With time spent in the minor leagues and the major leagues, baseball has always been a big part of our story.

My husband, Matt, played at Pepperdine University, where we met, and a few weeks after our first date, the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him.

Our relationship began, and so did his baseball career. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! Long road trips, contracts, and trades between organizations led to a life full of unknowns and uncertainties.

We dated long distance (with no texting and cell phones- imagine that!) while he played in the minor leagues in small towns all over the country.

Then we got married, and three years later, in 1996, he was called up to the big leagues with the New York Yankees⚾️

What timing! After eight years of playing in the minors, he was finally going to the majors, and I was a month away from having our son.

I made it to the Bronx to see him smash his first hit at Yankee Stadium, and it was incredible to watch his lifelong dream of playing for the Yankees actually come true.

And then… the second dream happened… we welcomed our first child!

This year is such a milestone marker, remembering that 30 years ago he walked the field in the original stadium where some of the Yankee greats played. The same field as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.

It was an honor and a privilege for him to be on that 1996 Yankee team.

And 20 years later, they called that ’96 dream team back to celebrate in NYC.🍎

What a whirlwind couple of days and another amazing opportunity God gave us in August 2016. Matt was able to don a Yankee jersey again, this time in the new Yankee stadium, and was recognized on the field in a special ceremony celebrating that squad.

I remember flying home from New York after that remarkable weekend and we rushed to buy donuts for our daughter and her friends, as they painted their senior parking spaces in preparation for their senior year of high school.

We both delighted in those fleeting high school experiences with our children, knowing they would skip out of our home and on to their new college season in the blink of an eye.

Matt didn’t get as much time in the major leagues as he would have liked…but he also didn’t miss a minute of our kids’ milestone moments growing up.

Coaching our son’s baseball games, and our daughter’s soccer teams, watching the ballet performances, guitar and piano solos, the spelling bees and speech meets. Prom, Homecoming, and the awkward dates that accompanied them, and of course everything in between.

Let the fans cheer for the baseball superstars, and let’s honor and celebrate the dads who have proudly poured into their families. They are the real MVPs.

Big hits, big stadiums, and big leagues can never compare to the biggest joy of all- being present in your family’s life.

That is priceless. That’s a home run.⚾️