Is Ashley Nick Playing in a League Again
Ryan Flaherty's first major league locker mates, Nick Johnson and Nick Markakis, were business firm believers that rookies should never speak unless expressly asked for their opinion. Johnson retired later on Flaherty's rookie yr, while Markakis dressed beside Flaherty in the Baltimore Orioles' dwelling clubhouse at Camden Yards from 2012 through 2014.
"He didn't talk to me for three years," Flaherty said. "The kickoff conversation nosotros had was nearly his sister-in-law, who I concluded up marrying. He's a man of few words."
That'southward the way most people run into Markakis -- as a stoic producer who churns out numbers in a publicity vacuum. He is almost to go the first thespian since World War II to have 2,000 career hits, 400 doubles and 1,000 runs (he's at 998) without ever making an All-Star team.
Flaherty has tapped into an alternate side of Markakis every bit his commuting partner, workout buddy, comic foil, daily antagonist and the guy who passes the gravy at holiday dinners. They're sharing a clubhouse and National League East title hopes this summertime as teammates and brothers-in-police force on a surprise contender in the Atlanta Braves.
Markakis married Christina Dutko of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2008. Flaherty became part of the family in 2016 when he wed Christina's sister, Ashley. As a tandem, the two Braves aren't quite equally entertaining as Ozzie Albies legging out a triple or Ronald Acuña Jr. ranging into the gap to steal an extra-base of operations striking. Only their biting humor and incessant jibes accept provided a squeamish diversion for teammates during the 162-game hamster bike of a season.
"I think generally they go on pretty well," Braves reliever Peter Moylan said. "But they're the outset at each other when something isn't up to speed, and so to speak. They'll say things you lot probably couldn't say to some other teammate. They get all the bulls--- out of the way early and there'southward no holding back. They're similar, 'This is what I think and I'grand going to tell y'all,' and information technology works both ways. I call up it'south hilarious."
Baseball has a rich history of fathers, sons and brothers, from the Boones and Alous to the DiMaggios, Niekros, Alomars and Bells. Brothers-in-police force aren't quite equally prominent in MLB lore, but several prominent players accept been linked by marriage through the years. The listing includes Manny Machado and Yonder Alonso, Ian Desmond and Josh Roenicke, Neil Walker and Don Kelly, and Brandon Crawford and Gerrit Cole, who were in the news recently when Crawford took Cole deep during a San Francisco Giants-Houston Astros matchup.
Every now and then, brothers-in-constabulary clothing the same uniform. Outfielder Rick Miller married Carlton Fisk'south sis, Janet, in 1973, and they played together for iv more seasons in Boston. In 2014, pitcher Michael Tonkin and outfielder Jason Kubel were in-laws and teammates in Minnesota.
The Atlanta tandem has contributed its share of bear upon moments in April and May. Markakis is batting .341 with a National League-leading 72 hits and is driving the ball with authority 3 years later neck surgery threatened to derail his career. He has caught enough of a 2nd wind to leave Kirk Gibson, Tim Salmon, Eric Chavez and a select few others behind on the listing of "all-time players to never make an All-Star team."
Flaherty, a old Vanderbilt Commodore who was a kickoff-circular option by the Cubs in the 2008 draft, ranks 3rd among Maine natives behind Del Bissonette and George Gore with 37 career habitation runs. He led the National League in hit 3 weeks into Apr before losing the starting third-base job to Jose Bautista and, more recently, Johan Camargo. But he remains a handy piece for Braves manager Brian Snitker off the bench because of his versatility, reliable glove and power to see a fastball.
Every bit teammates in Atlanta, Flaherty and Markakis are baseball'southward respond to Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in "Step Brothers" -- minus the bunk beds. They'll bicker or needle each other in the clubhouse, the dugout, in airport terminals and on charabanc rides to and from the ballpark.
"Nosotros ride to the field together every day, and he'll requite his opinion on some nonsense," Flaherty said. "Then we get to the field and we hardly ever talk until the side by side day, unless we're working out or he'southward telling me how bad my swing looked. I'll come back to the dugout and he'll say, 'What kind of swing was that?'"
Flaherty has a stock response whenever it appears Markakis is gaining the upper hand in the relationship.
"Nick has more hits than me," he said. "He has a bigger depository financial institution account than me. He'south got a bigger car than me. But I have better hair than him."
Over vii big league seasons, Flaherty has earned a reputation as a pop teammate with a flair for guerilla prankster warfare. By Flaherty's approximate, reliever Darren O'Twenty-four hours sliced upwards eight articles of his wear during their time together in Baltimore.
Flaherty achieved a measure of revenge in 2015, when he gained underground admission to O'Mean solar day's gear as it was being packed for a trip to the All-Star Game. O'Twenty-four hour period, who loathes the New England Patriots, arrived in the visiting clubhouse at Not bad American Brawl Park in Cincinnati to find a Tom Brady jersey hanging in his locker.
Markakis, the stoic brother-in-police, is almost comfortable when engaged in four activities: playing baseball, working out in preparation for baseball, hanging out with his wife and 3 sons, or sitting in a tree stand up on a hunting trip. With his dark optics, brooding countenance and ultra-tranquility demeanor, he has been known to intimidate teammates in the clubhouse without even trying.
"Guys think he's probably got a body count somewhere," Flaherty said, laughing. During Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gift exchanges, the respective wives see the same dynamic on display.
"If you're a fly on the wall listening to them and you really don't know them, you're like, 'Is this really being said right now?'" Christina Markakis said.
"Ryan is Mr. Social Butterfly, and Nick is the polar opposite," Ashley Flaherty said. "You see them and you're like, 'What in the earth do they have in common?'"
The foundation of the human relationship was laid in 2012 in Baltimore, later on the Cubs left Flaherty off their 40-homo roster and the Orioles chose him in the Dominion 5 typhoon. Markakis, who has a softer, more generous side than he likes to reveal publicly, went on an almanac shopping trip to buy Louis Vuitton wallets for the rookies, and he asked Christina to accompany him to help pick out a special souvenir for Flaherty.
A couple of years after, Christina mentioned Flaherty as a potential match for her sis Ashley, who was working as an attorney in Florida. When Markakis casually raised the topic in the Baltimore clubhouse, heads snapped in unison, because the gesture was so out of character.
"I just relayed the message and one thing led to another," Markakis said. "I don't do matchmaking."
The night Flaherty met Ashley Dutko, he had just received a pie in the confront from Adam Jones and emerged from the clubhouse with remnants of pie cream even so in his ears. He took her to the Abbey Burger Bistro on their offset appointment, and the relationship blossomed over time before they were married in Florida in Dec 2016.
As Flaherty gradually infiltrated the Dutko-Markakis family unit dynamic, he and his brother-in-law grew more comfortable probing each other's weak spots. They live five minutes autonomously in suburban Atlanta, and Flaherty swings by Markakis' firm for the commute to SunTrust Park. During the drive, Markakis typically will mutter about Flaherty's insistence on diggings rap music on the car stereo. Or he'll give Flaherty grief over his addiction to his cellphone.
"Nick calls Ryan a 'damn millennial,'" Christina Markakis said. This might be a salient observation if Markakis weren't 34 years old and Flaherty 31.
The swain Braves snipe at each other over their golf game games or respective diets. Markakis has a sweetness molar and a fondness for Wendy's cheeseburgers, while Flaherty is a stickler for nutrition and never touches fast nutrient. "Ryan eats similar a bird," Markakis frequently tells his wife.
But nothing bonds or divides them more than than the contend over their wardrobes. Flaherty is partial to skinny jeans, sweatpants, hoodies and tube socks over Jordan sneakers. He likes camouflage gear considering it's fashionable, while Markakis prefers camo because it'due south functional and great for hunting.
During a recent bus trip, Flaherty and Markakis sent photos of their outfits on a family text chain and declared each an embarrassment to the entire clan. In one text, Flaherty derided Markakis for wearing a pair of slacks that looked like "my grandmother's curtains."
So where do the other Braves come downward on the topic? Pitcher Brandon McCarthy prefers to remain neutral.
"They're at opposite-but-equal ends of the terrible fashion spectrum," McCarthy said.
On the field, the brothers-in-law are bonded by a dear of the game and an appreciation for old-school fundamentals. Flaherty'due south father, Ed, is an accomplished Division 3 autobus who recently logged his ane,000th career victory at the University of Southern Maine. Flaherty was a longtime favorite of Orioles manager Cadet Showalter, who saw a value in him that far surpassed his .639 career OPS with Baltimore.
Markakis has never hit with prototypical corner outfield ability. But he'southward a ii-time Gilt Glove winner who appeared in 155 or more games in 10 of his first 12 seasons. He has shown a discerning centre, an appreciation for the arts and crafts of hitting, and professional staying power at a time when the game is increasingly skewing young.
Among mod-twenty-four hours athletes, Markakis stands out for his disfavor to self-promotion. He doesn't take accounts on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and he tells his married woman he would rather exist bearding than succumb to the temptation of raising his contour every bit a social media gadfly.
"He does things and then quietly, and he doesn't want whatsoever of the attending," Moylan said. "He'due south quite happy but going out there, existence a professional, playing the game the right way and leading past example. Sometimes in this day and age, it's more about trying to go the attention than it is trying to do the chore, and he's the complete opposite. That's a nice, refreshing change."
Contrary to public perception, Markakis insists that he is not the joyless, robotic presence people make him out to be.
"Nosotros spend a lot of time together [as teammates] and you tin't be serious 24/7," Markakis said. "You have to have a niggling fun with it. If I'g at the plate and I get jammed and then bad I pop it up to the pitcher, I'thou cool with people making jokes about it. That's one of the unmarried nigh embarrassing things that can happen as a hitter. When that happened to another player when I was in Baltimore, Adam Jones and I would dice laughing in the outfield. I'd rather strike out than pop up to the pitcher."
When Markakis looks back on his career post-retirement, it might be hard to top events of this summertime for amusement value. He has been energized by Atlanta'southward young roster and the daily commutes to the park with his brother-in-law, who has loosened him up and immune him to accept more fun than ever effectually family unit and teammates.
Markakis, in turn, has reinforced Flaherty'due south religion in the importance of dedication and commitment to the job. Beneath the insults and put-downs, they're just two ballplayers with shared values and a common affinity for winning.
"It's funny," Flaherty said. "The first thing every teammate asks me is, 'What'south Nick like at dwelling house?' The beginning time yous come across him you're like, 'Do you not like me?' Merely that's not information technology at all. He's only a serenity homo.
"You lot always hear people talk nearly athletes and say, 'He doesn't care well-nigh the fame.' Merely Nick literally doesn't care near anything except baseball and his family unit. He doesn't pay attention to any other external stuff going on in the world, which is a special graphic symbol trait he has. Information technology'due south the same reason a lot of people don't know how good he is."
Lest those comments come across as overly sentimental -- or give people the impression these two guys actually like each other -- Markakis has no plans to cut Flaherty any slack when they're getting later it in the gym. He will continue to push and prod Flaherty to exist better because the Braves are counting on both of them. And isn't that what a good brother-in-law is supposed to exercise?
"I think deep down, they really do respect each other and admire each other," Ashley Flaherty said. "And we're all glad that they have each other."
Source: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23636060/atlanta-braves-brothers-law-nick-markakis-ryan-flaherty-bring-best-other
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