Love and baseball

I’m going to steer away from the traditional baseball post and instead write a more sappy, personal one. Don’t worry, it still involves baseball.

I’m getting married today.

Those are crazy words to write, never mind say out loud.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m very excited to get married. She’s the woman I fell in love with and will treasure forever. I can’t imagine my life without her. She’s a perfect match for me. My soulmate. My dream girl.

It’s just crazy that today is the day. After months of planning, a full baseball season and countless times counting down the days, it’s finally here.

So where does baseball come into play? You’ll be shocked to find out that, with my job, it has played an integral part in our relationship.

Megan and I met on Aug. 3, 2018 at The Bullpen across the street from Nationals Park. We had been in common friend circles before, but it took us a while to officially meet. Our mutual friend used to play live concerts with his band at The Bullpen before Nationals games.

Not to get too romantic or over the top, but you could say it was fate that we met. I almost didn’t go to The Bullpen from Nats Park due to work obligations. Megan almost didn’t go to The Bullpen at all.

But we did. We went on a couple of dates after that, and here we are, four years later.

We came to find out our lives already sort of overlapped. Her brothers went to Gonzaga College High School here in D.C., where my two cousins and I went. Her younger brother was just two years ahead of me. She and her sister went to The Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Md., where my younger sister and cousin also attended. Megan’s sister was even a guidance counselor at Gonzaga while I was there, though she never had me as a student. Who knew?

My running joke is that Megan hates baseball. She doesn’t really. She actually grew up an avid Orioles fan, thanks to her two brothers. She just hates my work schedule, which anyone who works in baseball can tell you is brutal.

But she has stood by me and supported me through a lot of baseball these past four years. She cheered me (and the Nats) on while I followed the team on their magical World Series run in October 2019, while also watching nervously from home.

We went to the championship parade together to celebrate the victory and the engagement of two of our friends (including the one we went to see at The Bullpen). We’re big parade people now.

We quarantined during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic at my parents’ house in Silver Spring, Md. She stuck with me while I had to go into an office about an hour away to work all 60 games that season. It wasn’t easy, but she did it. Such a saint.

We moved into our current house in D.C. in November 2020. She let me turn one of our spare rooms into a podcasting studio/office space for the 2021 season, while we still worked from home.

And then this season, my first fully on the beat and traveling on my own with the team, she stuck with me during extra innings, long rain delays and late-night West Coast games. The life of a baseball partner.

She’s the best roster move I’ve ever made. A lifelong contract.

But now we’ll take on our biggest challenge yet: marriage. We have no hesitations about getting married, but we also know how challenging it will be. We know we have to put a lot of work into it. The best things in life aren’t easy.

Of course, there have been and will be bumpy roads, but we know they lead to a beautiful place.

To tie in baseball more, I think back to June 18, Ryan Zimmerman Day at Nats Park. While Zimmerman was giving his address on the field after becoming the first player to have his number retired by the Nationals, he started thanking all of the people who have supported him along the way. Of course, he got choked up when we started talking about his family and his wife, Heather.

I got choked up listening to him talk about Heather (and also now typing this), not because of how much I admire and respect their relationship from afar, which I do. But because I get that same feeling when I think about Megan.

You know it when you feel it.

We got engaged on Oct. 8, 2021 by the Georgetown Waterfront (right in front of the water fountain where the Capitals celebrated their championship in 2018). We had our first round of engagement photos taken around the Navy Yard and in front of Nats Park. Now we’re getting married at the church at Gonzaga and having our reception in D.C.

Our love has been and always will be entrenched in this city. This is our home. This is where our family is starting. These are our sports teams, for a variety of reasons.

Today we’re taking the next step. It’s a big one, and I can’t wait.

I want to thank all of our family and friends who are joining us this weekend. Some have traveled from far and wide (New York, Illinois, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, California, Guatemala and Iceland). Their love and support know no bounds, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

I want to thank everyone at MASN for their well-wishes and support while I take the next week off to celebrate and go on our honeymoon. I’ll have you all covered when it’s your turn.

I want to thank you, the readers, for not only following along during the season and now the offseason, but for also allowing me to get away with my personal love story as a Saturday morning post. You’re all the best.

And to Megan, I’ll paraphrase Bob Carpenter: See. You. At the altar!

How can you not be romantic about baseball?