Ian Desmond, the Nationals' shortstop who is struggling this season, will be away from the team for a few days thanks to the birth of his child. This is made possible by a new rule that allows players to go on a "paternity leave list" for 1-3 days when their child is born.
Seems innocent enough, right? Well, not exactly. Desmond is the second player to take advantage of this rule, joining Texas' Colby Lewis, who will miss a scheduled start because of the same thing. For some reason, this angered one Texas columnist named Richie Witt.
But a pitcher missing one of maybe 30 starts? And it's all kosher because of Major League Baseball's new paternity leave rule?
Follow me this way to some confusion.
Imagine if Jason Witten missed a game to attend the birth of a child. It's just, I dunno, weird. Wrong even.
Departures? Totally get it because at a funeral you're saying goodbye to someone for the last time. But an arrival is merely saying hello to someone you'll see the rest of your life.
Keep in mind: people with real jobs can get up to three months paternity leave. And while certainly athletes are different, as Rob Neyer writes, can't we let them be real human beings for a couple days?