Posted on 04/03/2014 5:52:57 PM PDT by Third Person
Daniel Murphy was back in the lineup — and singled in his first at-bat of the season — Thursday afternoon after being placed on paternity leave prior to the New York Mets’ opener.
Murphy left the team Monday to be with his wife in Florida for the birth of their son, Noah.
The 29-year-old responded in stride to criticism from two WFAN radio shows regarding his time away from the club. Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton — co-hosts of the “Boomer & Carton” show — and Mike Francesa touched off a nationwide debate Wednesday when they said if they were in the same situation, they’d want to get back to work.
“My wife and I discussed it, and we felt the best thing for our family was for me to try to stay for an extra day (Wednesday),” said Murphy, who acknowledged he was aware of the comments.
Mets manager Terry Collins had a different sort of reaction, going to bat for his second baseman who played in 161 games last season:
Collins’ remarks were in response to the WFAN hosts, including Francesa, who said Wednesday that he took a day at most following the birth of his children.
“I don’t know why you need three days off, I’m gonna be honest,” Francesa said. “I mean, you see the birth and you get back.”
MLB players are allowed up to three days paternity leave under the collective bargaining agreement.
“She had surgery and she was wiped. Having me there helped a lot, and vice versa, to take some of the load off,” Murphy said. “It felt like the right decision to make.”
Esiason, Carton and Francesa stood their ground on Thursday despite the backlash.
“It’s a very personal, private thing that people have certain feelings about. What can I tell you?” Esiason said. “If it were me, I’d want to go to work. I’d want to be back at work. I’d want to be able to be with my team, because I have a responsibility to that team.”
The rotten cave man commentary in question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QbMFHX5iqBY
So boomer has a responsibility to his team, huh? A**hole. Guess the responsibility to his wife & newborn child is secondary.
A sign of the times for sure. Make no mistake, this culture isn’t pro-life nor is it pro-family.
Responsibility to your team, Boomer? what about the responsibility to your wife and child? Some things are more important than your job, and family is #1 on that list.
CC
Having said that, I'd say it doesn't really matter either way. I say leave it up to the player and his family and don't give them any grief regardless of what they decide.
The most idiotic statement ... and I'm not sure if it was Esiason or Francesca who said this ... was the suggestion that the player and his wife should have scheduled a C-section prior to the season just to get it out of the way before the season began. That's absolutely mindless crap.
Wife and baby were in the hospital for two days after the c-section, I visited after work but didn't need to be there.
I'm not however going to jump on a guy for taking three days.
A week or two hell yes that's wrong, but three days for a guy who played in every game last season except one?
The sportshole radio announcers are really off base here.
what sort of a jerk just wants to get back to work?
sheesh the horror stories out of the law firm about moms waiting until 7 pm although they had been discharged hours earlier because their prick husbands couldn’t tear themselves away
dopes idiots
family is what life is all about not the effing “work”
this baseball dude has his priorities straight
3 days? I don’t see that as a big deal. He’s entitled to take three days off when his child is born.
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