Though never a star, former Rays and Pirates utility man John Jaso was a useful player throughout his nine seasons in MLB, catching a perfect game and hitting for the cycle among other career highlights. Jaso probably could have played longer, admitting he left millions on the table to pursue his true passion—traveling the world on his boat.
Disillusioned by the rampant consumerism and excess he was surrounded by in MLB, Jason retired with $17 million in career earnings, a fraction of what today’s players make, though more than enough to fund a carefree lifestyle spent largely on the open sea. “I want my life to be simple, and it doesn’t get simpler than being on a sailboat,” Jason told David Gardner of the New York Times. “You treat the boat right, and she treats you right. That’s all there is to it.”
It's been five years since Jaso hung up his cleats for good, and, truth be told, he doesn’t miss it much, taking enormous satisfaction in his travels, which have brought him everywhere from the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos and the Virgin Islands) to the Far East (Indonesia and Australia). “I thought, something feels really weird right now,” said Jaso, recalling his first spring without baseball in 2018. “Like I was forgetting something. And then it hit me: I should have been in spring training. I started laughing because I realized: I didn’t miss it at all.”
Though most people don’t have the luxury of being able to retire at 33, Jaso doesn’t take his financial stability for granted, immensely grateful for the life MLB gave him. “Baseball set me up for life,” said Jaso, who hit .258 with 55 homers, 281 RBI and 16 steals over 808 lifetime appearances for Tampa Bay, Seattle, Oakland and Pittsburgh. “I love it, and I respect it. But it was part of this culture of consumerism and overconsumption that began to weigh really heavily on me. Even when I retired, people said: ‘You might be walking away from millions of dollars!’ But I’d already made millions of dollars. Why do we always have to have more, more, more?”
For all his accomplishments on the diamond, baseball is only a small part of Jaso’s identity, finding his most fulfillment and happiness as a world traveler, experiencing the majestic beauty of true freedom, a priceless gift that extends far beyond the reaches of accumulated wealth and material belongings.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram