MiLB Married Life: Why I Travel

If I'm the only baseball wife you know, you might not know that there are a good amount of baseball wives who don't travel with their husbands during the season. For various reasons, for some couples the best choice is for the wife to stay at home and hold down the fort. For some it's for their career, others it's to provide stability for their kids. Every marriage is different, and there's really no one size fits all choice for everyone.

There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin. If I stayed home, I could have a full time job and help contribute to our financial stability. We could actually have a permanent address. I wouldn't have to be away from my friends and family, alone in a new city. But I would have a really hard time being away from my husband for half the year- no wife who stays home will ever say it's easy. Being here allows me to be present to support Cy in his ups and downs. I get to explore different cities all over the US. We get to experience new things together. I do spend a lot of time alone, but that gives me the chance to really grow and learn more about myself.

For us, the choice was easy. In fact, me staying home just wasn't an option. We spent 2 summers apart before we got married, and while we definitely did grow a lot as a couple through the extended periods of distance, they were really hard. Especially last summer when we were engaged. Long distance just doesn't work for us. Last year, I read this book by Julianna and Ben Zobrist (who plays for Oakland, and is the brother-in-law of Cy's college coach) and they shared the challenges they faced in their marriage in minor league baseball. They shared that for them, making their marriage the #1 priority was crucial, to the point that they made a rule that they would never be apart for longer than 6 days. We decided to adopt that rule for ourselves, because we know that being apart is really hard on us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

More importantly than anything else, we believe that Cy is able to play baseball because God has a purpose in him doing so. It's not about Cy's success, it's about being obedient to the calling God has placed on his life. As his wife, my role is to help and encourage him. I can do that best when we are physically together. Cy is very vocal about how great of a help it is to him that he has me here, and I don't take that lightly. I also feel very strongly that God is showing me that I have a unique opportunity to show His love to the people around me wherever we are because of my role as a players wife, just by making friends and getting to know people. We are more effective together than we could be apart.  

Baseball life is anything but normal, so each couple has to figure out what is best for them. For us, home is wherever we are together. I am thankful that we have the ability to be together. 

Xo,
Hannah

All photos are by the incredibly talented Hannah and Preston of Cottonwood Road Photography