Pumping at the ballpark: How baseball wives survive the chaos of October

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Miller Rasmussen, the daughter of Rays’ ace Drew Rasmussen and his wife Stevie, was born during opening week of the 2026 MLB season.

It was a difficult birth, with Miller needing to spend time in the NICU. As baseball was happening every day, Stevie felt like she was immediately in survival mode. She told herself, “Just get through the end of the season.”

“Then the season’s like a little bit longer, and a little bit longer,” Stevie Rasmussen told CNN Sports .

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Their rental home in St. Petersburg, Florida, ran through September, so they had to move late last month. They had the option to lease the new place for two weeks or all of October – they opted for the full month.

“So now I’m like, ‘OK, we’re here. We might as well win the whole thing,’” she said.

Down 3-0 in the World Series to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Rays will need a historic comeback to win the whole thing, but they’ve already gone deeper into the postseason than most of their players have ever experienced, with their families along for the incredibly hectic ride.

“My kids have no schedule, no nap routine,” Stevie Rasmussen said.

Along with seven-month-old Miller, they have a four-year-old son named Rhett, whose preschool back in Arizona has encouraged them to send pictures of Rhett in his Rays gear this month until he can rejoin classes.

“I’ve kind of had to let all that go, which is not really my personality. But in order to see dad – you can either have a schedule and not see dad as much, or you can have no schedule and be (in) a free-for-all,” Stevie Rasmussen said. “Seeing (Rhett) run up to (Drew) post game when I’m exhausted, I’m like, ‘OK, this is worth it.”

Even if the kids are too young to fully understand the stakes of what they’re witnessing, “they’ll be able to go back and look at pictures and say, ‘Wow, Dad did this,’” Brianna Betts told CNN Sports.

Betts is married to former MVP Mookie Betts, who has won four championships and is tied for 10th all-time in postseason games played.

“I’m gonna be totally honest and transparent,” Brianna said when asked if she ever feels like he has enough rings and maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to miss an October for once, “Yes.”

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His Dodgers were eliminated in the NLCS this year, but Brianna Betts has learned a lot over the years of deep postseason runs, including in 2018 when her husband won his first World Series with the Boston Red Sox while Brianna was 37 weeks pregnant with their first child.

“We brought the carrier, we brought the diaper bag,” Brianna Betts said, so they would be ready in case she went into labor while on the road for that World Series. “Luckily, it was a week after everything.”

From that experience, Brianna Betts learned that being pregnant during the postseason, and worrying that your partner might miss the birth, is even more stressful than having a baby. At least, when it’s still only one baby.

“She was the baseball baby – baseball schedule, going to bed at midnight, 1 a.m.,” Brianna said of their daughter, Kynlee, who was born just after the 2018 series. “Like it was just easy, and we traveled everywhere. And then as you start adding and having multiples, it gets a lot harder.”

The Betts have three kids now – seven-year-old Kynlee, three-year-old Kaj, and seven-month-old Khari. Brianna Betts still goes to every postseason game, but the kids don’t travel for the early rounds.

“School schedule, baseball schedule – they don’t match,” she said.

Even for the games in LA this season, Kynlee went to school on game days. It made for rough mornings after late nights and leaving school early to get to the game, all to balance baseball with everything else.

“I try to just keep their lives as normal as possible,” Brianna Betts said. “It can be like a bubble at times. But I want them to have a life outside of baseball. LA is our home full time. He doesn’t just play here. We’re here the full year, ‘round the clock, and so I like for her to do her own activities, have her own friends, play dates, and just have her own life.”

Her kids are used to flying and they’re used to hotels. Last year, when the Dodgers had to fly back to Toronto the day before Halloween to finish out their seven-game World Series, all the kids dressed up for the flight and trick-or-treated around the airplane.

It’s the games themselves, which are often longer and later in October, that can be the hardest part of having three kids in the postseason. Especially because Brianna Betts and the other wives want to pay attention to what’s happening on the field.

“I realized it’s been over 10 years, and I still get excited and ready to go every time,” she said. “iPads get us probably halfway through, but then they’re over it after a while, and then you gotta bribe them with candy and snacks and all the food, and then activities.”

That’s on the road. At home, the Dodgers provide a playroom along with a wives’ lounge. The amenities reflect an embrace of families that extends to helping with housing when a player is first acquired. It all helps make surviving the entire baseball season possible.

Stevie Rasmussen takes the kids to Tropicana Field every day in Tampa to take advantage of the childcare the team provides.

“It’s the same people every night,” she said. “They were with Rhett since he was born. They’ve been with Miller since she was born. They’re almost like grandparents to my kids.”

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For the World Series, the Rays brought the same childcare providers on the road, “which is life-changing,” Stevie said.

The plane is still chaotic. Families fly separately from the players on flights that have grown increasingly crowded as more front office personnel join the traveling caravan later in the postseason, but the younger wives without children help wrangle all the car seats and kids.

“We really are each other’s family,” Stevie Rasmussen said of the other Tampa wives.

Spending time with them, cheering equally for everyone’s husband, has been the highlight of the postseason. But, especially as a new mom, it’s not always as glamorous as it seems.

Stevie Rasmussen is still nursing Miller and with the crazy schedules of the postseason, that means a lot of pumping at the ballpark.

“I had my mom take a picture of me the other day standing at the World Series holding my pump bag,” Stevie said. “I was like: ‘This is what it’s actually like to be a baseball wife.’”

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米勒·拉斯穆森是光芒队王牌投手德鲁·拉斯穆森和他的妻子史蒂维的女儿，她出生于2026年美国职业棒球大联盟赛季的开幕周。

米勒的生产过程很艰难，出生后需要在新生儿重症监护室待一段时间。由于棒球比赛每天都在进行，史蒂维感觉自己立刻进入了生存模式。她告诉自己：“只要熬过这个赛季就行了。”

“然后赛季就好像越来越长，”史蒂夫·拉斯穆森告诉 CNN 体育频道。

为什么棒球队在十月份如此频繁、如此疯狂地庆祝？

他们在佛罗里达州圣彼得堡租的房子租期到九月份，所以他们上个月底就得搬家。他们可以选择租新房子两周或者整个十月——他们选择了整个十月。

“所以我现在想，‘好吧，既然我们已经走到这一步了，那就争取赢得最终的胜利吧，’”她说。

在世界大赛中以 0-3 落后于密尔沃基酿酒人队的情况下，光芒队需要上演历史性的逆转才能赢得总冠军，但他们已经比大多数球员经历过的季后赛走得更远，他们的家人也一同经历了这段无比疯狂的旅程。

“我的孩子没有作息时间，也没有午睡习惯，”史蒂维·拉斯穆森说。

除了七个月大的米勒之外，他们还有一个四岁的儿子瑞特。瑞特在亚利桑那州的幼儿园鼓励他们在这个月里给瑞特发一些他穿着光芒队装备的照片，直到他能够重新上课为止。

“我不得不放下这一切，这其实不太符合我的性格。但为了能见到爸爸——你可以选择按部就班，但那样就见不到爸爸了；也可以选择完全放任自流，随心所欲地安排时间，”史蒂维·拉斯穆森说道。“每次比赛结束后，看到（雷特）跑到（德鲁）身边，而我又累得筋疲力尽，我就会想，‘好吧，这一切都值得。’”

即使孩子们年纪太小，无法完全理解他们所目睹的事情的严重性，“他们也能回头看看照片，然后说，‘哇，爸爸做了这件事，’”布里安娜·贝茨告诉 CNN 体育频道。

贝茨的丈夫是前MVP穆奇·贝茨，他曾获得过四次总冠军，并且在季后赛出场次数上并列历史第十。

“我会完全坦诚，”当被问及她是否觉得他已​​经有很多戒指了，也许错过一次十月的婚礼也并非坏事时，布里安娜说，“是的。”

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他的道奇队今年在国联冠军赛中被淘汰，但布里安娜·贝茨在多年的季后赛征程中学到了很多，包括2018年，当时她的丈夫随波士顿红袜队赢得了他的第一个世界大赛冠军，而布里安娜当时已经怀孕37周，怀的是他们的第一个孩子。

“我们带了婴儿背带，也带了尿布包，”布里安娜·贝茨说，这样万一她在世界大赛期间突然分娩，他们就能做好准备。“幸运的是，分娩发生在一切结束后一周。”

从那次经历中，布里安娜·贝茨了解到，在季后赛期间怀孕，还要担心伴侣可能会错过孩子的生产，这种压力甚至比生孩子本身还要大。至少，如果只有一个孩子的话。

“她是个棒球宝宝——跟着棒球赛程，半夜、凌晨一点才睡觉，”布里安娜谈到她们的女儿金莉时说道，金莉出生于2018年世界大赛之后。“一切都很轻松，我们到处旅行。但随着孩子越来越多，尤其是多胞胎，就变得困难多了。”

贝茨夫妇现在有三个孩子——七岁的金莉、三岁的卡伊和七个月大的卡里。布里安娜·贝茨仍然会去看每一场季后赛，但孩子们不会随队观看早期的比赛。

“学校的课程安排和棒球比赛的赛程安排——根本不匹配，”她说。

即使是本赛季在洛杉矶举行的比赛，金莉也坚持在比赛日去上学。为了平衡棒球和其他事情，她经常熬夜到很晚，第二天早上还要早起离开学校赶去比赛，第二天早上总是很辛苦。

“我尽量让他们的生活保持正常，”布里安娜·贝茨说。“有时候感觉就像生活在一个泡泡里。但我希望他们除了棒球之外，也能有自己的生活。洛杉矶是我们的家，我们一年四季都住在这里，所以我希望她能有自己的活动，有自己的朋友，有玩伴，过自己的生活。”

她的孩子们习惯了坐飞机，也习惯了住酒店。去年，道奇队为了完成七场世界大赛的比赛，不得不在万圣节前一天飞回多伦多，孩子们都盛装打扮，在飞机上玩起了“不给糖就捣蛋”的游戏。

季后赛本身，尤其是那些比赛时间更长、开赛时间更晚的比赛，对于有三个孩子的人来说，可能是最难熬的部分。特别是布里安娜·贝茨和其他球员的妻子们，她们都想关注场上的比赛。

“我意识到已经过去10多年了，但我每次仍然充满热情，跃跃欲试，”她说。“iPad大概能让我们玩到一半，但过一段时间他们就没兴趣了，然后你就得用糖果、零食和各种食物来哄他们，然后再安排一些活动。”

那是在客场比赛时的情况。在主场，道奇队会提供游戏室和太太休息室。这些便利设施体现了球队对球员家庭的关怀，甚至在球员刚加盟时也会提供住房方面的帮助。这一切都让球员家庭能够顺利度过整个棒球赛季。

史蒂维·拉斯穆森每天都带孩子们去坦帕的纯品康纳球场，享受球队提供的儿童保育服务。

“每天晚上都是同一批人，”她说。“他们从瑞特出生起就一直陪伴着他，从米勒出生起就一直陪伴着她。他们就像我孩子们的祖父母一样。”

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史蒂夫说，在世界大赛期间，光芒队把同样的儿童保育人员带到了客场，“这改变了生活”。

飞机上依然一片混乱。球员家属和球员乘坐的航班是分开的，随着季后赛后期越来越多的球队管理人员加入随行队伍，航班也变得越来越拥挤，但那些没有孩子的年轻妻子们会帮忙照看所有的儿童安全座椅和孩子们。

“我们彼此就像家人一样，”史蒂维·拉斯穆森谈到其他坦帕湾球员的妻子时说道。

和她们一起度过时光，为每个人的丈夫加油助威，是季后赛最美好的部分。但是，尤其对于一位新妈妈来说，这并不总是像看起来那么光鲜亮丽。

史蒂夫·拉斯穆森仍在照顾米勒，而季后赛的赛程又非常密集，这意味着球场上会有很多加油助威的场面。

“前几天我让妈妈帮我拍了一张在世界大赛现场拿着充气泵包的照片，”史蒂维说。“我当时就想：‘这才是当棒球运动员妻子的真实感受。’”