Father's Day: Normal day for Nen

[GaryMrMets]

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06/12/2002 03:41 am ET
Father's Day: Normal day for Nen
By Josh Rawitch / MLB.com

Robb Nen, a second-generation big leaguer, sat down with MLB.com this week to discuss the meaning of Father's Day. Nen became a father for the second time earlier this season when his wife, Jendy, gave birth to their second daughter, Rylee Brooke, on April 29.

MLB.com: With Father's Day coming up this weekend, we're wondering how it might be different for a Major League player like yourself as compared to any other dad in America.

Robb Nen: It's the same as anyone. [Hopefully, you're] at home with your family. You'd like to be home with your family, but if not, it's just another day. For me, it's just another day anyway. You miss so many holidays as it is, they all kind of run together.

MLB.com: Your dad, Dick, was a big-league player. Does that help make it easier to understand what it's like for holidays when you are on the road?

Robb Nen: I was too young when he retired, so holidays weren't really affected. But I realize the game, [since] I've done it for so long. You'd like to be home for the holidays, birthdays and all that sort of stuff.

MLB.com: Did your dad give you advice that has helped you make it to where you are today and if so, how?

Robb Nen: He's always giving me advice. He's always giving me support, and he's always been there for me. He's basically said, "Whenever you do something, do it to your ability. Give 110 percent. Listen to people. Respect the game and enjoy the game."

MLB.com: Do you believe that the way you were brought up affects the way you are as a parent today?

Robb Nen: I think how he raised me [did] and [the fact that] he was always there for me. He showed me that the more love, the more care you give to your child, the better off you are.

Josh Rawitch covers the Giants for MLB.com and can be reached at jrawitch@sfgiants.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Robb Nen has two daughters, Rylee Brooke and Taylor Nicole. (Eric Risberg/AP)

[GaryMrMets]

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06/12/2002 03:49 am ET
Father's Day: Benard a model dad
By Marvin Benard / MLB.com

When you mention Father's Day to Giants outfielder Marvin Benard, he immediately shows off his favorite baseball card. It's a six-year-old Upper Deck card that features him with his infant son, Isaac. Both Isaac and 3-year-old daughter Haley are featured on a card produced to promote California's Responsible Fatherhood campaign. Marvin shared his thoughts with MLB.com about his dad, Vern, and on being a father himself.

When I think about Father's Day, I think of not only my dad but my grandfather, my uncles, neighbors, people that have kids. It's kind of funny because Mother's Day always seems to mean more than Father's Day for some reason, which is kind of cool. I think guys downplay it, but there's nothing nicer or greater than, for example, you're sleeping in your bed and your kids come running in and bring you a gift or whatever it is that they picked up for you -- especially when you've got a little girl and she's trying to kiss on you, it's out of this world.

When we celebrate Mother's Day, she (his wife, Allison) gets to do whatever she wants. On Father's Day, we try to do the same thing. The fun part is having the kids go out and actually have them try to shop for you, taking them to the store and let them walk around or run around. It's pretty interesting to see the things that they'll get for you. For example, I got a bicycle helmet. Isaac always has one on, so I guess he figured, 'If have to have one on, my dad needs to be protected, too.' Just little things like that.

There's another one I got -- you know, when you travel so much, you end up having change and so I have piggy banks all over the house where you can just drop it. So my wife took him to one of those pottery places where you get to paint it whichever color you want. She did a coffee cup for me and he did a little piggy bank. She just takes them in there and lets them do whatever they want. It's pretty neat to see the things that go through their minds.

I don't remember making things like that for my dad, but I do remember getting up early in the morning and doing the breakfast thing and cooking a special meal for him, whatever he wanted, just to try to make his day.

My dad was the kind to just let me do what I wanted to do, when it comes to baseball. He knows the game, he played the game but he was never one of those that pushed. I've got a whole bunch of friends that are not playing the game because their parents pushed them so much, and I was fortunate and blessed that he would just go to the games and just hide in the corner and watch.

There were times that he would go to the game that I didn't even know he was there. I would come home and say, 'I got this hit' or 'I made this great catch' and he would always say, 'Well, what about this bunt they had you do? You didn't concentrate' or 'You didn't do it right.' That kind of thing. But he never pushed, and it was kind of nice because I thought about what my friends went through.

That's one of the reasons why I'm involved in the California Responsible Fathers program. To me, it's easier for me to say it because of the situation I'm in and what I do for a living, but I remember a teammate of mine a long time ago said to me, 'You think you love your wife now, just wait until you have kids.' And once I had kids, I understood what he meant.

It's just hard for me to see a parent, for whatever reason, abandon their kids or don't take care kids of their kids or mistreat their kids and not give them the time of day. I understand that people work and they come home and they're tired and they've got other things on their mind [but] what the kids really want is just to spend time with you.

As told to Josh Rawitch, who covers the Giants for MLB.com and can be reached at jrawitch@sfgiants.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Marvin Benard has been a spokesman for California's Responsible Fathers program. (courtesy California Department of Child Support Services)