Player Wives & Girlfriends

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I'll start this by saying I'm a huge Jim Leyland fan. I wish there were more managers and coaches like him; total no nonsense take no crap style. His style has worked with three out of the four teams he has coached (I totally forgot he was manager of Colorado, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who forgot that).

Even considering all my respect for Leyland for his baseball resume, I was even more impressed when I realized Jim Leyland's wife Katie Leyland is a much, much younger woman, and that the couple has extremely young kids for a man his age, Patrick and Kellie. Katie met Jim when she took a job with the Pittsburgh Pirates right before finishing college. Jim, coming off a divorce, knew right away that he wanted to pursue Katie. Of course Katie says she played it off that she didn't want to date him, but when a major league manager comes knocking on your door, you can't turn that down.

After a year of dating, Jim and Katie married. Katie was 26 when she married Jim, who was 42. After an unfortunate miscarriage Patrick and Kellie were born. The family for the most part was raised in Pittsburgh even though Jim was managing in different cities. Now that Patrick and Kellie are older (Kellie in college, and Patrick having previously worked with the Tigers) the family situation is a little easier on Jim and Katie. With Detroit making a run it wouldn't shock us if he wins the World Series he calls it quits. I mean he is after all 67 years old and at that age going out on top has to be something he is thinking about.

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Outside of Detroit (and fantasy baseball leagues with K/9 as a category) Max Scherzer still isn't a household name. That's all about to chance with the Tigers making a run in the 2012 playoffs, and the rest of the country will quickly learn what type of pitcher Max Scherzer has become. After being drafted late Max decided to attend Missouri to pitch instead. Probably a good choice as while he was at Missouri Max Scherzer's girlfriend Erica May entered his life.

Erica was a pitcher on the Missouri softball team and the two have been dating for over 8 years. Our prediction: if Max and the Tigers win the World Series this year with he'll be proposing to Erica in the offseason. I mean 8 years is a long time for a girl to be dating a guy and not get a ring. Hell I'm shocked she is still around after 8 years. Not only was Erica a big softball fan she is also of all things a huge Oakland Raiders fan. Seriously check out her Twitter page @emaysway and she has constant updates on the page anytime the Raiders play. The headline on her Twitter page says "Coloradan by birth, Raiders fan by choice." Not sure why someone would choose to be a Raiders fan but so be it.

This season hasn't been all good for Max and Erica. In June, Max's brother Alex committed suicide after battling depression. Born only three years apart Max and Alex were extremely close. Max pitched three days after Alex's death as a way for the family to rally. He held Pittsburgh to 3 runs in 6 innings of work.

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Middle relievers aren't a typical post for us here at PlayerWives.com. However, in the case of Phil Coke, that middle reliever tag seems obsolete at this point. With the strike throwing machine picking up 2 saves so far in the ALCS, we figured it was time to find out more about Phil Coke's wife Bobbie Coke.

Phil admittedly hit a rough patch earlier in the 2012 regular season. It was a rough stretch that he attributes to life at home immediately following the birth of his daughter in late July. Coke made comments following game 2 of the ALCS discussing his struggles and his return to being a strong arm out of the Tigers pen.

"My daughter was born, and then we went on a 10-game trip. I got to take my wife and my child home, and I had to pack and leave. That was terrible. That was a bad feeling. I had to get through that. That was part of my personal struggle through the remainder of the season from July 21. So I was good up to that point and hit a bump in the road. I figured it out. I kept pressing. I wasn't going to give in. I wasn't going to give up." - Detroit Free Press, October 15, 2012

Phil and Bobbie were married November 22, 2011 and their first child was the one born this past July. Bobbie Coke (formerly Bobbie Brough) is a frequent participant in various Detroit Tigers wives charity events. The family lives in Sonora, CA in the offseason where Bobbie has previously worked as a massage therapist.