WilltheThrill
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What I can say about the wives/families I was privileged to be around frequently (and in a few cases even get to know on a personal level) is that they were some of the most down to earth and nicest people you would want to meet. I know exactly what you mean about the common stereotype of the gossipy/materialistic/gold digger player wives who are out there, but the families I was around were just that- VERY family-oriented.
I’ll clarify a little further and give you guys some extra tidbits. A good majority of my time with the team was spent about an hour or so after many games down in the player’s garage and the family reception room attached to the garage, which was where the wives, kids, and friends of the players would meet up with them after each game. I was escorted down there by Jackie Moore’s wife (who my whole family is friends with) or by Hoggy (the Rangers’ clubhouse manager), also a family friend.
I got to meet almost every one on the team over those 2 years. Here is what I quickly learned about a lot of the guys:
JD- I spoke to him all of ONE time, and it was a very brief “hello” after I was introduced to him. JD was NEVER around.
Mike Maddux- HUGE country boy, drove a big red pickup and wore big belt buckles. Very friendly.
Ron Washington- never met him or even saw him. Not. Once. Don’t know where he was. Didn’t ask.
Josh Hamilton- he and his wife Katie were always the first to leave and never stuck around to hang out with anyone. Katie was NOT well-liked by anyone. That’s putting it nicely. I never saw Josh’s girls there. So needless to say, I never talked to Josh even one time.
CJ Wilson- arrogant douchebag to the extreme. He and his arm candy never stuck around that long, and he acted like he was too good for everyone there. Most of the team would say bye to one another as they left. CJ never said a word to any of them. My lasting memory of him was him getting into his Porsche, revving the motor, and then peeling out of the parking garage as Hoggy shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Vlad Guerrero- MASSIVE dude. He’s even bigger looking up close in street clothes. Soft spoken and kind of quiet, but pleasant and friendly.
Nelly Cruz- also a big dude, and also a pretty nice guy. Didn’t get to talk to him much though.
Elvis Andrus- insanely nice and personable young guy. I get tired of his antics sometimes during games, but it’s impossible to dislike the guy because he was so amazingly kind to both me and my parents. He was just a kid then, and yet he took the time to have a 30-minute conversation with me the first time I met him. He talked like we were old friends. And after seeing me down there a few times, he even remembered my name. Just a great guy.
Mike Young- he and his wife Cristina were as nice as they could be. His son Mateo was a cute kid and well-mannered. And I got to know them because, oddly enough, they lived 3 doors down from me for one year before they bought a house in Highland Park. After they moved out, Mike kept the house and let Marlon Byrd live there for a year, and then after Marlon moved, Colby Lewis lived there.
Colby Lewis- just an awesome guy. He’s every bit the family man and red-blooded American he comes off as on tv. He and his family couldn’t have been any nicer, and when I mentioned to him I had seen him out walking on our street, he started asking me all about what restaurants nearby were good and how I liked the neighborhood. I will always be a Colby Lewis fan.
David Murphy- just like Colby Lewis, Murph too was a super family guy. He and his family always stuck around a long time and talked with everyone. His kids remembered me because I helped them get ice cream sandwiches out of the freezer once, and so they would always ask me to get their ice cream for them. But Murph was just a ridiculously nice guy.
Ian Kinsler- seemingly nice guy overall. His wife Tess was always really nice. Ian didn’t really say much to me, but I can’t blame him. I was just some random dude he didn’t know.
Endy Chávez and his family were really nice. I got to meet Misty May-Treanor during the World Series, but she was never around during the regular season. It was always just Matt. Never met Cliff Lee or Mike Napoli... not sure where they were. Never met Neftali Feliz either.
Anyway, the point to all of those stories is that the people I did meet and hang out with were very family-oriented and NOT the gossipy or superficial types. In fact, the topic of Davis and Simpson wasn’t even brought up but a few times. And when it was, the wives talked about it as though the info came straight from their husbands. It was talked about in a matter-of-fact way, like it was no big secret they weren’t well liked by the players. Furthermore, since I knew both Jackie Moore and Hoggy, I heard it straight from them where Davis and Simpson’s interests lied. So because the group of players and wives I got to know and my two good friends all said the same exact thing about those two owners, I believed them.
And I think the comment about them not caring about their players was more or less meant to be that Davis and Simpson were detached and more interested in their players as financial assets versus wanting to get to know them well. I don’t think they meant that the owners were uncaring monsters.
