Sherry Cerny

Thank you for humoring me

When I sat down with Rena a few weeks ago, the conversation was so natural; it was like two friends who had known each other our whole lives. Not only did we have baseball in common, but also our paths to loving the game were similar—both late bloomers in love with the game, solid and passionate just the same. Read about Rena's path to her favorite game and how she came to join Twins Daily! There is nothing more exciting to me than newcomers to baseball. Having new fans in a sport when many people are starting to turn away shows that baseball truly is America's favorite pastime. Her introduction to baseball was not from growing up in Minnesota; she had never really watched it, period. Her boyfriend is from Canada and is a life-long Blue Jays fan. He would have the game on every time they played and even traveled to watch them in the playoffs in Kansas City in 2016. He did not miss a game, and consequently, neither did Rena. At the beginning of our interview, she makes an accurate, bold statement, "As a new fan, the game is boring. You don't know what's going on, and you don't know the teams." She is not wrong. So what made her change her mind? Like me, she started by watching the pitcher when I started watching. The pitcher is one of the unique players on the team. The game is centered around the pitcher and how they perform, so watching them can put many pieces together. Over time, from watching the game with her boyfriend, she started to see little things that pitchers did, their delivery and mechanics. This led to her watching the other players, why each player is essential, how they play their position and how they interact. Rena was so intrigued by what she was watching that she eventually her fandom moved from watching with her boyfriend, to having it on in the background, to watching games when she was by herself. The first time she turned on the TV to watch by herself and immerse herself in her new hobby, the catalyst to her love of baseball was the 2017 World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros. She loved the excitement of the game, but her excitement came because she had no dog in the fight and could see the rigors of competition. Rena watched intently and learned who the players were and the strategies that they were using in the games to get an advantage over the other team. She figured out quickly by watching that they use certain players in the lineup based on their ability to hit singles, doubles, clean up, or even strikeout. There was a strategy to the game, and she loved that. As frustrating as that was to hear that the 2017 Astros are what got her interested in the game, at least Minnesota and Twins baseball got something good out of that series, a new baseball fan. She went in full throttle with her newfound hobby and listened to the "Baseball Tonight" podcast. She would listen to the podcast and then watch a clip or game to soak in what they explained in the episode she had just heard. As Rena began to understand what they were talking about, she took to Twitter, where she (and many of us) began to voice her thoughts and feelings about baseball in a segment called "Bleacher Tweets" through Baseball Tonight at the end of their show. "Since it was a new hobby, I had many questions," Rena explains, "I wanted to know their perspective, and eventually, I befriended the host." Because she was a new fan and stats were huge in the baseball community, the host appreciated the banter and questions she was bringing to the table. Even though she liked the stats and understood them, she was more a fan of the game and brought a fresh perspective to the host. They appreciated her perspective so much they brought her onto the podcast to talk about her insights on baseball. She stayed there for a year, and that's when Twins Daily noticed and came knocking on her twitter door. They noticed that she was from Minnesota and savvy in baseball; she also now was tweeting about the Twins. Even though she loved baseball initially because of Bally Sports North (formerly FSN), she watched more Twins games, and her love and allegiance were solid with the Twins. Because she is passionate about the game, she cares about the players. She wanted something and someone to root for. She is quick to defend her favorite players and loves to cheer for those who have moved on, like Eddie Rosario and Nelson Cruz. She is an Eddie Rosario stan and his biggest fan no matter where he goes. Rena enjoyed the growth being on the podcast brought her. She also really loved the idea that the podcast host had a lot of diversity in his program; he had a lot of different perspectives, demographics, and women on the show. We discussed the tremendous growth of women in baseball. Rena wanted to bring a new face to content instead of the day-to-day stats and numbers. She likes to stray away from the norm, writing about what she would want to read or see. That stuck with me. As a baseball fan and writer, I struggle with the "norm" and write what I want to see, whether that is an op-ed or being Jake Cave's biggest fan. There is room for all fans, and plenty of talented writers have unique perspectives and voices. Rena and I both write for Twins Daily. She is one of the reasons I was excited to contact Nick Nelson in a brave DM and ask him for an opportunity to write for them. I watched her tweets and articles over the past two seasons. She has a great tone in her writing and an insatiable knowledge of the game. She loves to write about the fun stuff, or as she calls it, the "fluff," and she does indeed write about the fun stuff. During the lockout, Rena had a series called "Things Twins Players Did This Week," It was full of fun, cute tweets and pictures of the players and their families during the holidays or doing charitable work. We both love to get people to think outside the box and challenge people to see different angles of baseball when it comes to the game, players' lives, and the Twins organization. I was shocked to find out that Rena does not work for Twins Daily all the time. Her knowledge of the game, the players, and the numbers would lead me to believe otherwise. She helps promote the website on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. She loves getting behind the promotion part of the job and bringing attention to Twins Daily. One of the goals of Twins Daily social media is growing. Rena, along with the rest of the team, wants Twins Daily to be the go-to website for Minnesota Twins news. So how do they do that? By giving the collective a voice, promoting articles in a fun, exciting manner. The social media team has indeed done that. Twins Daily has been successful with traffic and followers, a considerable concern we had during the lockout. It's hard to write about baseball when there is none, so brainstorming what to write is just as important on how to promote the writing. Rena loves to create a voice for Twitter because that's where the most activity is for Twins Daily followers and Twins fans. Creating content and discussion is one of the things that Rena is good at. We discussed the journey through journalism as women and having a voice as baseball fans and writers. I told her that my biggest fear is being professional, and I am known for my loud voice and perspective on not always loving players and having to behave and respond with information and no profanity (!!). Being a fan opens you up for ridicule, but being a female baseball fan on social media carries its responsibility because ridicule can be far worse as women's knowledge of sports is held to a standard of knowing stats from 1983 and "name five players." She admits there are times when she is ready to send out a tweet and goes back and double-checks it because she knows that the scrutiny is more vigorous for females than it is for males in the industry. As an Asian-American female, she is also very aware of representation. She and I had a heart-to-heart about her desire to hopefully bring more awareness to Asian-American women in sports and the players. One of her favorite players is Shohei Ohtani. She loves seeing the Asian representation in baseball and hopes it continues to grow. I loved her honesty with me about her strength in being a minority writer and fan in our favorite sport. While she knows sometimes she has to check her tweets twice, she also is confident in her understanding and knowledge of the intricacies of baseball. She combines her love of baseball and her heritage in this astounding article where she interviewed Tzu-Wei Lin, who was an MVP at the age of 16 from Taiwan. She got a chance to speak in her native language of Mandarin, to one of her favorite ball players about their favorite game. The article is inspiring and she is proud of the opportunity she had to get to know Lin. Rena makes me want to be a better writer, fan, and person. To know that there are women out there that love the game as much as I do is motivating. We can carry on a conversation about the game, and having a desire for the game to grow in representation (as well as fandom around the world) gives me hope that this game will never indeed die. Rena is one of the strongest baseball minds I know. She is intelligent, funny, intuitive, and full of insight and ideas that bring Twins Daily new followers and readers. Rena is also one of my closest friends and will do anything for me at the drop of a hat. She is a force to be reckoned with if you go up against her in baseball knowledge, but she is compassionate and loving and genuinely wants everyone to love the sport that brings her happiness. She brings so much fun to Twins Daily, its followers, and Twitter; if you don't follow her, you are truly missing out. Make sure to check out Rena's Twins Daily Page below! @renabanena Find her on social media: Twitter: @renabanena View full article

Hey! thanks for reading and your input! IT is a hard sell! it's not going to be an easy player/season, so thank you for your honesty!

ha ha! right!?

I hope so!!!

I am glad you thought it was positive. I was struggling to write it to be honest, but the more I looked into, the more I believed in him.

HAS to be a skill. Should still be skill, to be honest and he is horrible at it!!! he HAS to get better

THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR!!!!!! Thank you LastOnePicked!!!! :)

I think so too, Ness!!!! I really think that he can come out of this!

Yeah I know....a little scary to be honest...but I do like Conger!

I don't care for metrics. That being said, they are helpful for learning, but when it comes to players and defending them or showing their value, I find them to be a bit of a pain. I love this comment. It makes me feel good that the other fans see what I see.

You know he is the one trade piece I am NOT sure how it's going to work. This article was purely speculative and a little bit of hope! hahaha!

Hey Nashville!!! I am ALSO cheering for him!! I think we have the tools for him to do what he needs to be successful, he just has to put in the work!

Gary Sanchez had worn out his welcome in New York. He arrived as a top prospect and became an All Star and won a Silver Slugger Award. In the last two years, things have gone downhill. His bat no longer allowed the team to look past his awful defense. But at least one fan believes that he is capable of a big comeback season. Initially, I was excited about the Twins receiving a catcher via trade. After losing Mitch Garver via trade, receiving a catcher in a later trade made sense. That excitement cooled when looking at Gary Sanchez's offensive and defensive numbers. I quickly realized that he has not been good. He has had some moments of improvement and growth, but overall, nothing shows he is worth hanging onto. With everything he's had stacked against him, a change of scenery, moving from the Bronx Bombers to the Twins, maybe just what revives his career. As I break down his defensive and offensive woes, I also found that his hard work ethic, along with fresh hitting and catching coaches, maybe just what Sanchez needs to make a comeback. Replacing a fan favorite When news broke of Mitch Garver's trade to the Texas Rangers, there was a collective shock and sadness from Minnesota baseball fans. The trade was hard to digest, but the Twins had an everyday shortstop and still had Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate. Just as fans were coming to terms with that trade, and then excited by the Sonny Gray trade, an even more shocking trade came to light. Late Sunday night, the Twins sent Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and the newest acquisition Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Yankees in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. The initial assumption was that the Twins might use Sanchez in a trade for pitching, but with Garver and Rortvedt on new teams, Gary Sanchez will likely be one of the Twins' catchers. There is no doubt that Garver showed big improvements over his time with the Twins, both offensively and defensively. Because of that, as well as his presence in the media and on Twitter, he became a fan favorite, The idea that Gary Sanchez of the hated Yankees is replacing a fan favorite may not be sitting well with many Twins fans. Defensive Struggles It will take a lot of change for Twins fans (or coaches or pitchers) to be comfortable with Sanchez behind the plate. His defensive metrics show that he struggles with pitch presentation. The numbers tend to improve and improve more as he works on his positioning and framing. They will have to improve for him to keep playing. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/gary-sanchez-596142?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb The 6'2", 230-pound catcher has been tagged "The Worst Catcher in Baseball," and we can see why if you go solely on his defensive metrics. Watching the video helps as well. Gary Sanchez's pitch framing and balance issues have been the bane of his existence in New York. A catcher's success is based on his positioning behind the plate in an effort to effectively frame a pitch, which seems to be Sanchez's biggest downfall. He has consistently had a problem maintaining his balance on his left side, leading to dropping down to his knees, which has allowed a lot of passed balls. With framing and receiving, he sits back on his heels with his seat below knee level, and he's moving to the ball with his whole body. Gary Sanchez Catching Problems Dissected Because of his positioning, Sanchez catches the ball with large swiping motions instead of small movements receiving the ball. There is no thought that he will ever win any Gold Gloves behind the plate. Last season, he spent time in on the New York bench, including during the playoffs. The Yankees invested in help for Sanchez that may have helped him get started in the right direction, even if it was too little too late. Offensive Struggles Even though he wasn't what the Yankees were hoping for after his rookie season in 2017, the team continued to give him chances because of his offensive performance early in his career. Gary Sanchez is fantastic offensively, he is an All-Star, but the past two seasons, on top of his defensive struggles, he has still struggled offensively. The one-time All-Star has slumped recently in numbers. The one thing that Sanchez is very capable of is hitting home runs. Last year Sanchez hit 23 home runs, one of them being a clutch grand-slam to win the game on September 5th, 2021, to beat the Orioles. I hope that Sanchez is willing to do whatever it takes to improve and give the Twins the edge they are deserving. The Yankees saw enough potential in Sanchez to invest time and coaching to improve his skills and get back to where he was before his injuries in 2018. Willingness to do the work The Yankees hired a catching coach, Tanner Swanson (the former Twins minor league catching coordinator), specifically to work with Sanchez. Swanson previously helped Mitch Garver improve, and it seems that the catcher whisperer had done it again. While working with Swanson, Sanchez had a vast improvement cutting down on passed balls based on changing his position behind the plate. Sanchez does have an impressive pop time of 1.93 seconds (League average is 2.01 seconds) and a cannon for an arm. When he is set right, and in a good rhythm, Sanchez quickly gets people out almost anywhere on the field, which is a defensive dream. After working with Sanchez for some time, Tanner Swanson told AP News, "I think overall just a much more confident version of the Gary Sánchez than we saw in 2020," Swanson said. "He has attacked the offseason and been accountable for his performance in 2020. I think he's in a perfect place, and his process is sound. I've been pleased." With Swanson at the helm, Sanchez learned how to use minimal glove movement to improve his strike count by reaching from below the strike zone and making small quick movements to steal the 'low-strike,' a technique Swanson also worked on with Mitch Garver, Ben Rortvedt, and other catchers in the Twins organization. As Sanchez continued to work on his defense, it was clear that he was not improving much. When he stopped being productive with the bat too, he needed to move on from the Yankees. Gary Sanchez is not a lost cause yet; perhaps a change of scenery by moving to Minnesota, a new catching coach, and a second chance would benefit the catcher. Why I Believe Gary Sanchez Can Have a Big Comeback Season The Twins have hired several new coaches in the offseason, but two will be especially instrumental in working with Sanchez. David Popkins is the new hitting coach, and on December 10th, the Minnesota Twins hired a new coach, former big-league catcher Hank Conger who has been coaching in KBO since before the pandemic. Hank Conger is a former MLB catcher who bounced around as a coach in the minors for three seasons after his 2015 season with the Astros. He has spent the past two years as a coach in Korea for the Lotte Giants. While this will be his MLB debut as a coach, the resounding applause of his hire is promising for the Twins and, hopefully, the catcher core. Conger has seen a lot of change from when he was drafted and began in professional baseball to now. Pitch framing is his most significant focus. All of his managers were former catchers; Conger was able to get many perspectives that he credits with who he was as a catcher and how he is now as a catcher's coach. When it comes to pitchers and hitters that come up, Conger's focus is on how he can help the catchers have all the information on his pitchers and the opponent's hitters. Information comes from scouting reports or in-game information. The relationship with the pitchers is just as crucial to Conger as it should be to the catcher. The catcher-pitcher relationship is the most important relationship on the field; from game management to communication, there must be trust between the two players and, most importantly, hard work. Sanchez is no stranger to hard work with pitchers; in fact, he's previously worked with Sonny Gray, the most recent Twins pitching acquisition from the Cincinnati Reds, and they have a history. Both players played for the Yankees in 2018, but the relationship was not productive. Gray had Sanchez as a catcher, but after a string of miscommunication and inconsistent tempo between the two, Gray opted for Austin Romine as his catcher. That did not stop Sanchez from wanting to improve. Gary Sanchez spent a lot of time watching Gray and Romine from the dugout, learning the pitcher and catcher's pitches, personality, and tempo. The hope is that the reunion in a new environment will work together with the help of the pitching and catching staff to create the tempo they couldn't find in 2018. Be ready for a big season Sanchez is no stranger to powerful hitting and elite catching. The past two seasons, he certainly has struggled to find his stride. Whether it was a case of being in his head or his mechanics, there is an opportunity here in Minnesota for Sanchez to start fresh. If Sanchez can improve his form behind the plate and framing, he just might become a dangerous weapon for the Twins, both defensive and offensively. He already possesses the power at the plate with his swing to be a part of the beloved "bomba-squad." Whether as the DH or behind the plate, he has the potential to be a significant asset on this squad. The Twins organization is set up for players to succeed. They are finding the coaches and players to grow a successful team, and if he puts in the work to be successful, and with the new rotation of pitchers and coaching staff, Sanchez will have a chance to shine. View full article

This morning I was woken up to, “I know your alarm is set for 8:30, but you need to wake up and see who you just signed for three years, $105mm.” I sleepily sat up as the name Carlos Correa was uttered, and I rolled over to check my phone, which had 105 notifications from Twitter, texts, and various news outlets. I am not a morning person, so waking up and being slammed with big news was not the way to start my day. Since coming back from the lockout, the Minnesota Twins have made some wild trades. It hasn’t felt like the usual off-season Twins front office with the acquisitions made. The front office is actually making moves, and shocking moves at that. The first shock was trading out Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and minor league righthander Ronny Henriquez. Not a blockbuster deal by any means, but for fans who are attached to players, seeing Garver traded was a slap in the face. Kiner-Falefa wasn’t with the Twins that long. The front office pulled a double-play and traded Kiner-Falefa, Ben Rortvedt, and fan-favorite Josh Donaldson to the Yankees for Gary Sanchez and third baseman Gio Urshela. To say the fan base was shocked is an understatement, more like gobsmacked. Sanchez has been a liability both at and behind the plate since 2018. So when the front office decided to keep Sanchez instead of using him in a trade, the fans were less than pleased. The Twins also signed a deal with Chi Chi Gonzales and picked up catcher Jose Godoy. The tornado of trades and the deafening silence after made Twins fans nervous. The Twins, not having a full roster of starting pitching and no shortstop, left rumors about Frankie Montras, Trevor Story, and Sean Manea in talks eating at the fans. We shed tons of players and salary, so what were we waiting on the front office to do? Free agents continued to sign with other teams, and it was beginning to feel like just a typical year in the Twins front office, clear salary and doing nothing. That all changed in the early morning of Saturday, March 19th, when Mark Berman from Fox 26 in Houston, that the Twins had a deal with Houston Astros shortstop, Carlos Correa. Twitter had spent six hours in excitement and losing their minds before I even was ‘scheduled’ to be awake. The one part of the acquisition I liked was that Houston and Yankees fans were both highly agitated and that was almost enough to make the contract worth it! Once, I could sound off a couple of foul-mouthed tweets trying to figure out where this came from, considering I went to sleep praying that we would get some information on Trevor Story; I was majorly confused. The Twins made a HUGE acquisition, but they also pulled some considerable rabbit out of their “I’ll show you” hat either to 1. prove they could pay that much for someone, or 2. wanted fans to be proud of them, which they did both. But not all fans. It’s me; I’m that fan. I take baseball very seriously. It’s personal to me for many reasons, so when we pulled a player from the 2017 Astros, I was not too fond of it. The 2017 Astros not only cheated to win the World Series but also received immunity and not a single punishment. That felt like an injustice to baseball, and I have written off the players and the team. Everything that I loathed about that time was staring directly at me, including my moral compass about being a baseball fan and happy for my team. I am not a fan of Correa. I am still upset that he would insult the game like that. I know teams cheat; I am not naïve or blind; I was frustrated with how Major League Baseball and the Commissioner handled everything. It took me a few moments and rambling conversations in the shower while I got dressed and with my group chat. My group chat consists of avid female Twins fans from everywhere. While I was supportive online, I was honest about my frustration in my group, and one friend chimed in and made a good point, “The cheating isn’t allowed in this Twins culture, and once players leave Houston, the stigma tends to be to leave as well. This [sic] (being with the Twins) is the Carlos Correa Redemption Tour.” I liked that; it means that I don’t have to like Correa or the trade, but it gives me a mindset to be good support for my followers and other fans. There is no doubt at all that Correa’s numbers are good. They are downright impressive. 2017 was also a long time ago. It may take me a while to get there, but I did say this morning, and I will say again, “if he has changed and he is good for the boys, and they are happy, then I am happy for everyone else.” Being a fan of a team means being objective and also wanting to win championships, and I believe that is what the Twins front office is trying to do. Carlos Correa agrees to 3-year/$105.3M contract with Twins | SportsCenter I am happy and impressed that we have pulled a player like Correa, but we still need starting pitchers. We are going to have to concede some pieces for that to happen. I wish we would have gotten pitching and then a shortstop, but now that we have the big piece, we need to continue building around that, and thinking about what will come from that is unnerving, because it’s clear, the Twins front office isn’t done. So while I am excited to see what we can do or choose to do with starting pitching, I also know that there will be a sacrifice in players who made the same fans this morning who were happy…extremely upset. You have to take the good with the bad, the attachments with the releases, and the business with the emotions. That’s baseball.

absolutely and I am really thankful that everyone took time to read it and truly see what it means to them as the spouses. They are truly inspirational women!

ha ha ha ha - he is!

absolutely. it was a shocking experience for myself as well!

so far it's been great for them and Sarah is super excited!

oh yeah!! There are great exotic vets down there! and Sarah is amazing!

absolutely! it was my pleasure and I enjoyed it!

Thank you! it was a great time interviewing them!

Recently, I had the privilege to sit down with three outstanding wives of Minnesota Twins players. After the meeting was over, I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath because as impressive as the players are, their wives are the real MVPs, and these are their stories. I have been watching baseball for as long as I can remember. I have always loved everything about baseball; the sounds of the park, the food, and every play on the field. I learned a lot watching what happens on the field, in the dugout, and the bullpen, but one thing that I had yet to learn was that the struggle to get to that place meant putting a lot of stuff on hold, including relationships. Since they were in high school, Allie and Sarah have been with their husbands, Brent Rooker and Mitchell Garver, respectively. While the couples have been together for over ten years, "together" is a relative term when you're in a baseball family. The term "grind" was mentioned frequently in the interview because that's what being a baseball player is. When the guys aren't playing, they are training. There is never a time when they aren't getting ready for the next game. Because the guys are always on the go, independence has always been important to the wives. All women have their own lives, careers, and individuality, which is empowering. At the same time, they are proud to be Mrs. Cave, Mrs. Garver, and Mrs. Rooker. Saige, Sarah, and Allie are friends, daughters, career women, and mothers. The time they spent growing up while they supported their spouses, Allie and Sarah didn't know in high school or even early into college that the guys would play baseball outside of college. Contrary to popular belief, the women with their spouses from an early age genuinely don't rely on their spouses "being drafted ." The reality of players making it into the majors is that Less than eleven in 100, or about 10.5 percent, of NCAA senior male baseball players, will get drafted by a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Approximately one in 200 or roughly 0.5 percent of high school senior boys playing interscholastic baseball will eventually be drafted by an MLB team. Allie and Sarah knew that their individuality and success were just as crucial as their husband's baseball careers. Allie and Brent Rooker went to different colleges out of high school, and long-distance didn't stop until after the Minnesota Twins drafted Brent in the 1st round (35th overall pick) of the 2017 amateur draft. Along with Brent being drafted, he and Allie got engaged in 2017. Still, there was no time to get into family mode because Allie graduated as an RN and started working in her field after college. And for Brent, the grind toward the majors began immediately. When the Minnesota Twins drafted Mitch Garver in the 9th round of the 2013 amateur draft, Sarah was in the middle of Veterinary School. They spent more time apart as Mitch found himself playing minor league ball with the Twins and Sarah finished her degree in Oregon. They had been together at the University of New Mexico, but Sarah had goals of becoming a vet, and she knew that would mean more time apart to attend school in Oregon, so while Mitch went off to play baseball in Florida, Sarah went to OSU to complete Vet school and graduated in 2018 with her Doctorate. Even though she graduated, she couldn’t join Mitch yet on the road as she started working in New Mexico. She officially joined Mitch in 2020, just in time for the pandemic. Saige and Jake Cave met when they were a little bit older. Saige had just graduated from college in Florida, and Jake was playing in the New York Yankees minor league system in Tampa. Saige was out walking her dog when they crossed paths, and that is the story. The simplicity of the story is as genuine as they are. She had already graduated college and was a nanny full-time. As a former D2 athlete, Saige vowed that she would never marry an athlete because she knows the grind and the demand, but she couldn't say no to Jake's charm, and the rest is history. They spent a lot of time as a new couple bouncing back and forth in Pennsylvania in the minor-league system. The travel was arduous, but luckily, Saige is from Pennsylvania and had family there. Their lives collided together in 2018 when Jake was traded from New York to Minnesota. The three women were very close and confided in me when I asked, "How important is this circle?" "It's incredibly important." Says Sarah. "I don't know what I would have done without these two," says Saige. "They literally are so welcoming and loving, and we spend all day texting and snap chatting back and forth. Allie sends the funniest stuff." "It's nice to know that someone gets it," Allie says, "Jake and Brent are also really close, and there is a picture of them from Brent's first day on the field smiling and Jake congratulating Brent." The women genuinely care for each other and look out for each other. None of the wives got the opportunity to travel with their husbands to games in 2020, which subsequently was the pandemic year, making 2021 their first full-time travel year. It blew my mind to think about that. These couples put their heart and soul into not only themselves but also grinding through rookie-ball, minor league ball, trades, and finally landing on your feet with a team, and life throws you a literal curve-ball. Their lives aren't all glam and cash-flow, which is how some people think it happens. It's not. The three of them, while they show their strong sides, show concern for what happens on the field. Sarah said that baseball is a day-to-day job. There is no guarantee, as demonstrated by the pandemic and the current lockout. If they don't have their careers, when baseball stops, so does the income, and that's a terrifying idea. All three wives recall their husbands having scary, possibly career-ending injuries and the fear that went into those moments. Brent suffered a displaced fracture of his right forearm on September 13th, 2020, when a pitch hit him against Cleveland. Jake played with a broken back in 2021 and ended up on the sixty-day injured list for rehab. And Mitch took a foul tip to the groin on June 1st, 2021, during a game with Baltimore and ended up on the injured list after emergency surgery late that night. Sarah and Allie both told me that the scariest thing for them was that they were not only not at the games where their husbands were injured, but their phones were blowing up with people asking if their husbands were okay. Having to take in that emotion and sort through the truth and what is being said in the media is very frustrating. "I am already VERY pregnant at this point and very emotional," says Sarah, "and I can't do anything for him right now, and that got to me. Thank God for the medical team." "Yes! The trainers, the Twins medical staff, they are our best friends," pipes in Allie, "They are there waiting for the guys in the waiting room to give us updates and reassure us." "They are literal lifelines," Says Saige, beyond thankful for the staff who helped bring Jake back from a broken back. "He broke his back giving himself to baseball, and it was reassuring that they were dedicated to helping him get better." Between the pandemic and injuries, 2020 and 2021 were stressful, and 2022 isn't any less stressful. While Sarah and Allie have their jobs to help cover the bills. The guys must stay in shape and ready to go to spring training at a moment's notice. Staying in baseball shape and baseball-ready means putting in eight to ten-hour days. It's bad enough when your husband is amid a lockout that threatens his career, but during the season, there are also bad days, bad games, and bad plays that haunt the guys when they come home. While the wives say they certainly need their space after a bad day, they are never petulant, maybe just a little in their head or a little off. What cures their post-game blues? Babies. The adorable babies that they come home to after a game. The kids, Gamble (Sarah and Mitch) and Blair (Allie and Brent), are close together in age and are rumored to be betrothed later in life. The oldest of the crew is Sloane, Jake and Saige's daughter, and she had the job of entertaining us and did a great job! That morning we talked; we were all in our sweats, hair up, kids and dogs everywhere. It was the most laid back conversation, and I realized that these are moms, just like me, like the other women baseball fans. Their main priorities are their families, the kids, and keeping life as simple as possible in a chaotic role. Finding the balance between being an individual, friend, daughter, wife, and mom is not easy. But they do it. And they do it with grace, messy buns, and a smile. Having a solid community is essential because the outside world can be cruel. Their husbands have a bad day at work, and everyone knows about it. What makes it harder about bad games and injuries is what people say about their husbands online. Talking to the women about what they go through, reading, and seeing those things changed my life and outlook on baseball. These three baseball players are not millionaires, as people have been screaming about on Twitter for the past six weeks. But they do fall into the 65% of MLB players who make under $1MM. The lockout is not easy on the families. Mitch is in his second year of arbitration, and makes more than league minimum, but that doesn’t change the impact of the lock out. They may make more than the average Joe, but the average Joe has one home, one State to live in, and a job he can drive to every day. These families have to be prepared for the season with housing for spring training, a house or apartment in the State where they play ball full time, and their place in their home state. Their paychecks ensure that they can afford to play next season and take care of their family in the off-season. Even with all the stress, crazy schedules, the current lockout, I have never seen stronger, happier women. These women not only empower their husbands, but they also empower each other. As a baseball fan, I was shocked that they wouldn't watch baseball without their husbands playing. But, watching their husbands play is one of the most endearing, exciting things they experience. Their first at-bats stick out as core memories for the wives. "Don't strike out" is the only thing Sarah is thinking as Mitch takes the plate for the first time on August 19th, 2017, knowing that is a genuine possibility. They laugh about their passion for the game and how it never leaves their minds. On off-days, any of them can ask their husband, "What are you thinking about?" Saige says, "Usually Jake says, 'my hitting,'" as she laughs. The players are either thinking about training for baseball, their last game, their upcoming game, or their swing. While they don't know specifics about their game day routines or superstitions, one thing they do know is the smiles on their husband's faces as they play the game they grew up loving. As dedicated as the players are to their craft, they are devoted equally at home. All three women talked about how amazing the guys are with the kids. The lockout has left the families stressed, but the ability to have more time together, which none take for granted. Already following in dad's footsteps is Sloane Cave. Sloane loves to play baseball, and Jake loves to help her play. Sloane talks about going on the field with dad and watching him play, but some of her fondest memories she will have with dad allow her to play on her youth team with dad being the coach and the mentor. She loves that one-on-one quality time with Jake. The kids have a unique advantage that many kids don't, and that's watching dad play baseball, going on the field, in the dugout, and hanging out with the other major-league players and their families. When it comes to strength, baseball players are some of the strongest athletes I have encountered. Mentally and physically, players have to be ready for quite literally anything that happens in a game, from injury to a long stretch or dive to get the ball or to be fast enough to round the bases when a line drive hugs the foul line deep into left field. But, what's more, vital to the players are the families that stand behind them. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email View full article