CINCINNATI — The friends and family section at Great American Ball Park offers a direct view to the Cincinnati Reds bullpen in left-center field.
You can’t see everything going on in the bullpen, but Kelsi Antone knows when her husband, Tejay, is up by two telltale signs — his high-cuffed pants showing off the red socks and the black sleeves he wears under his jersey.
Dani Sims, the wife of Lucas, listened to Kelsi Antone explain this and pointed out that she tracks Lucas by his pants, worn in the same style as Tejay Antone.
“That’s Lucas’ thing, Tejay’s going to have to change,” Dani Sims said, jokingly.
Saturday night, Sims was sitting in the row in front of Antone and her father-in-law, Tony Antone, both having made it into town in time for what they hoped would be Tejay Antone’s return to a big-league mound more than two years after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery in 2021.
“It’s the culmination of two years of so much hard work,” Kelsi Antone said in the sixth inning with Reds starter Andrew Abbott still in the 0-0 game. “There’s been so much work. I learned to live day to day — for 750 days or whatever.”
Kelsi Antone kept an eye on the bullpen for much of Saturday’s game. (C. Trent Rosecrans / The Athletic)
Friday morning,…
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://womenssportsnow.com/tejay-antones-long-road-back-from-a-second-tommy-john-is-a-family-affair/&media=https://womenssportsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GettyImages-1656027957-scaled.jpg&description="There were points that I thought about getting off the roller coaster," Antone said. "And she encouraged me and pushed me."){kind=link}