be called up at some point in September.”

Fox first signed with San Francisco Giants for $6 million in July 2015. He was traded from San Francisco to Tampa Bay on Aug. 1, 2016 in the deal that sent Matt Moore the other way. One year later, he participated in the All-Star Futures Game in Miami, representing the Rays on the World team.

Now he’s hoping to make his breakthrough with Kansas City and in this coronavirus pandemic, he noted that he has to get tested every other day to ensure that he remain negative.

At the beginning of the season, Fox said he had to report to Miami where he was quarantined, while working out four days a week with a personal trainer to stay in shape.

“We got the call saying July 1 was the starting date and when he got to camp, there were a lot of strict rules andc guidelines that he had to follow,” he pointed out. “It was kind of weird. It didn’t feel like it was baseball.

“The team aspect wasn’t got there. but once time went on, we found ways to incorporate ourselves into the team atmosphere as we practiced the social distancing. It has gotten better, but I hope this Covid thing will go away so that we can have the fans back in the stands because that is what we feed off during our games.”

In his present situation, Fox’s daily routine would call for him to get up around 10:30 am to get ready for practice at 11:30 am. After stretching, he would engage in batting practice in the cage, do more stretching, work on their team defense and batting practice on the field before they play a game until it’s time to shut it down around 5:30 pm.

When he’s done, he head back to his resident where he would watch television, contact his family and eat dinner before he hit the sack.

“It’s a full day of baseball, but if I want to get to the next level, I have to take care of my body and do the necessary things that a pro plyer would do,” said Fox, who noted that he’s been given sufficient time to enjoy himself as a person off the field.

To the Bahamian people, Fox encouraged them to disperse, despite what they are going through with Covid-19. He said if there’s any way that he could lend a helping hand, he will be willing to do so.