When it rains it pours

After our crappy past few weeks with Brew's arm, I was prepared to start the week fresh. Let me tell you how this went.

Monday at the office, check account to see if Ford starting taking Brew's truck payment out automatically yet before I sent a check. You see Fifth Third Bank is retarded and who our truck is financed through, and doesn't let you pay online unless you bank with then, and has had major issues getting their crap together since February getting our payments on auto pay. So I log on...GASP!!!!!!!!! A check for just over $2,000 pending! Say What?!!  I called Brew who of course I could not get a hold of for ever since he was already at the field. Note to self..in case of emergency, my husband is unavailable from 2:30 - 11:00 pm...pretty much. I am in panic mode. I called the bank, durrr its Monday, "cant help you Ma'am, the check is still pending". You see, we don't write checks, maybe one a month, two max if I'm out of cash for the sitter. Brew and I have an unwritten rule (Thank god its unwritten) that over a certain amount of money we need to tell each other before we purchase it. Clearly I didn't spend that much in one sitting and I know he didn't. I control all finances, not that he isn't capable, but he is on the road, traveling, living in and out of hotels, we have two living expenses, two cable bills, two of everything so its easier for me, at home, the A type, to do it all, pay the bills and keep track. Its what I'm good at. Paying for things!! =) Now I'm in tears. I cant wait until tomorrow am! Finally when I did get a a hold of him, he was livid. At this point I realize I probably shouldn't have told him, what can he do, until I knew what the deal was. So the next morning when the money posted I called the bank. Oh My Lord! A fake check not even looking like our checks, all typed in in all areas...but my signature! Clearly I didn't sign it, but it was my signature. Detective Flores calls me and looked at over 20 checks I last wrote, and since I'm crazy I pretty much never sign my name the same twice. Ever. Every single check was different, every one, except the one check I wrote to his truck payment the month before. It was identical! PERFECT! The check number was also 10 checks exactly ahead...hmmm..scam. I didn't even have anymore. I ran out at that check and ordered more just last week. Freaking out we go to the bank, call the bank, freeze our accounts and wait. Waiting all week was agony. We kept being told by the 800 numbers they cant guarantee anything, but the inside banks were telling us its clearly fake. No duh. Get this, it was put in an ATM and all! Hello..cameras? Someones account?! I just felt terrible. Meanwhile, his personal online account was also hacked, which we got a call about. So we had to close that one too. Insane! Good news is now, after a week the bank has placed the money in our account and we have been informed that a letter with the persons info, etc has been mailed to us. So Ill be racing to the mail later...to be continued. 

Meanwhile, Friday, I get a call at the office, if you read my last post, you know Brew's elbow isn't doing well and the treatments aren't helping. I answer and he says, "Babe can you wait til Sunday to see Ice Age 3?" Huh?! He explains they just sent him to Florida...and he was so upset he just wanted to come home, understandably. He had to be there by Sunday. I cried so much for him I couldn't even function at work anymore, and I am not one who ever brings personal stuff to work. Unless its funny stuff! This was a blow we were not fully expecting. For those of you who don't understand this could mean a lot of things for us. The team has to make sure he is pitch healthy and has to continue treatment and care until he is. So this means a few things could happen.

• He could do treatments and get better before September when the season ends and come home healthy and hopefully get picked back up in the off season,
• He could do treatments, not get better by September and they keep him there as long as necessary which could mean weeks or months into the off season and after the season is officially over, only getting workers comp pay instead of his salary and living in team hotel.
• He keeps doing treatments, doesn't work, so they take next step do MRI, he needs surgery, Tommy John or something similar and they release him shortly after (which is common for teams after an end of season injury) and he comes home and spends a full year rehabbing and being paid from workers comp but he's home. Then hopefully when hes healthy can play again in a year from now.
• He keeps doing treatments, it doesn't work, MRI, Surgery and they don't release him meaning he would rehab in Florida for an entire year, living in a hotel.

All of the above are all very, very possible. Are you seeing where my tears are coming from yet?! As it stands today, sadly, he will most likely not pitch again this season and he has been shut down. This was my biggest fear for him and is so heartbreaking. He worked so hard last year in Indy Ball with the Lake Erie Crushers to get back into the league, and has had a great year so far this year, and now for this to happen. Any of the scenarios could greatly affect our family and of course my husbands future. Last night he made it safely to Florida, they let him drive since he had his truck instead of fly. He got to his room after a super long day of driving to a major messy roommate. He stayed in his own room for the night and was moved to another room today. Lets face it, nobody likes the thought of living out of a suitcase in a hotel for several weeks to months. He has to eat out every meal, unless he is at the field, they have meals, and doesn't get any good home cooking until he comes home. His schedule for the next several weeks is pretty boring.

6 am : Wake Up go to Field

6:30 -12 pm - Treatments and rehab at the field

12:00 Done at field

Rest of day to Bed time... Eat, walk around Bass Pro, Eat again, Fish, Eat again, Bed. (There is a lake behind their hotel)


Next day: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.  He has to do this every day but Sundays. I wish so badly I could be with him there. 


The only good thing now is that although we are still 3 hours apart in time distance, we are on a similar early morning schedule and can actually talk before late at night instead of me waiting for the games to be over. Right now we are trying to stay positive and not think too much about the future, although for my husband, who is such a good man, and wants to be a good husband and father and take care of us, that is an incredibly hard task for him. I understand that, but Rome wasn't built in a day!!! (My mom just got back from Rome Tonight, so I find that fitting at the moment)!!


For now I am just praying the team has his best interest and hoping every day he gets a little better!


xoxo - Autumn

The heartbreak of an injury

A few weeks ago Brew's elbow starting really hurting. He went out and threw and was so painful he couldn't take it anymore so told the trainer. They evaluated it for a few days then finally put him on the DL. He was on the DL for a week while getting treatments daily until he went to the doctor. The team doctor didn't think anything was torn but gave him several anti-inflammatory pills and suggested to continue the treatments of hot/cold, and numerous other things. He also told him to stop throwing his curve ball. Umm...how do you tell a pitcher with a great curve ball to stop throwing it?! He also suggested increasing his forearm strength. Meanwhile, he was waiting to hear back from the doctor in Boston.

So another week goes by, which at this point he cant even lift weights. and hurts to even lift his baseball bag. The doctor in Boston got back to the team and said to only do cold treatments for now and no longer hot. At this point, it has been a few weeks and my husband has not been on the mound since June 30 th. It has been an incredibly discouraging and upsetting past few weeks for the both of us. All he wants to do is play. Usually if hes ever had a sore arm which is normal after several innings its better within 2 days or by the next time is pitches, but this time nothing has gotten better and its been over two weeks. I understand the team needs to assess the injuries very slowly and try to rehab them before they go into any further tests, MRI's, etc, it just makes things very frustrating when I see him in this position. All I can think about is it is the last 8 weeks of the season now, and I just keep praying for my husbands sake he gets to be on the mound before its over. 

He has done so well this year so far, it would break my whole heart if this is how it ends for him. Right now a lot of possibilities could be presented. He could get magically better, they could send him to Florida to rehab the rest of the season, they could send him to Florida to rehab the rest of the season and during the off season until its better which just makes me cry thinking about him being gone any longer than September, or they could keep him there on the DL and hopefully god answers our prayers and his elbow heals and he can play again in the next 8 weeks at some point. We just don't know what is wrong and I am hoping the Red Sox do something further other than doing treatment's on it and icing it before its too late. Hearing him on the phone and how upset he is over not being able to play...nothing hurts more than that. Of course I'm dying for him to be home and I'm endlessly counting down  the days until the off season, but I just have to remind myself that my husband gets to live out his dream and work towards his higher dreams every day, he is a role model for so many little boys who want  to be just like him, he gets paid to do his favorite thing in the world. How many people can say that? I feel selfish when I cry to him and I tell him how much I want him home, of course I want him to feel wanted, but I never intend to make him feel like he is wasting time away from his family. Baseball has a deadline, lets face it. Its something all ball players Minors or Majors deal with, unless your one of the very few who make millions and millions. So to sacrifice a few more years to let him live his dream and play his passion, I'd do it over and over again for him any day of the week until it starts directly affecting our marriage or our family. Sometimes lately I don't always have the right words to tell him, and at times nothing I say or anyone else says helps. I get that...all he has ever known in his whole life, is baseball. That's it. So I get he is scared and worried. He is an amazing man with worth ethic and determination that is out of this world. Sometimes I feel like he is wanting me to tell him to quit, to make his decision for him. I won't do that. I did tell him that if he can tell me his heart is truly still in it and he still has passion for it then he needs to stay and if not than whats this all really worth anyway and to come home and take some time to figure out what his heart wants to do in his next chapter in life. Of course, his heart is still in it. So he continues this dream, I just keep reminding him that he has something special or he wouldn't keep getting signed. This past off season when the Red Sox signed him after we already turned them down two years prior to go with the Brewers, I told him it was a sign. Who says no to the Red Sox...Twice?! Clearly, they see something in you and your arm or they wouldn't ask again especially knowing your getting older. Now, are they a tough organization and do they have some guys not moving up for years and years, yes, but to us, it was a chance for him to keep playing. Playing is all that matters to him. 

So for now, I have my bad nights and he has his, and this season has worn on us, and we are both ready for September....but I pray every night that he makes his healthy return to the mound before this seasons over, even if its the last day of the season. He deserves it. This is something that happens to players every day, I get its normal, but it really bothers me when people start asking me why he doesn't just come home. I believe  in my husband and I believe in his talent and I will keep my faith alive for him until he on his own decides to put his glove down and walk away.