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

Third baseman Patrick Wisdom didn’t know what his future in baseball looked like heading into 2020, when his oldest daughter, Molly, was still a few months old. He found himself training at the Cubs’ alternate site by the summer and made it to Chicago briefly by the end of the year. In ’21, Wisdom got his shot, set the Cubs’ rookie home run record (28) and he and his wife welcomed another daughter, Claire. Ahead of this Father’s Day, Wisdom discussed how much he is cherishing these days with his girls:

It's pretty special, honestly. It's really cool to share these moments with them. Having them out on the field running around. I'm sure they won't remember it, but the pictures will be good. It's like, you girls got to run around Wrigley Field and just have a ball and play in the dirt. Throw the ball around. Touch the ivy. That's pretty special. To share these memories, it's really cool to me. I never thought that I'd be able to do that. Getting to walk to the field with them every day or seeing them after the games, it's pretty cool.

During the 2020 season, when I was at the alt site, they were back home in Seattle, just because we just wanted to be safe. It was tough, because right before I left to go to South Bend that summer, my daughter was almost one. She was standing up on her own, but not necessarily walking. So, we were talking about it, and my wife was like, “Man, you might miss her first steps.” I was like, “Come on, you can't say that right before I leave.” Constant FaceTime got us through it. I'm just thankful for those times.

Now, when they're here, they come to the games and my daughters have been around enough to know what's going on. When everyone cheers, they cheer. They know when daddy's coming up. My wife will hold them up so they can see me and they'll get very excited. My oldest, Molly, we were up in a lobby and they have a screen with different pictures that come up. She was going, “There's Contreras. There's Simmons. There's Ortega.” I'm like, dang, she knows everyone.

She's in-tune. She loves the game. I think Seiya is her favorite player, but that's all right. He's one of my favorite players, too. -- Wisdom