Star Tours
A former Major League Baseball MVP from Sanford and his wife – a Star Wars voice actress – hit the road together to promote their new books
SPOILER ALERT: David Eckstein’s new memoir Just Enough opens and closes with the 2006 World Series Most Valuable Player talking to the Lake Mary Little League baseball team.
In 2023, the Lake Mary boys missed moving on to the Little League World Series by one game. In 2024, they made history by becoming the first Florida team to win a World Series title. If anyone can relate to the kids’ roller-coaster experiences, it’s David Eckstein.
After the team’s ‘23 loss, David encouraged the boys to “keep running” no matter what, saying, “If you run everywhere, it shows that you want to be there.” A year later, after the boys became World Series champs, it was David who introduced them at a community celebration.
A Sanford native, David has seen it all in his life and career. His wife Ashley (whom he’s known for 22 years) had been encouraging David to write his memoir since he retired from baseball in 2010. As the 20th anniversary of his World Series MVP Award approached, David began finalizing Just Enough. And then, Ashley had a flash of inspiration.
“I called his publisher with a crazy idea one day and said, ‘What if we did a romance novel inspired by how David and I met and fell in love?’” says Ashley, an actress, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. “How we met is a chapter in David’s book, but people have always told us it sounds like a Hallmark movie.”
What’s Your Lucky Number?
Although David and Ashley were both raised in Central Florida and still reside here, they met in California. As David tells it, only once in his baseball career was he distracted by a beautiful woman in the crowd. Later, after meeting through their publicists, David realized it was Ashley who had caught his eye that day.
The couple’s romance seems meant to be. Their first date was on Ashley’s 22nd birthday; David’s baseball jersey number was 22.
David’s publisher loved Ashley’s pitch for her book, appropriately titled Lucky 22. That meant Ashley had just five months to write it, because she and David wanted to release their books on the same day. She connected with prolific romance author Samantha Chase, and they got to work writing the book, a fictionalized version of the couple’s love story that Ashley says is about 90 percent true.
When it was time to begin their national book tour, the Ecksteins chose Central Florida as their launch pad. More specifically, they picked Orlando Family Stage, which holds a special place in Ashley’s heart.
“This is where I got my start and decided I wanted to be an actress,” says Ashley.
Queen of Her Universe
The Ecksteins’ joint book tour is just one chapter in the couple’s fascinating story together.
Ashley has appeared on numerous television shows and in several films but is best known as the voice of Ahsoka Tano in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She won the part – the role of a lifetime – in 2008, but not before being rejected 400 times for other voice acting roles.
A Star Wars fan growing up, Ashley fully embraced Ahsoka and the Star Wars universe, making appearances at conventions – where she often dressed with a nod to her character.
However, Ashley soon realized that it was difficult to find cute Star Wars-themed clothes for women. In 2010 he solved that problem by starting her own clothing line called Her Universe. In 2016, she sold the business but is still involved with the popular brand and hosts an annual Her Universe fashion show at the San Diego Comic-Con.
More Than Enough
Ashley isn’t the only Eckstein who ignored naysayers in pursuit of a career dream. David, who has chronic kidney disease and is 5’7”, was told he was too short to play professional baseball but never let the negativity get to him. He played baseball at Seminole High School and the University of Florida and was drafted by Major League Baseball in 1997.
After several years in the minor league system, David made his major league debut in 2001 and played for the Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, and San Diego Padres. He played for 10 years, winning two World Series (with the Angels in 2002 and the Cardinals in 2006).
David hopes his book Just Enough, which follows his journey from a sick newborn to a professional baseball star, will inspire readers.
“Sometimes in society they say you’re not big enough, you’re not strong enough, you’re not fast enough, you’re not the best,” he says. “But at the end of the day, if you give 100 percent, you can be just enough.”
Championing Their Causes
Today, David is not only an author but also an advocate for Mid-America Transplant, a private nonprofit that promotes organ, eye, and tissue donation.
“Kidney disease runs in our family,” says David, “so this is a way of giving back.”
Like David, Ashley supports a cause she believes strongly in – the Kids Mental Health Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes mental health for children in the United States.
“We saw it firsthand with our nieces and nephews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Socially, they took a major step back,” says Ashley. “It propelled me even more to be an outspoken advocate for mental health. We’re all lonely, and connection is a basic need, just like food, water, sleep.”
Through their careers, entrepreneurship, and advocacy work, the Ecksteins have truly earned the title of power couple. David’s family still lives in Sanford, and he and Ashley continue to call Central Florida their home.
“We are products of Central Florida,” says Ashley. “That is who we are. We are so proud to be from here.”