New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy missed a couple games last week, including the team’s season opener. It’s not rare for a player to miss a handful of games during a grinding 162-game season, but Murphy received a lot of criticism for missing the Mets’ first two games of the season.
That’s because Murphy missed those two games to be with his wife, who was giving birth to their first child, instead of being with his teammates, for the team’s first regular season game.
The criticism Murphy received was both unwarranted and senseless, and Murphy should be commended rather than vilified for having his priorities straight and doing the right thing.
Opening Day is an important day for Major League Baseball. It’s the day when all 30 teams, and their fan bases, begin their seasons with optimism. It’s one of the few games a team hopes to have its full, best lineup on the field, since many teams, especially the Mets in recent history, deal with a multitude of injuries.
Did it stink for the Mets and their fans that Murphy wasn’t manning second base at Citi Field on opening day? Yes. But Murphy has been a part of Opening Day before, and most likely will be again. You only get to see the birth of your first child once.
One of Murphy’s critics was former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, who is now a sports radio personality on WFAN in New York City. Esiason said that he would have told his wife to get a C-section before the season so he could be available for Opening Day. Esiason received plenty of backlash for his comments, and thankfully backtracked on them and apologized, calling the remarks “insensitive” and “flippant.”
Another of Murphy’s most high-profile critics was another WFAN host, Mike Francesa. The often-controversial Francesa said that he understood if Murphy missed one day, but that’s all he should have missed. Francesa said that Murphy should have “hired a nurse” to take care of the child so he could go back and join his team.
Excuse Murphy for missing more than one game, for that’s all he missed in 2013, as he played 161 of 162 games for a Mets team that was going nowhere all season.
Thankfully, Murphy had support from the only people that his absence affects: his teammates. First baseman Josh Satin was one of the more vocal supporters of Murphy, saying “although our games are very important, family should come first.”
Mets manager Terry Collins showed his support by defending Murphy against the criticism he’s received, calling it “very unfair” to do so.
The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ union also supports Murphy, in the way of a three-day paternity leave allotted to players. That was exactly how many games Murphy missed, as he returned to action Thursday, and has played in all four games since.
Murphy’s situation brings up a bigger discussion of professional athletes choosing their wives and newborn children over the team that pays them thousands or millions of dollars to appear at, and play in, games.
While an athlete is expected to play in every game, especially when an athlete earns more than $100,000 per game (Murphy doesn’t make that much, but some baseball and football players do), in the end, athletes play a game for a living. The team might lose due to a player’s absence, but that pales in comparison to seeing the birth of a child or missing such an important occasion.
Daniel Murphy did the right thing is this case, and thankfully, his team ”“ which lost both games in his absence, by the way ”“ agrees.
Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ
Today’s editorial was written by Sports Writer Wil Kramlich on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
