Ep. 215 - Big League Perspective On Fatherhood | Ryan Lavarnway and Bryan Ward

Welcome to a new episode of The Dad Up Podcast. I’m excited to share this amazing guest with you. Ryan Lavarnway is much more than just a former MLB championship baseball player. Today, his identity is husband and father. Ryan and his wife Jamie recently had a daughter, Blake. In their free time they enjoy family time together, traveling, trying new restaurants and getting involved in their local community. Ryan Lavarnway is a retired professional baseball player. He was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft as a catcher. Since making his Major League Baseball debut on August 18, 2011, Ryan has played in parts of 10 Major League Baseball seasons. Ryan has also been a member of the Israeli national baseball team at multiple points in his career. Ryan first played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and was named Pool A MVP, after hitting .555 with a home run, 3 RBIs and 4 walks. Not only is Ryan a 2013 World Series Champion, but he is the first Cincinnati Reds player ever to have more than three RBI in a team debut. He also led all of college baseball in batting average (.467) and slugging percentage (.873) in 2007. In college, Ryan set the Yale baseball single-season records in batting average (.467), slugging percentage (.873), home runs (14) and runs batted in (55) and set the Ivy League record with 33 home runs during his time at Yale. In this episode, Ryan shares his reasoning for leaving the sport game he grew up playing so that he can devote his time being the husband and father he knew he needed to be. Make sure you check out Ryan’s links below to see what he is up too. As always, please make sure you are subscribed to my show so you don’t miss any of my awesome guests. Dad Up! Dad Up Instagram: https://instagram.com/daduppodcast Dad Up YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/DadUpPodcast Dad Up Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dad-up-podcast/id1486764562 Dad Up LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/Daduptribe Ryan Lavarnway Instagram: https://instagram.com/rlavarnway Ryan Lavarnway Website: https://ryanlavarnway.com/ Ryan’s New Children’s Book: https://a.co/d/4e06nVw Ryan Lavarnway Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryan.lavarnway Ryan Lavarnway TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rlavarnway Ryan Lavarnway X: https://x.com/ryanlavarnway Ryan Lavarnway Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finding-the-way-with-ryan-lavarnway/id1654389848