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SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly every morning, as Salt Lake Bees outfielder Michael Hermosillo wakes up, he eagerly pulls up Facetime. He can’t wait to hear the new sounds, see the smiles, see how much his young daughter Aspyn has grown.
“It’s crazy, man, especially when you are away but even when you're not away, you come in and they are someone new,” Hermosillo said, beaming as he talked about his daughter. “They have grown a little bit. They got a little bit smarter, figured out her body out a little more.”
In October, Hermosillo had surgery to replace a sports hernia.
That’s usually not great news for an up-and-coming player who had just made his major league debut. The surgery meant he was going to miss spring training and that he was going to be out for the start of the season.
When you’re trying to forge a spot in the majors, missing time is often dreaded, but for Hermosillo, it was a blessing.
In December, Aspyn was born. And instead of him having to spend hours preparing for the season and then heading to spring training, he was home with her. That gave him more time to discover just how meaningful fatherhood can be. And that experience has gone on to shape who he is now on and off the field.
There’s a lot of failure in baseball. So much, in fact, that it’s considered good if you only get out 70% of the time. The nature of the games makes it easy for players to get down on themselves — especially when they are still navigating the minor league system. It can become easy to dwell on all the things that aren’t going right — from how you are playing to where you are living to the team you are playing on — when you are all you are thinking about.
Hermosillo used to find himself dwelling on some of those negatives. Then Aspyn was born.
“Some of the daily struggles that you selflessly think about just because it’s just you and nobody else to focus on, you get away from all of that stuff,” Hermosillo said. “You realize there’s a lot more to life, and it’s enjoying the moments and the memories.”
Moments like video chatting with his young daughter on his phone in the morning, seeing how she’s learning to shake her head. And moments on the baseball field, too, celebrating the little victories and enjoying the whole process with teammates.
Fatherhood has given him a new perspective.
Baseball has always been a family game. Something that Bees pitching coach Pat Rice is thankful for.
There’s a picture lost in a box at the Rice home or tucked away in a forgotten photo album. It’s a photo of David Ortiz — then listed as David Arias — holding two of Rice’s kids on his shoulders.
It was a moment that maybe didn’t resonate too much at the time — Ortiz was a single-A player at the time — but one that can be looked back on with almost disbelief.
It’s those types of moments that make the sacrifices worth it. Rice is a baseball lifer. He made it to the majors as a pitcher in 1991 before beginning a career working and coaching in the pro game. That meant long summers, long nights and plenty of hours away from his family.
“You need a special woman in your life,” Rice said. “My wife is the most amazing person ever to make it possible. There is no way I could do it without her. It’s probably tougher on her than it is on me.”
Despite the time sacrifice, Rice said baseball has helped bring him and his kids together. It’s allowed them to share some experiences most would consider surreal — like hanging out in the Mariners clubhouse, taking ground balls from major league players and becoming friends with players like Ichiro Suzuki.
“They’ve grown up around it,” Rice said. “You can’t help be drawn into all of it.”
He has a son playing college baseball and one that is on the communication staff for the PCL’s Fresno Grizzlies. And then there are the nightly texts discussing call-ups, trades and the rest of the day’s news.
“Baseball keeps them connected with me when I am gone,” Rice said. “That’s why I get the texts at night and that sort of thing. Baseball is special that way. If I had a 9-5 job and worked at an office, I wouldn't have that. Even though you might be home more, it’s like we become closer because you are further away.”
Hermosillo is just beginning to balance fatherhood and a life in baseball. After fully returning from surgery at the start of the month, he’s currently going through some of the longest times he’s had away from his daughter since she was born six months ago.
But, as Rice has done with his family, he’s looking forward to sharing the ballpark with her, too.
"She’ll definitely be decked out in Bees gear once she gets here,” Hermosillo said
