Chicago Cubs World Series MVP Ben Zobrist filed for legal separation from his wife, Julianna, alleging she was "guilty of inappropriate marital conduct."
According to the filing, Zobrist hoped to enter a "marriage dissolution agreement and permanent parenting plan," or have a judge order them to be legally separated, "unless they can reconcile," according to the newspaper.
The couple, who have been married since 2005, share three young children together: Blaise, Kruse, and Zion, according to Julianna's Instagram.
Couples choosing to file in separate jurisdictions is not uncommon in cases involving large sums of money. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Zobrist is "due more than $9 million for the remainder of this season in the final year of his four-year contract with the club."
On May 8, Zobrist took a personal leave from the Cubs. Officials of the team said his timeline "remains indefinite," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. His manager, Joe Maddon, told the publication, "I texted with him the other day, reminded him how much I care about him, and how much we miss him."
His leave prompted the team to bring back Addison Russell "earlier than planned" following his suspension for domestic violence, the publication added.
The news of the impending divorce has shocked fans, with lots of people taking to social media to offer prayers of support.
Jesse Rogers, who covers the Cubs for ESPN, wrote on Twitter, "Maddon on Zobrist: 'I feel for him. Having gone through that process myself, it's no fun. For him to do it under these circumstances, we're going to respect his privacy. There is no timeline involved. He'll let us know.'"
Another person wrote, "Damn sad news about Ben Zobrist and his wife. They were always like the model couple in baseball."
"When Ben was first drafted into the minor leagues … he called me and he said, if I’m going to do this thing, then we’re going to do this together," she told NPR. "It’s not going to be a me thing. It's going to be a we thing. And so we decided on that day to never spend any longer than six days apart.
"It's not a magic number. It's not like the golden ticket to a perfect marriage," she continued. "But for us, it was a starting point. It was, all right, we've got to draw the line in the sand somewhere, and a week just felt too long. And every single spring, we sit down for about four to eight hours with our teams. … I get one of those massive calendars and we literally go through and write down every city that we're going to be in. We write in date nights. We write in family date days."
