4/3/2014
By Ivan Pereira
Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy brushed off Mike Francesa’s criticism of his decision to miss two gameswith his wife following the birth of their first child.
The 29-year-old slugger, who was in the lineup for the Amazin’s 8-2 loss in Citi Field Thursday, stood by his decision after the WFAN host called paternity leave “a scam and a half” and the player should have been with the team during its first two games of the season.
“My wife and I discussed it and we felt that the best thing for our family was for me to try and stay for an extra day,” Murphy told reporters Thursday.
Murphy didn’t play in two games this week after his wife, Victoria Ahern, had a C-section to deliver their son Noah on Monday. On his show Wednesday, Francesa said there was no reason that Murphy needed to be with his wife for that long.
“You’re a major league baseball player, you can hire a nurse,” he said during his 20-minute monlogue on the subject.
The host’s remarks set off a storm on social media from fans who said Francesa’s comments were uncalled for. Mets manager Terry Collins was one of them.
“He’s allowed to be there. The rules state he can be there. So, he went. There’s nothing against it. There’s nothing wrong with it,” he told reporters.
