If you’re not a parent, STFU.

Nothing is more important than your kids, ever, and few if any moments with your kids (and wife) are as important as their births. If you don’t think that transcends everything else you’re on the planet for, think some more.

Also, baseball is a 162-game season! Missing 3 games is nothing.

Pitchers may get only 30 starts, but they can still get their 30 starts even if they attend the birth of their children — this is obvious. Pitchers miss games for a cold, it’s hardly a disaster.

It’s also completely wrong to suggest that “the financial success” of somebody (team? league?) depends on players missing their children’s births. That’s pure nonsense.

If teams want to give players the discretion to miss games for family events, more power to them. I just don’t think it is an inherent right for athletes, or any highly paid person upon whom much is riding.

Nobody said, by the way, that it is “vital” for a father to be present at childbirth. It isn’t vital. As Emma said, it’s a decision “that the player and his family should be allowed to make for themselves.”

Sandy Koufax, Sandy Koufax, and Sandy Koufax. Yuke and Braun let the angel of death fly over without smearing their uniforms with lamb’s blood. If he cares enough about the baby’s mother to attend the birth, my respect to him.

I also find it a little bit ironic that so many people feel it is vital for a father to be present at child birth, but not child rearing. Athletes are notoriously absent from their children’s upbringing, but no one seems to think that reflects poorly on society. In fact, some segments of society don’t seem to think a father is necessary for child rearing at all.

A-Rod’s in the lineup.

It’s easy to say that the decision should be left to the player, but minimizes the significant commitment made by the team. As Neyer described, these athletes aren’t ordinary people doing ordinary jobs. A lot is riding on their peformance, not to mention their appearance. At some point, the concerns of the entire organization need to be taken into account.

Perhaps a compromise would be to allow players to take an unpaid family leave, although that really doesn’t address the team’s concerns. Whatever the case, I think this is a much more complex issue than many on either side seem to think.

it’s always good to see ya ’round these parts : )

I’m pretty sure the decision is not best left in the hands of a sportswriter. And it especially does not belong in the hands of a sportswriter who thinks childbirth is as trivial an event as assembling a piece of IKEA furniture. As Bruce and Emma point out, things can go wrong.

My third child, despite a relatively eventless pregnancy, was born with fluid in her lungs. Of course, we did not know for sure that the problem was fluid in her lungs for about 24 hours, all we had was a single symptom: she was not getting the right amount of oxygen in her bloodstream. Fluid in the lungs was one possible cause, but it could also have been caused by a defective heart or a lung disease. If there was fluid in the lungs, she was at high risk of developing pneumonia. If there was a defective heart, we could be looking at surgery.

She turned out fine, but the point is, there are many decisions–some important, some trivial– that may have to be made in those first few hours of life, decisions that entail all sorts of complex risks and tradeoffs. If you’re not there when a decision needs to be made–especially if the baby is in the neonatal ICU and mom is asleep in a different room–someone else will make them for you.

I’ll be damned if that someone else is a sportswriter.

The Mariners signed catcher/right fielder Angel Salome. Salome was a fairly well-regarded catching prospect as recently as a year ago, but he was removed from the Brewers’ 40-man roster last July after taking an extended leave for the birth of his child and requesting a switch to the outfield upon his return (Tom Haudricourt reporting for Baseball America).

[emphasis mine]