WASHINGTON -- Some players change their uniform number in the offseason.
Mitchell Parker legally changed his name.
To honor his wife, Hayleigh, he added her maiden name, Patterson, to his: Mitchell James Patterson Parker.
“She's a rock star,” Mitchell said this week ahead of Hayleigh’s first Mother’s Day. “We just had our first daughter, and I get to watch her enjoy motherhood. Luckily, we have a little rock star of a daughter. It’s been fun to see her be a mom. It’s something that we’d talked about for a long time.”
Nearly a decade before they welcomed daughter Juliette in January, Mitchell and Hayleigh began dating in high school. They had mutual friends, but Mitchell admits he was so nervous around Hayleigh that it took him months to strike up a conversation.
In retrospect, he never officially asked her out.
“She gave me a hard time when I proposed to her because she was like, well, this is the first time you've ever actually asked me,” Parker said. “I work really slow. But she hung in there, and it was worth it.”
Parker looks forward to seeing how their daughter learns her mother’s resilient nature.
In 2023, Hayleigh took her determination to new heights. She had been afraid of flying, so to overcome that, she earned her pilot’s license.
“She figured, what better way to beat her fear than to understand why and how planes worked?” Mitchell said. “She's determined. She doesn't let anything stop her.”
Later that same year, Hayleigh was involved in a terrible car accident. While she was driving, her vehicle was T-boned on the passenger side by another driver speeding at almost 100 mph. She sustained serious injuries.
“She had a whole laundry list,” said Mitchell. “She honestly was lucky to be walking period, let alone within a couple months of when it all happened. Again, she didn't let anything stop her. It didn't matter if she was miserable walking around; she was going to make it happen.”
With a fighting spirit, Hayleigh is ready to seize any moment. That couple shares a passion for adventure. That’s how they ended up tying the knot after more than eight years of dating. An email offer for a complimentary hotel stay in Las Vegas turned into an elopement.
“We were like, ‘Heck yeah, three free nights in Vegas,’” Mitchell recounted. “Then we were just kind of like, ‘You know what’d be really fun? If we got married at the Little White Chapel.’ So then we just did it.
“We did not have Elvis [officiate]. We regret that. So when we renew everything, we’ll have to go and have Elvis do that.”
The couple kept their marriage under wraps for 12 months. In January 2025, when friends and family thought they were going to their wedding, it turned out to be a one-year-anniversary celebration.
“We got the reaction we wanted,” Mitchell said with a laugh, adding, “Everything we've done has always been super kind of out there and crazy.”
Just as much as they are up for impromptu travel, they are content sitting on the couch watching movies. The addition of their daughter four months ago has enhanced that family time.
“I'm here [at the ballpark] for a long time, so when I'm not here, we want to be around each other,” Mitchell said. “Now, especially with our daughter, we get to spend some good quality time with her. Our whole goal is, we just want her to see happy parents.”
Mitchell beamed as he spoke at length about Hayleigh on Wednesday afternoon. A few hours later, he delivered 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to help the Nationals win. Call it pregame motivation.
“She doesn't take no for an answer,” said Mitchell. “She's got the fiery personality that if she wants to get something done, she's going to do it. Really, she's got the mindset of, nothing's going to stop her.”