We collect their baseball cards, plan evenings to watch them on TV, and schedule summer vacations to see them in person, but what we don’t see are the sacrifices Major League Baseball players and their families make to provide us with entertainment.
They’re often separated from family, whether it be six weeks for Spring Training or two-week road trips during the season.
“I talk to them every day. I have three kids,” says Rangers Third Baseman Adrian Beltre. “They all go to school, so you have a small window to talk to them, but you try to keep touch with what’s going on in school and sports and all that stuff. I think FaceTime is a really good thing.”
“As they grow you miss those activities,” echoes Josh Hamilton, a Rangers outfielder. “They start going to school, and you miss the first day of school. Little moments that are important as a parent. It’s very tough, but you know we are blessed to be able to do what we do and earn the living we earn, but there are sacrifices that come with that.”
Outfielder Delino DeShields has a different perspective. His dad played in the big leagues for 13 years.
“It was awesome,” he says. “It was awesome to go in there and see guys he played with like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Cal Ripken, you know, getting the opportunity to be in a big league clubhouse at a very young age. I think that helped me make the transition to the big leagues pretty easy.”
Easy when spending time together, but not so much when it’s time for dad to go to work.
