Former reliever Cormier a CrossFit ambassador

ST. PETERSBURG -- Lance Cormier's career took an interesting turn after retiring from baseball following the 2011 season. The former Rays right-hander and his wife, Jamie, opened a gym -- CrossFit Candor -- in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Cormier ended the 2011 season in Tampa Bay's Minor League organization at Triple-A Durham, finishing the season hurt.

"I got back home and I was rehabbing, and Jamie had started doing [CrossFit workouts] then, so she was doing everything," Cormier said. "It was interesting, because I enjoy working out. I enjoy that kind of stuff. She was going, and I'd watch."

Cormier had considered getting into the insurance business, but he opted to go into business with Jamie once he made his decision to no longer pursue a career in the Major Leagues.

"I just realized that insurance wasn't for me," Cormier said. "Jamie had some complications with our second baby, and we realized, 'Let's do something together.' We kept praying over it, and this is what it kept leading us to."

In addition to being a hands-on owner who takes part in the instruction, Cormier is a devotee to the rigorous CrossFit training regimen.

"I started loving it right away," said Cormier, who works out six days a week. "A lot of baseball players don't like working out at all. But people who enjoy working out, when they get out of it -- I guarantee you -- they get into it, because there's just something competitive-wise that gets the juices flowing and little things like that."