NEW YORK — Austin Riley and his now-wife, Anna, both attended DeSoto Central High School in Southaven, Mississippi. But they did not begin dating until Anna was a freshman at Mississippi State and Austin was a senior at the high school. Still, Austin said, you can say they are high school sweethearts.
Years later, they are married. They have two boys: 2-year-old Eason and newborn Beau.
To think back from then to now?
“I feel like I’m getting old,” Riley joked Thursday at Citi Field.
Then he said: “No, it’s great to have a partner to be able to go through all that. She’s the best. She’s a great mom. Especially in the business that we’re in, she’s basically a single mom for half the year. That’s great. Can’t say (enough about) how great she is and the mom that she’s become.”
The Braves on Thursday reinstated Riley from the paternity list. He spent two days on it, but missed only one game. Anna gave birth to Beau at 12:34 a.m. Tuesday. Riley said he got “a little bit” of sleep the last couple days. But he added that he’s ready to get back after it.
Riley missed the birth of Eason, so he wanted to be safe the second time around. He exited Monday’s game early and had a few hours to spare before Beau was born. The emotions from seeing Beau for the first time mirrored what they were when Eason was born in 2022.
“Oh yeah, yeah. For sure,” Riley said. “The experience is like no other. Just seeing what Anna goes through and that whole process, it amazes me, what women are able to go through. She’s a trooper. She’s doing great back home. It’s incredible.”
On Tuesday, Braves manager Brian Snitker said he always tells guys that baseball will be even better after having kids because life won’t be all about the game. Those kids, Snitker said, won’t care how the game goes.
“He said it right: I can have a bad day, good day here, go home and as soon as you walk in the door and they’re screaming ‘Daddy!’ it’s the best feeling ever,” Riley said. “It just puts everything in perspective. Anna is doing great, Beau is doing great. Just very happy everything went well.”
Snitker goes into a Hall of Fame
On Friday, the Appalachian League announced that Snitker – who played and managed in the league – will go into the Appalachian League Hall of Fame.
“That’s where it all started,” Snitker said.
Snitker was a catcher for the 1977 Kingsport Braves. “Matter of fact, I think we won the league that year,” he said. He’s correct: He drove in the winning run to capture the league crown.
“I can’t remember what I had for breakfast,” Snitker joked. “That was 50 years ago.”
In 1996, he managed the Danville Braves, who won the league title that season.
Now, he also has a World Series ring.
Michael Harris II getting closer following setback
The Braves recently transferred Michael Harris II (hamstring strain) to the 60-day injured list. He won’t be able to return until Aug. 14.
The fact the Braves made the move when they did signals that they felt convicted that Harris wouldn’t be ready before the middle of August. But a few weeks back, Harris had said things were trending upward.
“Then he did start feeling something, that was the thing – so they had to back off a little bit,” Snitker said.
Snitker also said this: “He’s gonna have to go out for a little while now, and get kind of back into game shape.”
Did Harris suffer the setback while running?
“Just during the exercises and everything,” Snitker said. “He had a little shadow of something. When that happens, they close them down again and kind of start over. It’s good to see what he was out there doing today, is kind of a pretty advanced workout and everything, so I think he’s getting closer.”
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