What has happened to pro sports

by Evan Mathias

What has professional sports come to when as an athlete, you are criticized for taking time off to see the birth of your first born child?

That’s exactly what has happened to New York Mets second-baseman Daniel Murphy. Murphy took two days of paternity leave, missing the first two games of the Mets season for the birth of his son. He traveled from New York to Florida and arrived about an hour before the first pitch of the Mets’ home opener against the Washington Nationals.

Murphy was ripped on by talk-radio personality Mike Francesa on a local New York radio station WFAN 660AM. Francesa was quoted saying, “You’re a major league baseball player. You can hire a nurse.” He also went on to say that Murphy and his wife should have scheduled the C-section before the season so Murphy wouldn’t miss any playing time.

C-section surgery isn’t the ideal way to give birth to a child and is generally only used in emergency situations when the health of the mother or baby is in jeopardy. Why Murphy’s wife would be expected to put herself and her son at risk for ultimately something that, no matter what level, is still a game is ludicrous. It is a career, but people in other careers are congratulated for the birth of their first born baby, not criticized.

Have pro sports become so blind to the outside world? I choose not to believe that is the case, but the absurdity of this whole situation somewhat makes me lose faith in the sporting world.

No matter your profession you should be entitled to witness the birth of your child. In Major League Baseball contracts entitle players to three games of paternity leave. So why, as a player wouldn’t you take advantage of the opportunity to see your first born son being born? It’s something that happens only once in a lifetime.

Yes, sports radio hosts are supposed to spark conversation and controversy, but to attack a player’s family and criticize his actions is crossing the line. Family comes first and we should respect Daniel Murphy for taking time from his career. He proves there are pro athletes who don’t have tunnel vision about their sports. He proved he is capable of holding family values above a sport and a team that can go on without him for two games. The duration of the time Murphy missed brings up an interesting point in itself—a mere two games of the 162 regular season games the Mets will play this year certainly doesn’t warrant the uproar from the New York media.

If this is the reaction pro athletes who miss games for family matters get from the media there needs to be a serious adjustment of sports culture.