Hard work pays off: Luce signs with Orioles, gets shot at big-time baseball

It all made Wednesday night that much more gratifying for Luce, who officially inked a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles.

“It’s very exciting,” Luce said. “It’s something that I’ve worked my entire life for. It came a little bit later in my career, but I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity.”

With his contract finalized, Luce’s next step will be reporting to Sarasota, Florida in early March for spring training, during which he’ll be placed at either the Low-A, High-A or Double-A level. Currently at ease about the experience, Luce expects some butterflies to surface as that opportunity nears.

More than anything though, he’s just elated at having a sense of motivation and direction restored to his baseball career. That hadn’t always been the case.

Following an all-district-caliber run at Allen, Luce’s college tenure included time at Jefferson College (Missouri) and Elon University (North Carolina), where he earned a pair of degrees, including one from Elon in media arts and entertainment with a focus in broadcast journalism. Despite his success on the baseball diamond at Elon, Luce went undrafted coming out of college and opted to keep his career afloat by joining the independent circuit, which began with the Amarillo Sox of the American Association in 2012.

“Honestly, I wasn’t good enough for affiliate baseball,” Luce said, “and I probably wasn’t good even enough for the American Association. That league is full of guys who had played in the big leagues and spent a lot of time in the minors. I kind of did things a little bit backwards. I was 21 years old and playing against guys who were 28, 29 or 30 with much more experience.”

Hitting .211 in 27 games with Amarillo, Luce was set to begin his 2013 campaign in the Frontier League with the Rockford Aviators (Illinois) before a sudden turn in events drastically altered his season’s outlook. Shortly before the start of the season, Luce learned that his father, Joe, had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. As such, Luce’s time with Rockford spanned a mere six games before deciding to return home and put baseball on hold.

“Family comes first. It was one of those deals where I had to make a decision,” Luce said. “You get to a point where you hit rock bottom and there were a lot of things happening around that time that made it real difficult. It would have been real easy to quit.”

Despite having two college degrees in tow, Luce still envisioned an opportunity to reignite his baseball career at some juncture, meaning he couldn’t fully commit to taking a salary job. In the interim, he spent time waiting tables at a Cheddar’s Casual Café located in Allen.

“It was really humbling, but at the same time, you learn a lot and everything happens for a reason,” Luce said. “I know that I have a much greater respect for those who wait tables.”

Luce’s father underwent surgery and following a lengthy recovery, the outfielder began building toward a chance to revitalize his baseball career in 2014 with an impressive showing in the Texas Winter League. Eventually, he latched on with the Brownsville Charros, an independent travel team in its first year of operation in the United League.

It was during that stint when Luce was approached by the Orioles about a possible future in the organization. Following a game against the Fort Worth Cats in July, Luce spoke with Ryan Powell, Baltimore’s head of independent scouting.

“They basically said I was ready,” Luce said.

Despite the encouraging words, nothing substantial between Luce and the Orioles materialized beyond that point and not long after, he was traded to the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association on July 24. There, he thrived in 34 games, hitting .341 with 16 RBIs and 10 stolen bases, and helped guide Wichita to an American Association Championship. Fittingly enough, Luce was named the Player of the Game in the final contest of the Wingnuts’ championship series.

“So many different factors play into sports, so for me, it was about just controlling what I could control,” Luce said. “I just wanted to go out there and do my job and produce. If you do those things, then hopefully someone will pay attention.”

That wound up being the case, with major league clubs like the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers joining Baltimore in pursuit of Luce. As time went on, the Tiger and Orioles showed the most interest in the outfielder, with Baltimore at last purchasing Luce’s contract in mid-January.

“We had gotten so close so many times, it just seemed surreal,” Luce said. “The other day, my best friend, Bryan Johns, asked me, ‘What does it feel like? I told him that it just doesn’t feel real yet, but after a couple days it settled in.”

Just as gratifying for Luce was the outpouring of support he received, from welcoming tweets by Orioles fans to congratulatory texts and phone calls from friends, family, teammates and coaches alike.

“This isn’t just about me. It’s about the people who have supported me along the way,” Luce said. “The most excitement I get out of this is seeing the reactions. You never realize how many people you can affect in your neighborhood or your area.

“This isn’t just about me, it’s about all of us as a community.”

Luce’s gratitude for that support is put in greater context when considering how close he has come to pondering if the end of the line was nearing for his baseball career.

“You get to this age where you’re 24 or 25 and you realize your buddies aren’t really playing (baseball) anymore,” Luce said. “You see guys retiring all the time and it definitely crossed my mind, but I always felt like I had a shot if I could get my foot in the door.

“… But honestly, if I didn’t make it to affiliated ball by this time next year, there’s probably a good chance that I might have hung it up.”

Instead, he’ll be heading to Sarasota in just over a month to take the most defining step of his baseball career. At last.

“There were so many times during my career where you didn’t know what you were working for,” Luce said. “There was no spring training and there were a lot of times where I didn’t even have a team.

“Now I’ve got the opportunity, and I plan on going in there and producing. I’m ready to get to the big leagues as soon as possible and help them win a World Series.”