Aug 17, 2012
Jun 29, 2012
Mitch Moreland's fiancee Susannah Higgins
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Huge props to reader Lynn Marie who pointed us in the right direction on this one.
Mitch and Susannah met 10 years ago when Susannah was on vacation. The then 13 year old Susannah saw a 15 year old Mitch throwing a football on the beach, and decided to chase after him. Susannah claims that the two spoke on the phone every night for the next two years.
The two went their separate ways, but came back together in September, 2009 after lengthy periods without being in touch with one another. After coming back together, it took only 10 months for Mitch to drop to one knee and put a ring on Susannah's finger. The two will be married November, 13, 2011, shortly after the Rangers wrap up their 2011 title hunt.
We should note that when we were covering the Packers in their pursuit of a Super Bowl title, we came across the fact that Tramon & Shantrell Williams had the biggest wedding party we've ever seen before, with 28 members total. Unfortunately, that record is dropping on November 13, when Mitch and Susannah will have 32 members in their wedding party. Amongst those will be some of Mitch's former teammates including Justin Smoak, who was dealt to Seattle.
But seriously. 32 in the wedding party... 32.
One quick item of interest. Susannah mentions when describing their story that she competed in the Miss Alabama competition. Seriously... who the hell could have beaten her? I mean, Alabama must bring the heat in these competitions, huh?
Mike Napoli's girlfriend Selma Alameri
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- We were tipped off about notorious bachelor Mike Napoli's girlfriend Selma Alameri by an astute reader and Ranger fan, Alayna. After looking into this, and finding pictures on Ms. Alameri, we can certainly understand how Mike may have finally been tamed.
After we started digging to verify this fact, we saw the interview on the right from Dallas TV station, NBC 5 KXAS which confirms that Selma Alameri is Mike Napoli's girlfriend. Selma was interviewed with Mike's mom, Donna Torres, about their excitement being in the stands both in Arlington and Detroit to follow the Rangers 2011 playoff run.
From the extremely limited information about Selma online, the best we can gather is that she currently lives in California, suggesting that she and Mike may have met while he played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim prior to the 2011 season.
Beyond this limited information, and speculative findings of our research, there's seriously nothing else public about Selma. If anyone has any further details send them to us using the Contact form above.
Jason Motte's wife Caitlin Motte
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Time Together: Jason and Caitlin met in the summer of 2008, while both were employees of the Memphis Redbirds; Jason was pitching for the club while Caitlin was working in the marketing department. After two years of dating, Jason Motte married his girlfriend Caitlin Motte nee Doyle on November 20, 2010. The ceremony and reception were held in Memphis, TN. Motte had bullpenmates Kyle McClellan and Mitchell Boggs as groomsmen. Motte was given the chance to repay the favor to Boggs, serving in his wedding just 3 weeks later.
Caitlin is a 2007 graduate of Mississippi College. She still works in the Memphis area where she met Jason, as Assistant Women's Basketball Coach at St. Benedict at Auburndale.
Nolan Ryan's Wife Ruth Ryan
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Owner of the Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan's wife Ruth Ryan met her husband-to-be when she was just 13 years old. 15 year old Nolan Ryan and 13 year old Ruth Holdorff met while they both attended Alvin High School in Alvin, Texas. Nolan was a standout baseball and basketball star, while Ruth was a state champion tennis player - in short, they were the prototypical high school power couple. Hell, they were probably Prom King and Queen for all we know. The two were married on June 26th, 1967. Nolan and Ruth Ryan went on to have three children together: Robert Reid Ryan (born on November 21, 1971), Jimmy Reese Ryan (born on January 21, 1976) and Wendy Lynn Ryan (born on March 22, 1977).
Ruth Ryan is heavily involved in charity work. Along with Nolan, she helped to create the Nolan Ryan Foundation which provide resources for youth, education, and community development. She is also very involved at her alma mater, Alvin College, where she is involved with the Board of trustees, the ACC Foundation and also has the softball field named after her.
Ruth also recently published a book about her life with Nolan Ryan, fittingly called "Covering Home: My Life with Nolan Ryan". Ruth also provides some insight into her family values on the Nolan Ryan's All-Natural Beef website. Hop on over and read How to Make Sit-Down Dinners and Busy Sports Schedules Mix.
Ruth Ryan was born Ruth Holdorff in Alvin, Texas on January 10, 1949.
Ron Washington's Wife Gerry Washington
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Manager of the Texas Rangers, Ron Washington's wife Gerry Washington is perhaps best known for standing by her man when he tested positive for cocaine during the 2009 season. Gerry Washington appeared at her husband's side at the press conference when he announced the positive test. Ron and Gerry have been married almost 40 years and she wasn't about to let a little blow ruin all of that.
Gerry also made the news around game 4 of this year's ALDS when Ron Washington, a huge sunflower seed chewer for years, switched to gum. News broke that Gerry didn't like the way that Ron looked on camera when chewing seeds. According to Ron, she said "Everybody eats seeds, but nobody looks like you". Harsh words. And a little controlling if you ask me.
Ron and Gerry's home in Eastern New Orleans was almost completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - literally reduced to studs. Many of Ron's family members packed up and left - but not Ron and Gerry. They insisted on rebuilding and the process is almost finished, thanks in large part to donations from several of his players (at the time) like Miguel Tejada and Jason Giambi, who donated more than $60,000 to aide in the process.
Obviously that second photo isn't of Gerry Washington. Fact is, I could only find one photo of her. In my searches however, this little dude kept popping up. Given that Halloween is only a week or so away this year, I felt it only fitting to highlight what might be the best costume that I've ever seen. Li'l Ron Washington makes me wish that I had a black son, because I would totally convince him to dress like this. Amazing.
Tony LaRussa's Wife Elaine LaRussa
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals Tony LaRussa and his wife Elaine LaRussa are huge animal nuts. No, you don't get it. We mean HUGE animal nuts. To the point where they have a rabbit, five dogs, five mice, and fourteen cats at their home in Alamo, CA. Huge to the point where they actually started a 37,000 square foot no-kill shelter called Animal Rescue Foundation. Huge to the point where Tony, Elaine and their daughters (Bianca Tai, a cheerleader for the Raiders, and Devon Kai) appeared together on an Animal Planet show called... wait for it... Housecat Housecalls. Ya, it does sound like something akin to the Bunny Ranch, but I digress.
After his playing career, which was never very successful, was over, Tony became manager of the Chicago White Sox Doube-A affiliate, but not before actually passing the bar exam after attending law school at Florida State University's School of Law. Elaine has actually said that she thought she was marrying a lawyer, not a manager. In 1979, when his wife Elaine (actually his second wife) was mere weeks away from having their first child, the White Sox offered Tony the big league job. Elaine, despite the pending child, encouraged Tony to take the job. He did take the job, becoming the became the youngest active manager in the bigs, at 34 - never to actually practice law.
Tony and Elaine (sounds like an aunt and uncle that everyone has) started the Animal Rescue Foundation in 1991 after a cat somehow managed to wander on to the field in the middle of a game that Tony was managing. LaRussa somehow was able tocapturesafely contain the animal in the dugout. After attempting to leave the animal with a local shelter, he was abhorred to discover that they would likely kill the animal. He and his wife kept the cat but used the experience as a jumping off point to start their own no-kill shelter.
Matt Harrison's wife Meghan Harrison
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Matt Harrison's wife Meghan Harrison has developed an online personality for herself, running her own blog, and as a regular contributor to Baseball Wife Blog discussing some of the inner details of being the wife of a professional baseball player. Amongst some of the topics she's talked about are how frequently she travels with the team and how she feels when fans ask for autographs when they are together in public.
Meghan was also featured in an article on ESPNDallas.com discussing Matt Harrison's vocal supporters. Meghan is notoriously loud when Matt's on the hill, and can be frequently picked up louder than general crowd noise by TV and radio microphones. Says Matt, "As long as she's not cussing out fans and getting in fights, I'm all right. At least she's watching what's going on and knows what's happening. She's not just sitting up there not paying attention."
Matt and Meghan were married December 13, 2008 after dating for 6 years. They are currently expecting their first child.
Kyle Lohse's wife Gabrielle Lohse
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- Time Together: Kyle Loshe met the former Gabrielle (Gaby) Vernier while attending Butte College in northern California. They have two children together, son Kameron, and daughter Alexis.
Gabrielle has been involved in various charitable endeavors, including modeling for a fashion show benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and making appearances with Kyle at various Children's hospitals.
Beyond that, our research has pulled up very little on the couple. They own homes in Florida and Arizona, and appear to have never claimed their 2009 FL tax refund. Interesting, huh?
I know this picture doesn't do her justice, and feel the need to make a public correction. The only other picture we've ever found online proves that Mrs. Lohse is a bonafide smokeshow, though we are not able to post it here. Trust us on this one,... this is an all day long 10.
Nelson Cruz's wife Solanyi Genao
PHOTOS
- We're almost positive this is her. He wouldn't pose like this with his sister would he?
THE STORY
- This post is our personal nemesis, our great white whale if you will. For the last six weeks, we have been searching and scouring for information on Nelson Cruz's wife, or Nelson Cruz's girlfriend.
We knew he was dating a woman in 2005, who was mentioned on the Texas Rangers website. The best information we could find, suggested that the two broke up shortly before 2007.
Later research found that he is infact married, as an ESPN.com article stated:
Cruz does enjoy coming to the Bronx. That's because Cruz loves to visit his older sister, Olga, and her family. They live, in the Bronx, just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. Cruz's wife's family also lives nearby, so Cruz always spends time here during the offseason."
We continued on. In recent days, we learned that Nelson Cruz married Solanyi Genao on Christmas Day (though embarrassingly enough, no clue what year). Strong information suggests the two have one child together.
So, there. We have some info, though nothing is concrete. Appears our great while whale continues to swim out there. We'll keep you posted if we can get any concrete information following the World Series when stories are sure to surface on Nelson Cruz's personal life.
Thanks to reader Shayne for helping us out with this post. Appreciate the heads up!
Dan Uggla's ex-wife Tara, and his alleged mistress Bibi Jones
Bibi Jones
THE STORY
- UPDATE: 10/26/2011: Looks like Uggla wasn't the only visiting player to hook up with Bibi Jones. Jones, who is a Phoenix local, acknowledged that she worked with an agent who uses her and her skills as a recruiting device. Business Insider has learned that agent is Terry Bross, who Uggla signed with on July 28, 2010, just a short period of time after he played a 3 game road series against the Diamondbacks.
In the interview with Business Insider, Jones said she was never paid by Bross, but would be brought to bars to meet various players (again, she’s only 20 now, and 19 in 2010). She claims to have slept with over 10 major leaguers, though identified none other than Uggla.
It’ll be interesting to find out if MLB and the MLBPA have any sanctions or opinions on this recruiting tactic. While it’s likely a widespread tactic, this is certainly the first public accusation of this move. We’ll keep you posted.
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10/24/2011: Appears Dan Uggla has separated from his wife, Tara. According to an article in the New York Times, Dan's two children live with his ex-wife, Tara in Kentucky. Without knowing the timeline of the alleged encounter with Bibi Jones, we cannot definitively point to whether this affair took place while Uggla was married or not. More details as they come. - On Monday, 10/24, Boston Based Toucher & Rich had an interview with Rob Gronkowski's picture posing friend Bibi Jones. Bibi was open and discussed a number of things, including some of the athlete's she'd slept with. While she was open to admit that she'd been with many married men, she refused to give details. When Toucher & Rich pressed her to find out the single men she'd been with, she was open to say she'd conquered Dan Uggla.
One problem: Dan Uggla isn't single. Dan Uggla is married to a woman named Tara, with whom he has children. Dan and Tara have been together since before 2007, when at that time Bibi Jones was only 16 at the oldest. It's safe to say, this alleged encounter took place while Tara was in the picture...
Ben Cherington's Wife Tyler Tumminia
PHOTOS
THE STORY
- UPDATE: 04-10-2012: What better way to celebrate an 0-3 start to the Red Sox season than for the new GM, Ben Cherington, to marry his girlfriend Tyler Tumminia. The couple will apparently have a larger wedding in September. Why the two separate ceremonies? Well, Ben Cherington's wife Tyler Tumminia is reportedly pregnant with the couple's first child and will be welcoming him or her very soon - so it sounds like they likely wanted to tie the knot before the birth of their child.
- We were originally tipped off about this rumored relationship by a reader just over a week ago. Ben Cherington is fiercely guarded about his personal life, so it wasn't a surprise for us to find nothing online about this relationship. However, in advance of tomorrow's announcement that Ben Cherington will be promoted to General Manager of the Boston Red Sox, we've gotten another tip from a different reader claiming the same thing. So while we have found nothing publicly to support this relationship, we've gotten a couple tips essentially saying the same thing.
Tyler is the product of a baseball bloodline. Her father, John Tumminia, has been a scout with the Chicago White Sox for over 30 years. The self described "New York girl," works as the VP of Marketing and Operations for Goldkang Group, where she has directly helped to launch and host "Be Your Own Fan." Tyler hosts a bi-weekly web based show for BYOF, where she travels to various locations to show the business side of sports. Episodes can be seen here.
If we get confirmation of the two being together (for example, if she's at tomorrow's presser), we'll be sure to keep you posted.
