Jennie Finch: Being A Mom “Is Way More Fun Than I Ever Imagined”

Jennie Finch, who has been named “the most famous softball player in history” by Time magazine, shocked her fans last month when she announced her retirement from the sport, stating that she wanted to spend more time with her Houston Astros pitcher husband, Casey Daigle, and their 4-year-old son, Ace.

During her ten year run with Team USA she has seen seven consecutive World Championships, won gold and silver Olympic medals and is now finishing up her last season pitching for the Chicago Bandits.

The 29-year-old Olympic medal winner recently opened up about her family, motherhood and whether she’d like her son to follow in his parents’ footsteps.

On making the best of her family’s hectic schedule: “Oh yeah. It can be an emotional rollercoaster because you look forward to the time you have together with your family and then all of a sudden it’s only two days. We all try to enjoy the time that we do have together and know that it’s only for a short while, but we’re making the most of it. Our only real time together is in a hotel room because we don’t really have a home. We just try to take it one week at a time and, when it gets crazy, one day at a time. We’re just trying to let the small stuff linger and enjoy that.”

On life as a parent: “This is way more fun than I ever imagined. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but there’s so much joy involved that the challenges feel like nothing. Emotionally being so attached is wonderful and hard. Ace is this little sponge collecting and absorbing and learning everything about his world, and I’m learning so much from him.”

On her hopes for her son’s future: “I just want Ace to enjoy what he does. Casey and I love what we do, and it happens to be sports. There are so many life lessons that I’ve gained in sports and so many incredible things that have come from being a part of athletics. I hope Ace experiences that and if not, I hope he finds his passion and pursues it. Right now he likes whatever his dad is into, and that’s baseball. He likes the uniform and he likes to hit the ball.”

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