Texas Rangers star Jake Burger and his wife, Ashlyn Burger, recall every detail about the moment their lives changed forever.
Ashlyn was pregnant with the couple’s second child — they welcomed their first, son Brooks, in November 2022 — when early sex and genetic testing results for the unborn baby came in an email on a Saturday morning.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Ashlyn exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting the couple’s inaugural Lucky Classic celebrity softball game. “I FaceTime’d Jake. I pressed the button and said, ‘Jake, we’re gonna have a little girl!’ And then I looked right underneath it and in a huge, red box it said Trisomy 21, which is the clinical name for Down syndrome. 99 percent.”
Ashlyn continued, “I quickly Googled ‘Trisomy 21’ and the first thing that pops up is Down syndrome. I was like, ‘Jake, we’re going to have a little girl and she’s going to have Down syndrome.’”
The baseball star was unfazed by the news, which led Ashlyn to ask, “Did you hear me correctly?”
“He goes, ‘OK, and?’” Ashlyn remembered. “‘If that’s what God gave us, then we’re gonna love her and treat her the same and she’s gonna be no different. That’s our daughter and she’s going to have Down syndrome. I was like, ‘OK, that’s it.’”
Jake and Ashlyn welcomed their daughter, Penelope, in October 2024, and it didn’t take long for Brooks to become a protective older brother.
“He doesn’t like when somebody he doesn’t know holds Penelope,” Jake told Us. “He’s really sweet with her. He shares with her, makes sure she’s okay. It’s been cool.”
Jake Burger, Ashlyn Burger, Brooks and Penelope Courtesy of the Burger family
While having a young child with Down syndrome presents its specific challenges — “It’s just more hospital visits,” Jake said — the hardest part for the couple thus far has been navigating relationships outside of the household.
“I think a lot of parents know that our child has Down syndrome and they don’t really know how to approach us, or discuss it, or talk to us about it,” Jake explained. “I think that’s probably the biggest understanding.”
Ashlyn added that a popular “stigma” is that having a child with Down syndrome “is not a great thing.”
“Adults with Down syndrome can live on their own, they can get married,” Ashlyn continued. “They’re not living with you forever. People don’t really know how to converse about it or ask questions, because they think it’s a bad thing. When it’s not, it’s a wonderful thing. It’s something to be celebrated.”
Jake and Ashlyn will raise even more awareness for families navigating Down syndrome and other disabilities at the inaugural Lucky Classic celebrity softball game in Nashville next month.
The game will feature appearances from some of the biggest names in baseball — including Corey Seager, Brent Rooker, Bryan Reynolds and Jacob DeGrom — taking the field with music heavy hitters including Colbie Caillat, Tucker Wetmore, Jordan Davis and Russell Dickerson.
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“Jake came up with the idea a year ago,” Ashlyn said. “We were like, ‘We should do a really cool event that’s different, and what better way to do that than to actually have some of Major League Baseball’s greatest players play with the country guys that live down the street?’ We chatted with some players about it and they were like, ‘I will fly home to be there.’”
Jake added, “I think a lot of guys who like country music and baseball wish they were country stars. And I think a lot of country stars wish they were athletes. So it’s a good crossover.”
All proceeds from the event will support the Burger Foundation’s mission to uplift families navigating Down syndrome and congenital heart defects through direct support, community events, and future retreat programming.
The Lucky Classic takes place on Sunday November 16, at First Horizon Park in Nashville. For tickets, click here.
