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Kansas City Royals reliever Lucas Erceg welcomed a new addition to his household<\/a> this offseason.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Erceg and his wife Emma became parents to a young daughter. The couple welcomed Elsie Marie, who was born last December<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe (don\u2019t have) a lot to complain about,\u201d Erceg said. \u201cOur baby, Elsie, is doing fantastic and so is my wife Emma. You know, I think we have Elsie on a really good routine. Thus far, she is six weeks old. Obviously, leading up to the birth, we didn\u2019t know what to expect. Once it happened, there was no rulebook or anything to go by. We just heard from friends and family on what it was going to look like. But we really didn\u2019t have a good idea of that until we brought her home.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s an intrinsic link<\/a> between fatherhood and baseball. The sport offers players a way to bond on different levels. And fatherhood is one of those ways teammates can offer help and support.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s not uncommon to see kids in the clubhouse after team victories. The players find joy in the intimate moments<\/a> the game provides. It creates opportunities where they can share their passion for the game in real time with their children.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For Erceg, the idea of fatherhood was always present. He wanted to share his experiences in and around baseball with his kids. And in that comes a deeper perspective as a player, athlete and, more importantly, a father.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEven before we had a child, the expectation of this job is to perform at the highest level and find success,\u201d Erceg said. \u201cSo in that regard, I don\u2019t find too much of a difference in my game plan and my approach to the business side of baseball and what it entails. I just want to keep doing well and I\u2019m just happy that I have one more face to come home to after games. So, it\u2019s going to be exciting to take her to new cities and have her experience different things once she is a little bit older and can kind of pick up on what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n