I know, I know…it’s only my second post and I’m already talking about retirement. But with good reason!!! Today was a big day. Not for me, but for Jorge Posada, as he announced his retirement from baseball at age 40. It’s kind of a big deal in baseball to play until you reach that age, and it’s an even bigger deal to stay with the same team your whole entire career. Yankee fan or not you have to give the guy props. But to my point here, retirement in baseball always comes sooner than you want. 40 seems like a great age to retire to normal people but for these baseball players like Jorge, it’s all too early. These men LOVE what they do, and when they’re told that it’s time to hang up the cleats, I can imagine that nothing about it would be easy. Most of them would give anything for one more year doing what they love. And honestly, playing until age 40 is just a fantasy for most players. In the minor leagues, retirement from baseball is a much more often occurrence, and I would say nine times out of ten it isn’t by choice. Every year teams pick up new players from drafts, trades, and by signing free agents forcing them to constantly downsize. With every step up you take in the system, you seem to lose more and more of the teammates that you started with. In this business, it’s tough to make it to the top. So where does it leave us, the women of baseball, you ask? Well I’ll tell you…right by the side of the men we love! With each step up, we are cheerleaders and encouragers. With each injury, set back, or release, we are the rock…the constant in their life that does everything she can to make it as easy as possible. So far Addison and I have been very lucky, and I am grateful for every day that he gets to do what he loves. I will be the cheerleader and the encourager for as long as I need to be, hopefully until he is facing his retirement on his own terms at age 40 like Jorge. And if the day comes sooner (knock on wood), I will be his rock that he can lean on for as long as he needs to get over his love of baseball.
Retirement..what?!
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). Regardless of all that, I consider myself lucky to get to travel with him because it means that I will get to see him on a MUCH more regular basis, so I’m ready for any obstacle that this season is going to bring us. Spring training for us has always been easy because for us it’s pretty much where we live. Addison plays for the Yankees and their spring training/minor league hub is in Tampa, FL and we live in St. Petersburg, FL.We know how lucky we got with that one!! Just before the wedding I left my job in preparation for the upcoming season, and we are currently moving out of our apartment to live with his parents (who also live in St Pete) during spring training so we can save as much money possible before we leave to go to _________ (TBD). When spring training is over it will be a whole new ball game. We will have just found out for sure where we will start the season, pack up our little Toyota Corolla with as much stuff as we can, and drive to our currently unknown destination. Once we get there we will find a place to call “home” for an uncertain amount of time, probably to be shared with several other players to reduce the cost, and most likely this place will have little to no real furniture (unless you consider air mattresses and a card table real furniture). And those are just the things I’m aware of…there is probably lots more fun stuff I will learn about this life along the way, which is why I’m here. This is my journey through a world filled with uncertainty and plenty of ups and downs, but along side the man I love.