I’d heard that he had a minor injury but I didn’t know his wife had just given birth, until I came across this at espn.com:
And then I read that he might play tonight. It just seems oddly coincidental but I can’t think of any reason for subterfuge. Why not miss a game if your wife is in labor?
The Yankees would have given A-Rod the time without blinking. He’s not the first to have a child during the season. There is absolutely no subterfuge.
He’s on my fantasy team and it’s been in his player notes for weeks that his wife is due and he’d be taking a few days off when she delivers.
It was legitimately both. Slight quad strain and new baby.
I was at that game, sitting pretty close to first base. It was sort of weird–he’s just standing on the base, no sign of anything wrong with him, and all of a sudden he asks for time out and calls the trainer over to feel his leg, and then he leaves the game.
The guy sitting behind us said “A-Rod has a four o’clock date!”
Would there be any roster advantage to pretending it was a minor injury? Do players get paid for taking a few days off for family reasons?
There might be, but I doubt it. At this point in the season players are very sensitive to small injuries that can become worse without rest and treatment. It’s a legit muscle tweak, that happened to coincide with his wife giving birth.
Supposedly the first base coach insisted he get it looked at. And in replays, Rodriguez did look uncomfortable running to first.
Besides, he’s back with the team now, but not expected to play until, perhaps, tomorrow. If it was family leave he would have been in the lineup tonight and they wouldn’t be hedging their bets about tomorrow.
Most, if not all, players at A-Rod’s level want to play. They hate taking time off for injury, even if they need it. That he has returned to the team, but is sitting on the bench is telling. Many professional athletes are like the Black Knight - their arm will be cut off and they’ll consider it just a scratch.