Cishek talks about the joys of fatherhood

This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Right-hander Steve Cishek beamed with joy as he spoke about his three daughters, Emmie (7), Avery (5) and Eleanor (17 months). As Father’s Day approaches on Sunday, he shared his favorite highlights of being a dad with MLB.com:

[The best part is] just seeing them grow. In earlier stages, our baby girl, Eleanor, every time I’d come back from a road trip, she’s doing something new and different, so it’s a lot of fun. She seems to kind of be daddy’s girl already. She keeps running towards me and asking for me, so it’s super cute.

But overall, it’s just being there for them and playing with them. There’s no other way to describe it, other than just being dad. I just love being their dad, and love seeing them grow in school and participate. My middle child, Avery, is doing cheerleading, and our oldest girl, Emmie, had softball for the first time this year. Being able to witness that and watching them out there is just super rewarding.

Because of last year with COVID, there wasn’t a family room where I was in Anaheim. So, they sat in the stands every game. My wife likes to come to every game. So, they actually understood what dad did for a living, I think, for the first time. It was really cool for me -- I’m running out on the field and I can hear them screaming for me. Just looking up and them waving like crazy, they get so excited when I’m able to see them. It makes it really special for me because I just want to make them proud.

It’s nice -- if you pitch good or you pitch bad, they don’t know the difference, they don’t really care. [A May 30 game at Citi Field] was a perfect example: We had a tough game, and my oldest daughter was pumped to see the [Home Run Apple] come up. They don’t really understand the nuances of the game yet. I was like, “Oh, we don’t want the apple to come up.” She was like, “Oh yeah, I don’t like that thing anyways.” She’s just super cute.

They don’t care. They’re just excited to be here and to see their dad out on the field.