This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola's Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- Happy Mother’s Day!
A handful of Marlins were kind enough to share what their mothers or wives mean to them in celebration of the holiday.
Baseball is more than just a sport in Venezuela, where Sanoja’s mother, Yelitza, took her 3-year-old son to the ballfields so he could fall in love with the game. She quickly realized he wasn’t mature enough yet to appreciate it. They came back a year later and never looked back.
Yelitza never missed one of Javier’s games growing up, and although she hasn’t been able to visit one of his Major League games, she watches from afar.
“I don't think she has missed any other game, even right now, when I'm playing on the West Coast,” Sanoja said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr.
“She's actually not sleeping, because she's watching the game, waiting for me to finish the game, or just the game to be over.
“It is funny when she tells me, ‘Hey, why you didn't hit?’ She criticizes [when] I didn't do well in the game. I tell her, ‘Hey, you never played the game! You don't know how hard this is.’ So we have this funny like back-and-forth argument. We have great chemistry.”
Raised by single mother, Rhonda, Myers appreciates all of the sacrifices that were made for him and his siblings growing up. He is seeing that now with his wife, Mallory, who was his high school sweetheart, and their young son, Daegan.
This season, Mallory and Daegan are trying to visit as many ballparks as possible in case their family grows in the future and before Daegan is old enough for school. Still, it’s tough being on the road for most of the year.
“Obviously, with our schedule, it's a busy schedule. Probably can't take care of the kid as much as I would like, so her wearing that burden and being a good trooper, knowing I'm out here working hard, working for them, is pretty special,” Myers said.
“She's really good about taking all the stress off of me at home, kind of letting me relax when I need to relax. The game of baseball is tough mentally, tough physically, so to be able to go home and kind of do what I want and rest and just watch her become the mom that she's become, it's been a cool sight to see.”
Clayton McCullough
When a 9-year-old McCullough moved to Greenville, N.C., his mom, Eva, was one of his first Little League coaches. She would pack up everything and drive her only child around to tournaments and practices every summer.
Like Myers, McCullough is also thankful for everything his wife, Jill, does for him and their three kids. The family is based in Jupiter, Fla., so they were often on the other side of the country until school was out for the summer during his Dodgers tenure.
With the Marlins, McCullough can be more present. He is close enough to drive home or for the family to visit for a few days at a time.
“I won't have enough words to express my gratitude and appreciation for how much my wife takes the load on at home,” McCullough said. “Jobs like this require a ton of sacrifice. We spend so much time here. Our focus, so much is on the job and work. But also, there's a lot going on at home with us having three young kids and school, and activities, and trying to parent solo. So it's very difficult, and she steps up and gives them the greatest experiences, and packs them up and takes them all around the country to go visit and explore.
“There will definitely be a day long from now when they'll look back at all that she's done for them, and I think they'll have a greater appreciation then -- I don't think they even realize it's a sacrifice -- because it's just what she does.”
Hockey might be Canada’s sport, but not in the Hicks family.
Toronto native Hicks grew up playing baseball thanks to his mom, Jennifer, who was his first Tee Ball coach.
“She means a ton,” Hicks said. “She will say that I got my baseball talents from her. She's my biggest supporter. She just played rec league softball, but she's a huge baseball fan. Her dad is a huge baseball fan, so my grandpa got me in baseball, introduced me to the [Blue] Jays, so we would always watch the Jays growing up.”
Being a mother is selfless, and Pauley’s mom, Jennifer, is no exception. When it came to Mother’s Day or her birthday, she didn’t want anything in particular to celebrate the occasion. So Pauley and his siblings would write homemade cards that she would appreciate more than any gift.
Along those lines, Pauley might’ve outdone himself by making the Padres’ 2024 Opening Day roster.
“I think I got told around 5 p.m. in Korea, which was like 3 a.m. or something on the East Coast,” Pauley said. “Of course, I tried to call, but I knew they were probably asleep, and so I looked at the time, kind of figured out when I would call them, because I think she had to work early the next morning, so I knew she'd be up early. But then, finally, calling her and then also my dad, and telling them I made the team, they started crying.”