BONDING OVER BASEBALL

We now continue our bonding series with a another cool chick who we appreciate a lot here at Bleeding Yankee Blue.  It’s Lory Ankiel, and while she’s not part of the Yankee family, she’s part of the Baseball, as well as the BYB family!

Many of you know Rick Ankiel, Pro baseball player who starting out as a Cardinals pitcher and eventually transformed himself into an outfielder and continued his career with the Cardinals, the Mets and so on.

While he was a member of the Nationals advising staff, something else was happening in the background.  Lory Ankiel was starting her own business and it’s a business near and dear to her heart because it involves most sports families.

In a nutshell, it's Our Baseball Life.  When a player gets traded or signs with another club, it’s sometimes urgent that the wife spring into action to get the family up and moved while the husband goes to that team to play ball, usually immediately.

Lory created Our Baseball Life, a website for sports wives to go to, look up the city and surrounding areas their husband was traded to and look for good schooling, homes, doctors and all of that.  It's an incredible tool and getting pretty popular in the baseball world, not to mention other sports.  That's right, she's expanding.

With Our Baseball Life, came the App, The Athlete’s Guide and more assistance for the baseball families that need it.  In short, I find what Lory has done to be pretty awesome, and we promote her here at BYB because she’s such a giving and nice person. She even posed for us in our Bleeding Yankee Blue tank!

So Lory, this stories for you! We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue have created a “Bonding over” series, highlighting people that are close to us here at Bleeding Yankee Blue over the past 5 years.  It’s a way to say "Thank you" for being so wonderful to us.  We are returning the favor, highlighting all of you!  Happy Holidays to you Lory and to Rick and your family! 

To our BYB audience, if you haven’t checked out our “Bonding over” series yet, please do so, check them out below:

BONDING OVER A PINT

BONDING OVER FAMILY 

BONDING OVER MUSIC 

BONDING OVER PASSION

BONDING OVER STRENGTH

It's Christmas Eve... Merry Christmas gang.





You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

ON THE BRENDAN RYAN TRADE: "IT GOT LEAKED!"

Thank God I have good friends in the industry that can help me out with stories from time to time.  I’m no trade rumor guru like Jon Heyman thinks he is… he hates me by the way.  I’m more of a regular guy with normal and interesting stories… and yes, I have a source here and there, but I never overplay my hand.  That’s a fact.

That being said, now that the Brendan Ryan move to the Cubs is official and helps complete that Adam Warren-Starlin Castro trade, I was able to find out alittle nugget that I’d like to bring to my Bleeding Yankee Blue audience.  According to my source, the Ryan family was pretty much taken by surprise and punched in the gut, so to speak, when they found out the news of Ryan being shipped to Chicago. But it was more about HOW they found out.

According to my source, the Ryan’s found out about the trade on Twitter at the same time everybody else did, having no idea what to think at the time.  My source said this of the story coming out about the Brendan Ryan’s trade news: “That wasn’t fun. It got leaked.”  It was definitely a blow and a bit nerve racking because they didn't have any official word from the New York Yankees.

Now look, there is something that comes with employment, personnel relationships and I gotta tell ya, I have no idea how the whole trade stuff goes down.  You gotta imagine names are thrown around, they discuss contracts, money and sometimes, perhaps in the case of Brendan Ryan, they discuss add-on players.  

Ryan was an add-on, and no doubt it was never truly relayed all the way through.   I have no reason to not believe my source on this story.  I can tell you that it must be hard for a family to have to continually need to move from team to team and town to town.  

(In Photo: BYB Friend, Lory Ankiel, founder of Our Baseball Life)

Hell, that’s why a person like Lory Ankiel started Our Baseball Life… because in a business like baseball, it’s hard for a wife to have to pack up the whole family and move while the husband, the ballplayer needs to get out to the new team and get to work. In this case, the offseason, it’s a bit easier, but still stressful. I feel bad for Brendan and Sharyn.

Now I will be asked, “Well, you interviewed the Ryans before, why didn’t you just ask them about it the trade?”  I want to be clear about something; while BYB interviews the players and their wives and gets to know these folks, these are public people with private lives.  The last thing they want is a regular dude like me texting them asking for answers. It's none of my freaking business. It’s called privacy ladies and gentlemen, and I try to respect people’s privacy, especially in an emotional moment like this.

But that’s the story when it comes to Brendan Ryan and his trade to the Cubs.  The trade is now complete, and Mr. Ryan puts on light blue pinstripes now, playing for the Cubbies.   That Harry Caray impersonation will help catapult him into the hearts of Cubbie fans for sure, as well as his great play.



To the Ryan family, you are great people.  You have a solid foundation and great family and no doubt, whatever city you play in, you will be fine. 

I just wanna tell you that I’m a personal fan, and I wish you the best!

Good luck!





You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

LORY ANKIEL IS SPREADING THE #BYB LOVE!

I just wanna take a moment to thank our friend, Lory Ankiel. She's the freakin' best!

You remember Lory. First of all, she's Rick Ankiel's wife and that's a big deal, but she's also a smart business woman creating Our Baseball Life, a terrific place for traded ballplayers. 

We explained this before, just to to recap, once a player is traded to a different ball club, there's literally no time to think.  Players usually have to get to their teams A.S.A.P.  That leaves the wives and kids behind to figure it all out. It can be stressful and it can suck. It's happened to Lory with Rick and it's happened for many baseball wives every season. So Lory set up Our Baseball Life so those families can find out more about the city they are about to be traded too.  It's brilliant, you can check it out HERE and follow them on Twitter @OurBaseballLife. But wait... there's more...

As you know, we've been breaking Lory's chops to sport our Bleeding Yankee Blue tank.  After all, you don't have to be a Yankee fan to wear #BYB gear.  Yes it's true, we do write opinion and news updates about the Yankees, but as I've stated here for a long, long time... BYB more about family and baseball in general.  It's a movement and we're just trying to drum up support to bring readers a positive message! A good family core is important.  That's why we have become friendly with folks we have the same family values with... the Hensley family, the Posadas...

(In Photo: Laura Posada)
The Sabathias, the Ryan family, the Jones family and so on.  Well, add the Ankiels to that list too.

Lory went huge for us! On the field of Sun Life Stadium, Lory threw on her #BYB tank and sent us this incredible shot.  We love it and we wanted to personally thank her for being awesome!

It's about support here.  We support positive and important ventures in things like Our Baseball Life... all we ask is that people understand the message we're trying to put there with BYB.  Lory gets it, and we love her for it! Thank you!

To my readers...If you guys get a chance, learn about Our Baseball Life as well as the Athlete's Guide APP.

It's all very interesting and we applaud Lory for a terrific product! You are one of the good ones and we support you  here at BYB! Thanks for being awesome!

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BRENDAN & SHARYN RYAN

We're big when it comes to family here at BYB just as much as we are with the New York Yankees.  It's quite evident when you see who we have aligned ourselves with over the years.  Laura and Jorge Posada (THE FULL POSADA INTERVIEW), CC & Amber Sabathia (CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR: INTERVIEW WITH THE SABATHIA), David & Erin Robertson (EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: HIGH SOCKS FOR HOPE), Garrett & Cassie Jones (EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: GARRETT & CASSIE JONES), plus we got to know the Hensley family through Ty, getting to know mom Marci and his brother Jake as well as Lory Ankiel whose husband Rick is with the Washington Nationals.  In other words, the bond runs deep, and we continue to do it differently here at Bleeding Yankee Blue than all the others out there.  While everyone wants to know about the player, we go deeper. We want to know how they've not only become the player, but how they became great people.  That starts at home... with their families.

Enter Brendan Ryan.  A guy who I appreciate in pinstripes and a guy that clearly has a terrific family. Sharyn Ryan is a great chick and it's clear, these 2 kids are crazy about each other.  So, now I have something special for you all. I bring you our interview with Brendan & Sharyn Ryan.

Oh, and here's the best treat of them all.  In something that has never been done here at BYB, we present Brendan's part of the interview via audio.  Sharyn came up with the idea and so, we thought it would be awesome to present it to you to bring that extra personal element to it.

So enjoy this ladies and gentlemen... I certainly did.

BYB: Brendan, I've been a fan since Seattle.  Tell me about when you heard that you were coming to the Yankees.  What's going through your mind? 



BYB: Sharyn, My wife and I both read your tweet about Brendan and you from last December. You tweeted about your 2 year anniversary. Brendan was on Piano. 

Celebrating our 2yr today! Thanks Brendan for always keeping me entertained:) pic.twitter.com/Fxa9ti28Fv

— Sharyn Ryan (@SharynRyan17) December 1, 2014

We loved it!  How did you and Brendan meet and did you know he was the one?

Sharyn Ryan:  Brendan and I actually met when I was in 7th grade and he was a sophomore in high school. He is one of my brothers best friends and played baseball together. Two years later we're at Notre Dame High School together. I was a freshman and he was a senior. There was definitely an instant attraction but nothing could happen... Minus the age difference at the time, I was his best friends little sister and nothing could happen! Eventually as I got older we hung out more and became really good friends and my brother watched us like a hawk! Finally, my brother Tim realized there was a definite spark between Brendan and I. He gave us his blessing and as they say, the rest is history.

BYB: Sharyn, you mentioned to me that Brendan is very funny.  Expand on that for the BYB audience?

Sharyn Ryan:  I don't even know how or where to begin with this question. That was actually one of the things that attracted me to Brendan, besides his handsome good looks!  Rarely is there a dull moment in our lives, there's always laughter going on in our household. I know at the moment Brendan is known for his mustache but he really should be known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices". We all know he loves to do impersonations but the voices and characters he comes up with on his own are pretty special.  

I swear our son is going to be very confused when he gets older. You really have to be on your toes to be married to Brendan, he's always cracking jokes and is looking for participation in his witty banter. He's always looking to laugh and have fun and I love that about him.

BYB: Brendan, what's up with the Harry Caray impersonation? I have to say, it's the best, most exaggerated and most hilarious one I've ever seen... better than Will Ferrell. I'm not kidding.  How the heck did you come up with that?




BYB: B, tell me about Seattle for a sec.  What's it like to play for a guy like Eric Wedge and compare that to Joe Girardi.  Different Strategy? Personalities? Give the audience alittle insight. 




BYB: Sharyn, Your son is absolutely adorable and We loved your tweet about your "Irish boys."

My Irish boys🍀💚 pic.twitter.com/uDT8B4d5iQ

— Sharyn Ryan (@SharynRyan17) March 18, 2015

Tell the audience about what makes parenthood so special for you both...

Sharyn:  Parenthood is everything I thought it would be and more. I mean yes I'm tired, yes I have no free time and I, we can't go to dinner or anywhere like we used to but I wouldn't have it any other way. His smile and laughter melts my heart and makes all those sleepless nights worth it. 

We are truly blessed and lucky to have Hudson, he's such a good and HAPPY baby. What makes it extra special for me is watching Brendan with Hudson, I see that and my heart is full.

BYB: Brendan, what's the best quality about Sharyn?

BYB: Brendan, growing up... what baseball player did you admire most and why?



BYB: Did you always know you wanted to play baseball? And to follow up... what's it like to put on the pinstripes compared to wearing a Cardinals or Mariners uniform?



BYB: Sharyn, I currently have a bet going with one of my friends on who is going to sport Bleeding Yankee Blue gear first... Cassie & Garrett Jones who we interviewed on Opening day, or Lory Ankiel, a friend of BYB's (wife of Rick Ankiel) and just a cool chick.  Should we add you guys into the mix? Are you in? Will you put the others the shame? I have a BYB onesie with Hudson's name on it!

(In Photo: Garrett and Cassie Jones)
Sharyn:  The Jones' are awesome and I'm friends with Lory. She was actually one of the first baseball wives I ever met when Brendan was in AAA Memphis forever ago, she's the best!! But we will have to put them to shame with our BYB gear!

BYB: Finally... Do you read Bleeding Yankee Blue? If so, what do you think?

Sharyn:  I read BYB, not all the time, it"s hard with a little one, but what I have read I liked! You guys seem pretty positive which I appreciate. Brendan does not read anything! Whatever he finds out is from me! He stays away from blogs and articles.

Hey, I get that!

A very special thank you to Sharyn and Brendan for taking the time to speak to Bleeding Yankee Blue.  You 2 are now part of the BYB family!

To my audience; I hope you enjoyed this.  Bottom line, I like these 2. They're crazy about each other and their family and that's what we like to share here at Bleeding Yankee Blue!

SLADE HEATHCOTT GOES ON THE SHELF

Well, that was fast.

Lou DiPietro of YESNetwork.com reported some unfortunate news about Slade Heathcott.  He's headed to the DL:

"Heathcott has a Grade 2 strain of his right quadriceps and will miss at least a month...The Yankees will place Heathcott on the 15-day disabled list and outfielder Ramon Flores has been called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace him."

And so now, the kid who everyone was excited about goes on the DL.  We just got finished celebrating the guy with a terrific piece by Steve Skinner of BYB fame.  That piece is titled  OUR NEXT "BERNIE". It's a must read piece if you have not yet seen it.

We've also written extensively about our kids on the farm at the beginning of the season... and we wrote about Ramon Flores too.  Check out this Ike Dimitriadis piece titled: KIDS TO WATCH: RAMON FLORES.

Yup... we write about everything at Bleeding Yankee Blue. I hope that's why you love us. Get well soon Slade. Welcome back Ramon.

And speaking of writing about everything... be sure to read  WEARING #BYB MAKES YOU SEXY. 

Laura Posada wears Bleeding Yankee Blue. 

Marci Hensley and Ty wear Bleeding Yankee Blue!

Here's the question.  Will our friend Lory Ankiel wear Bleeding Yankee Blue?

How about Garrett and Cassie Jones? Will they eventually wear Bleeding Yankee Blue?  Stay tuned!





You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: GARRETT & CASSIE JONES

Family is an important part of Bleeding Yankee Blue.  We are a big family here, both writers and readers alike. The Yankees are a big family and so are the families that surround them. The wives and kids that give their love and support to that Yankee player, and the fans that surround them all. It's a terrific give and take, and I personally am proud to say that I've gotten to know a lot of these Yankee families and it continues today... on Opening Day.

I am proud to introduce to you Garrett and Cassie Jones, two terrific people with a whole lot to say about being part of the Yankee family.  I've gotten to know Cassie and G recently, and I am thrilled to present to you right now, BYB's exclusive interview with them, on the best day of the year... Yankees Opening Day.

Enjoy this ladies and gentlemen... I certainly did. 

BYB: Garrett, you'll be sharing time at first base and DH. You're a lefty hitter and there's a short porch at Yankee Stadium. What’s going through your mind right now as we approach your first game today?

Garrett Jones: Pure excitement! That's all I've been thinking about!  I can't wait for the season to start and the atmosphere for baseball in Yankee stadium. Any way I can get in the lineup and help the team win, I will do it.

BYB: And I can’t believe it, you’ve never played at Yankee Stadium, have you?

Garrett Jones:  I'm excited that my first time playing in Yankee stadium will be as a Yankee! Can't get any better than that. 

BYB: So Cassie, how did you become a Yankee fan? You’re from Chicago, right? 

Cassie Jones: Yes. It’s funny, I grew up in the South side of Chicago and kind of grew up a White Sox fan first.  

But when my cousin, Ron Coomer  started playing for the Yankees in 2002, I slowly became a Yankee fan.  In fact, my whole family did.  Not just fans, more like we were obsessed with the Yankees.  So, it’s funny, when it was time for me to decide what college to go to, I was deciding between Harvard and Cornell, My family was saying, “Pick Cornell, you’ll be in Yankee territory. If you pick Harvard, you’ll be in Red Sox territory. I picked Cornell.”

BYB: How did you and Garrett meet?

Cassie Jones: I met Garrett early in his career, around 2009 right before he became a Pittsburgh Pirate. We actually met in Chicago. We were both at the batting cages. He was there training and I was there getting at bats for my upcoming collegiate softball season.  So yeah, we met at the cages.

BYB: Wait, you played Softball?

Cassie Jones: Oh yeah,  Softball.  I played for the Junior Olympics and have played competitively on travel teams since the age of 9.   

It was very expensive and very competitive but I loved it.  In fact, my twin sisters play now and they’re in college.  My parents gave us a great opportunity. 

BYB: So when did you have time to do other stuff? Like, what about checking out Yankee Stadium?

Cassie Jones: You know, I have never been to the new Yankee Stadium and you’re not gonna believe it, I have never been to the old Yankee stadium either.

And it's the ONLY stadium Garrett has never played in as well! So crazy!! I went to New York City quite a bit in college but always during the off season, including the time we got engaged in Central Park. And, I always traveled to New York every time the Pirates or Marlins played there, but they only played the Mets, so neither of us ever made it to Yankee stadium.

BYB: Wow. Obviously because you had so much going on with Softball, right?

Cassie Jones: Right. We really didn’t have much time off, but it was always on my "if I have a weekend off" bucket list!

BYB: Garrett.  I became a fan of yours when you were in Pittsburgh.  Tell me what it’s like to play for Clint Hurdle, another guy I admire

Garrett Jones: Hurdle is a great leader and motivator. He has really helped bring that city to life, and I've enjoyed being a part of it and now watching it. 

BYB: Garrett, the media is blowing up the DH spot between you and ARod too much to make it a circus.  Even me being a fan knows when it comes to the DH, it’s about righty / lefty situations. What can you say to the BYB Audience to put that whole fake controversy to rest? 

Garrett Jones:  I just think it's going to come down to who's swinging the bat well and being the most consistent out there. Perfect scenario, we both are swinging that bat well and making it tough on Joe to keep one of us out of the lineup.

BYB: OK, so give me a nugget about you and Garrett that not a lot of people know.

Cassie Jones: This is a funny one actually. Because I’m a huge Yankee fan, I have all kinds of Yankees memorabilia.  When Garrett used to come visit me at Cornell, he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  I used to make him sleep with my Yankee blanket.  He was like “Seriously Cassie? I play for the Pirates.” That poor thing is so ratty now.

BYB: That's funny.  Now, when Garrett got traded, there was a lot of Twitter action from you. Where were you when the trade went down?

Cassie Jones: I actually found out first about the trade on Twitter .  I was at home.  I remember the Marlins made a move and got a guy that could have essentially replaced Garrett.  I just started looking on Internet and 2 minutes later, it said that Nathan and Garrett were on the Yankees radar and it was further along than before. So I found out before Garrett.  Garrett was working out with Pedro Alvarez, his teammate with the Pirates.  I called him and said “I think we’re going to New York!”  He was like “No way!”  He called his agent. I called my family and we were all like “Oh my God!”  You see, because we’re all Yankee fans, it was amazing.  When anyone asked my step-dad what his favorite team was, he’d say “The Yankees and any team my son-in-law's on.” They DVR’d ever Yankee game and game Garrett played.  I recently joked with my step-dad and said, “Now you’ll gain a lot of space on that DVR, he’s a Yankee!”

BYB: What do you have to do when your husband gets traded. I mean, we spoke with Rick Ankiel’s wife Lory and she came up with a database to help the baseball wives, because it’s gotta be stressful moving. Tell me about your experience...

Cassie Jones: It can be, yes, but this time is was nice to have friends in New York, mainly because of my time at Cornell. Plus, getting traded in the off season makes the world of difference.  And yes,  there are groups out there for the baseball wives to help get things together for the families; Living areas, doctors, pediatricians, Realtors.   We have some good networks.

BYB: Major League, Bull Durham or Field of Dreams? What’s your movie?

Garrett Jones:   Major League 

BYB: So have you bought your son that little #33 jersey yet?

Cassie Jones:  33 is one of his fave numbers and it just so happens to be the double of my college number so I was happy. You know, the YES Network actually filmed a little segment with Jax and me in the team store and bought us both a couple things, including "Little Daddy" and hats for us, which was great because I finally begrudgingly parted with my Yankees stuff last year. I gave it all to my family, and when I asked for it back when Garrett was traded to the Yanks, they called me an "Indian Giver" and said, "No way - get your own stuff!" So I definitely need to replenish my stock in gear!! Garrett is currently working on getting a full uniform for Jax. I can't wait to see my boys in matching pinstripes!

BYB: Where about Family here at BYB as much as we are the Yankees.  You guys are in a good place right now. What’s the most important thing to you?

Cassie Jones: Us as a family. Garrett’s a very hard worker and you will see that this season. But when he’s not playing baseball and we’re away from it, he’s all family. We both are.  Garrett is very good interacting with fans but when it comes to family time, it’s family time.  A happy, healthy family is important. We are big family people and we will always spend nights together whenever we can maintaining our unit. 

BYB: What’s on your iPod right now?

Cassie Jones: It’s funny. I’m a rock girl, but Garrett is a Country music fan.  We recently moved the Nashville and I have to tell you, Country music consumes you down here.  I am pretty amazed by how quickly he adapted to the country lifestyle.  He goes to the Jack Daniels distillery, bought some camo, goes shooting once in a while, he bought a pick-up. He’s all in.  I was recently telling this to Chase Headley's wife. It's funny because we live right by them and didn't know it!  The Headley's are great people. Anyway, I personally am always listening to Pearl Jam, Lifehouse, and Mumford & Sons to name a few. Oh and Garrett is a huge rock guy too. Metallica is his favorite! 

BYB: Garrett... What's up with the Country Music? Is that a baseball thing? I mean, you're from Chicago!

Garrett Jones: We are from Chicago but moved to Nashville as you know!  But, I love all different types of music and country is now one of them.  I always felt like I should have been born and grown up in the south!

BYB: When did you discover Bleeding Yankee Blue?

Cassie Jones: You guys tagged me in one of your articles on both Garrett and I.  It was a really sweet article and I believe you guys were one of the first to write about us.  It was nice. Thank you. YOU GUYS ROCK! 

BYB: What message can you give to the BYB audience and all the Yankee fans out there?

Garrett Jones: Thank you for all the support and positive feedback we've received. We appreciate it very much! Looking to do some damage this year and help bring a championship back to the Yankees!!

Cassie and Garrett. I just want to say thank you for taking the time and joining us at Bleeding Yankee Blue.  You are beautiful family and we really appreciate you here. You're also part of the BYB family now! Welcome to the Bronx!