New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy is missing his team's first three games after the birth of his first child. Murphy's wife went into labor on opening day, so he went to Florida to be present for the birth. Murphy is now taking the full three days of paternity leave allowed for Major League Baseball players.
However, Murphy is getting ripped on New York radio for not cutting short his paternity leave and returning to his team. Mike Francesa, the popular New York sports radio personality, spent about 20 minutes of his show Wednesday talking about Murphy and paternity leave. He was surprised that MLB players even take paternity leave, even though it's a fairly common practice.
"Go see the baby be born and come back," said Francesa. "You're a Major League Baseball player, you can hire a nurse to take care of the baby if your wife needs help ... What are you gonna do? Are you gonna sit there and look at your wife in the hospital bed for two days?"
Francesa wasn't alone in criticizing Murphy. Radio hosts Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason (yes, the former NFL quarterback) also chimed in with a similar refrain. Carton, specifically, didn't mince words:
"You get your ass back to your team and you play baseball … there's nothing you can do, you're not breastfeeding the kid."
Esiason, meanwhile, said if it were him, he would have told his wife to have a Caesarean section surgery before the season to avoid any conflict with opening day. Esiason said baseball is what make Murphy's money and provides for his family, so it should be prioritized.
Wow..... especially Boomer Esaison's comments.
