Chicago White Sox starter John Danks has had a mixed bag of results in his 6 full major league seasons. While showing flashes of brilliance and the talent to jump to the next level, he's never quite made the leap. Even with that, being a #2 major league starter has it's own perks and John Danks fiancee Ashley Monroe is proof of that.
The woman who will soon be called John Danks wife is a country music artist, and member of the female group Pistol Annies (whose members also include Angaleena Presley and the former Mrs. Blake Shelton Miranda Lambert). On March 5, 2013, Monroe released her second solo album, Like A Rose, which according to a review on RollingStone.com is "full of backroad debauchery and heartbreak."
Danks and Monroe were engaged in September, 2012. The announcement was made when Monroe went to Twitter to announce the good news,
"I said yes . . . I'm engaged to my John Danks! Best night of my life!"
The tweet was accompanied with the picture of the proposal laid out in rose petals on the bed, alongside her engagement ring. No word on the couple's planned wedding date.
Chris Sale is an unlikely, albeit qualified, name emerging as a candidate in the tight AL Cy Young Award race. At the start of the 2012 campaign, many wondered how his erratic delivery would hold up under the rigors and demands of a full season as a starter in Major League Baseball.
Sale has answered his critics questions as to whether he can handle this with a resounding response. YES! After being drafted #13 overall in the 2010 amateur draft, Sale spent most of his first pro season on the bus to various minor league seasons. In a surprise move, Sale was called up to the show in August and spent the rest of 2010 and all of 2011 with the White Sox working out of the bullpen before moving to the rotation in 2012.
Now some might see this as a pretty normal progression through the minors, which is a fair assessment. However, Sale admits to struggling with his 2010 season and leaving his wife and newborn son at home in Florida. Chris Sale's wife Brianne Aron Sale gave birth to the couple's first child, Rylan Sale while they were both students at Gulf Coast University, and at age 21. Brianne stayed in Estero, FL while Sale worked his way through the ranks. Before the 2011 season, Sale moved his wife and son to Chicago with him where the family looks to have a comfortable stable place to live for years to come.
Sale clearly loves being a father, as he told the Chicago Sun Times,
“It’s awesome. I love my mom and I love my wife, but there’s no words to explain having a child. It’s been a fun journey so far.’’
Brianne has done some modeling work, with a pretty extensive portfolio of print work. According to her Model Mayhem profile page, she is a 5'3", 111lb model who is looking for more paid work, aspires to be a massage therapist, and hates conceited liars. However, much to the chagrin of a bunch of our readers,... NO NUDE. Sorry guys... but seriously, congratulations to Chris! Well done, sir.
UPDATE: 04/24/2012: The perfect week continues. Philip Humber has left the White Sox on the MLB sanctioned paternity leave as Kristan is going into labor. Congratulations to Philip for the best week I've ever heard of.
04-22-2012: The day after Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history and we threw up some quick information about his wife, Kristan Humber, some more information has come to light. As it turns out, Kristan was watching the game, but wasn't in the stands. She had good reason for that, as she's only weeks away from her May 8th due date. The couple's first child will be a boy, who they plan to name John Gregory Humber.
Philip Humber's wife is Kristan (Jamison) Humber. Kristan likely watched his perfect game today with quite a bit of apprehension. You see, she has seen him struck in the head by a line drive while she was in the stands - twice. Most recently in an August 2011 game, Humber's wife was in the stands when a Kosuke Fukodome line drive struck Philip directly in the head. He wasn't so concerned about himself, far more for his wife:
"‘I thought, 'I've got to get up because she's in the stands."
He ended up being just fine, but Philip had good reason to suspect his wife might be a wreck. Not even a year prior to that game, while playing for Class AAA Omaha (a Kansas City Royals farm team), Humber was again struck by a line drive. But it was much, much worse, to the point where he needed 18 stitches. Even worse, his wife was in the stands to see it. As he tells it,
"It hit me [on the right side of my mouth], and I lost consciousness, so I was down. I was swollen and had blood all over and didn't know what was going on. They carried me off the field. But I pitched nine days later.
So while Philip Humber's wife Kristin was likely pretty excited at the prospect of seeing her husband toss the 21st perfect game in MLB history, we're guessing that she was also a bit nervous at every swing in the process - especially if she was in the stands.
Anyway, Philip and Kristin were married in November of 2007 in Texas. And that's about all we know so far.
