By mlblogssfgiants1

Yesterday was an awesome day. For a lot of reasons. I made the All-Star team, a dream come true. Actually I never really dreamed it. Earning a starting job on a Major League team was the dream. The All-Star team is something I can’t even put into words.

But it turned out the main emotion I felt yesterday wasn’t excitement, though I felt plenty of that. What I felt more than anything was gratitude.

I couldn’t believe how many people messaged me that their thumbs were about to fall off from voting for me. I couldn’t believe how hard Becky Biniek in the Giants’ social media department worked to keep reminding the fans to vote. I couldn’t believe how many of my teammates tweeted out #VoteBelt.

I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it all.

But I was thinking yesterday about one person more than anyone else.

When we got word — in a text from Ali Bumgarner — that I’d made the team, I was driving back from lunch in Lafayette with Haylee and Greyson. Haylee immediately started crying. I knew it wasn’t just that she was happy for me. It was about all the hard times and hard work and the doubts and the load she has had to carry so I could achieve my dream.

I got a little misty watching her cry because this has been about both of us every step of the way. This doesn’t happen if she’s not with me. I’m not being cheesy. It’s the truth.

It’s not easy being a baseball player’s wife. It’s not like she can do whatever she wants. She’s working constantly, getting everything ready when we travel, organizing our moves, renting houses, doing charity stuff, putting up with me when things aren’t going well. Everything. She makes sure I don’t have to worry about anything off the field.

This is a very public job, and I know how tough it was for her to read and see some of the mean things people said about me over the years. It hurts her. I don’t think everybody can put up with that. I really don’t. But she’s strong, mentally strong. She can take a lot of crap and come out on the other side, looking even better than before.

She’s always there for me when I’m feeling down about something. She knows me so well. She’s there to dig me out of whatever hole I get myself in. When I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, she was there to show it to me. She can say stuff to me that no one else can say. She tells me the truth even when I might not want to hear it. She’s the one who keeps me grounded.

Haylee and I have known each other since high school. She had no idea what was in store for her when we started dating. It’s amazing to me that she has stuck with me through all the years of ups and downs. If it were me, I don’t know if I could have hung in there. You’re staying in there for somebody else. She’s not getting anything out of this other than “your husband achieved his dream’’. It’s selfless. She might be the most selfless person I know. I feel pretty selfish in comparison.

So when she got emotional in the car yesterday, I knew it was because it’s been such a long road and because this amazing gift of going to All-Star Game was for both of us, together, not just me.

On the other hand, Greyson didn’t really care. Wasn’t impressed at all.