On Father's Day, Culberson talks children, family

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Hang around after a Rangers day game at Globe Life Field sometimes and you’re sure to see a number of players and their families out on the field enjoying time together.

Rangers utilityman Charlie Culberson is always one of them. He and his wife, Sarah, have three kids, aged 9, 6 and 5. Last week, Culberson took some time to share some of his favorite experiences of being a dad and what it all means to him with MLB.com.

On what his family means to him:
"Kids, family, all of it. They’re the most important thing in my life, obviously. I definitely think it helps with the perspective of just everyday life. What's most important, at the end of the day now that I’m a dad, is making sure that I do the best I can to take care of them, to teach them and to guide them. They look to me for everything, to me and my wife. So I've got to be the best that I can be every single day, because they are watching every step that I take.”

On what he learned about being a father from his own father:
“Both of my parents taught me about consistency and hard work. For me, I saw my dad work really hard every single day. He got home late at night a lot because he was working, and for me, he didn't really have to say a whole lot. I knew from just watching the hard work that he put into fighting for our family and loving us. Everyone shows love differently, and I've definitely learned a lot from both mom and dad on what it means to be a parent and what it means to do the best that you can every single day to take care of your kids.”

On his favorite memories with his family:
“I have a lot of cool memories. Especially family trips, family vacations to the beach. It's kind of just a nice, peaceful thing that we can do and enjoy. My daughter threw out the first pitch at a Braves game a few years back on my bobblehead night, and those moments stick out to me. It's not much baseball-related. It's things that are off the field that matter the most, from surprising my kids at school, taking them to school, just the little things I try to cherish when they happen.”

On baseball being part of their lives currently, and maybe in the future:
“I think my little boy, Ace, wants to play baseball again this fall, but he loves golf. And then my youngest, Everly, I think she might be a good softball player. So we'll see. Whatever they want to do. We're trying our best to make sure that [we] keep things available to them, let them try new things out as they get older. I don't want to look back and say, 'I wish we would have led them to do this or that.' We just want to give them an opportunity to try whatever it is they want to do. My wife did cheerleading and she swam, too, growing up. So swimming is kind of a big thing for our family. The kids love it. That might be something that they do as they grow up. It’s just a lot of fun being a dad and being part of this family.”