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Trea Turner had a very good excuse for being late to workout

Trea Turner was in and out of jury duty on Wednesday. (Getty Images)
Trea Turner was in and out of jury duty on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

There are only a handful of acceptable excuses for being late to or missing a spring training workout.

Fortunately for Trea Turner, he had one of those excuses on Wednesday.

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According to MASN Sports, the runner-up for the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year award was late to the Washington Nationals morning workout because he was performing a civic duty. As in, Turner was summoned to jury duty at a courthouse close to the Nationals facility.

It’s a truly rare occurrence. Players are typically far enough away from home during spring training or the season to avoid serving, but Turner’s residence in nearby Lake Worth, Fla. made it impossible for him to be excused.

Fortunately, Turner was not required to stick around long. In fact, he was back at camp in time to take batting practice with his teammates.

Being summoned to jury duty is never a comfortable feeling. You don’t know going in if your services will be required for two hours, two weeks or even two months.

Turner was one of the lucky ones, though apparently manager Dusty Baker was prepared for anything.

“He told me he was going to jury duty. Then he got there and he said they didn’t need him,” manager Dusty Baker said. “When they call, you don’t have much choice. He seemed pretty happy about not doing it, though.”

Now that Turner has dodged jury duty like a swipe tag at second base, he shouldn’t have to worry about being summoned again until well after his playing days are over. Then again, he also has one less good excuse to be late to camp.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!