Wherever I Wind Up (40 page)

With Anne’s family.
Left to right:
Will; Will’s wife, Shelly; Sam; Vicki; Ben; me; Anne; and Bo.

My mom and her brothers and sisters.
Left to right:
Lynn Caldwell, Mandy Bowers, Bob Bowers, Mom, Ricky Bowers, Helen Bowers, and Debbie Bowers. They all cared for me in some way.

My good friend and fellow pitcher Jonathan Johnson and me in the Rangers bullpen during my first call-up in 2001.

My sister, Jane, and me with my daughter Gabriel, age one and a half, and Jane’s daughter Abby, age nine.

At my first big-league game.
Left to right:
YMCA organizer Darlene Wilkes; Dad; my step-mom, Susan; Jennifer Binkley (Trig and Darlene’s daughter); YMCA organizer Trigg Wilkes (Darlene’s husband); Mom; Anne; Rob Merriman; Rob’s wife, Denise; and my high school friend David Fitzgerald.

Anne’s brother, Bo, and me in 1988.

Trying to steal a kiss from my future bride in seventh grade.

Eli and I figure it’s time to start teaching Van the wonder of words.

Darth Vader Senior (me) and Darth Vader Junior (Eli) get primed for Halloween.

Van’s probably not sure what to make of me or my Darth Vader costume.

Closer to home, at the Dekalb County Fairgrounds, Alexandria, Tennessee, June 2011.
Left to right:
Eli, me, Van, Gabriel, Anne, and Lila.

(Photo courtesy of Mark Tucker)

Mom and me, age eight months, at David Lipscomb University in 1974. It was my first baseball game.