Right-handed reliever Brusdar Graterol of the Los Angeles Dodgers will never forget the day he witnessed teammate Max Muncy rushing toward one of the most memorable experiences of his life.
Muncy didn’t try to outrun an infield single. Furthermore, neither Graterol nor a member of the Dodgers’ bullpen were present.
The incident occurred on April 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In Pittsburgh, the remaining Dodgers were located. As soon as Graterol exited the restroom, he noticed a man rushing down the corridor and thought, “Oh my God, that’s Muncy over there! He’s going to have the kid right now!”
Graterol was well aware of what was going on since he and his wife Allison, who were recovering after the birth of their own daughter, Aria, in their own hospital room on the second floor of Cedars-Sinai, were pretty occupied.
It was simply coincidence that two Dodgers teammates who were on paternity leave at the same time would welcome infants into the world on the same day. But what if five Dodgers, including Graterol, Muncy, Mookie Betts, Caleb Ferguson, and Evan Phillips, had children between April 20 and May 9 of this year? And early in July, a sixth, Yency Almonte?
The 2023 Dodgers are dominating in their very own BABIP: Batting Average on Babies in Play—a conglomeration of sabermetric jargon.
The Dodgers’ closer, Phillips, whose son Beau was born seven weeks early on April 20, said, “I’m sure it was a headache for the Dodgers to bounce on and off of the paternity list.” Beau was born on April 20. Even though it’s ironic how everything turned out, we had a great time.
The Dodgers take great satisfaction in establishing a family culture and will win their tenth N.L. West division this month. That was definitely put to the test by this.
Brandon Gomes, general manager, grinned and added, “We’ve cleared most of it. Many of the infants were completed earlier in the season, all at roughly the same time. Naturally, getting the men there in order for them to be with their women when their children are born is of the utmost importance. after which attempting to navigate how it impacts the team. attempting to make sense of what is happening in a world that is so unclear and developing backup plans along the way.
The Graterol-Muncy two-step was the trickiest of those. On April 23, the Dodgers finished a series at Wrigley Field and left for Pittsburgh. Graterol left Chicago for home because it was always intended for doctors to induce Allison’s delivery on April 24, a day off before the series in Pittsburgh was scheduled to start. On that Monday in Pittsburgh at 7:30 a.m., Muncy’s phone chimed, which caught him off guard. He had intended to get a late night, play against the Pirates, and then spend time with his wife Kellie, who was due to give birth on April 28.
Since we would be at home, I would only be absent for one or two days, Muncy explained. “However, the little fellow then made the decision to arrive on our first day in Pittsburgh and to be uncooperative. It’s just one of those situations where I believe everyone has a similar story. Even with the finest planning, things will still go according to plan.
Moving players, notably infielder Michael Busch, from the Dodgers’ Class AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City to Pittsburgh “is not the easiest thing in the world,” as Gomes noted.
“Getting from Pittsburgh to L.A. is not easy, either,” Muncy retorted. I can attest to that.
particular on a deadline. Ten minutes or so after Muncy’s hospital arrival and cross-country race, Wyatt was born. His hallway sprint follows.
The Dodgers permitted Ferguson to fly back to Los Angeles after he pitched in back-to-back games in San Diego on May 6 and 7, which turned out to be a happy coincidence. Ferguson wouldn’t have been available for Milwaukee’s opening two games anyhow since his wife was very close to giving birth.
Then, Ferguson continued, “I was going to fly to Milwaukee for the final game, but it turns out my wife gave birth on the first day of that series, so the team really did me a huge favor.”
The trip to San Diego had begun when the team granted Phillips permission to arrive at Petco Park on Friday, May 5, after it had already started. This allowed Phillips to join his wife as she brought Beau home from the hospital after spending 15 days in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Elizabeth Phillips, Evan’s wife, said, “I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat it, it was incredibly hard when he went. In contrast, “but we felt very fortunate he was able to bring Beau home with me and get settled, making the most of every second we had.”
Roy Campanella, a former Brooklyn Dodger and future Hall of Famer, once observed, “You’ve got to be a man to play baseball for a living, but you’ve got to have a lot of little boy in you, too.” That must have been “you’ve got to have a lot of little boys” to these Dodgers, since out of the six infants delivered this summer, five were boys.
It was a second kid for Muncy and Kellie (Wyatt) and Mookie and Brianna Betts (Kaj). It was the first child for the Graterols, Phillipses, Caleb and Carissa Ferguson (Brooks), and Yency and Tori Almonte (Kyson). A daughter was only accepted by the Graterols.
It was the old Brooklyn Dodgers’ Hall of Famer Roy Campanella who once said, “You’ve got to be a man to play baseball for a living, but you’ve got to have a lot of little boy in you, too.” These Dodgers appear to have heard that as, “you’ve got to have a lot of little boys”: Of the six babies born this summer, five were males.
For Muncy and Kellie (Wyatt) and Mookie and Brianna Betts (Kaj), it was a second child. For the Graterols, Phillipses, Caleb and Carissa Ferguson (Brooks), and Yency and Tori Almonte (Kyson), it was a first child. Only the Graterols welcomed a daughter.
Ferguson described the group of men as “a good group of guys to go through it together and watch everybody kind of figure out parenthood.”
At this point, most of their conversations revolve about sleeping: How did the infant rest? How were the athletes able to rest? What about mom? But as any parent can attest, the inquiries change every week. The flow of life.
After the All-Star break, the Dodgers’ annual family excursion to New York, Baltimore, and Texas was planned, and several of the newborns went. Which led to more inquiries, particularly about sleep and time zone adjustments.
determining what we would need to pack for him to sleep in the hotel room and on the plane. Such things,” Evan Phillips remarked, adding that Beau “came through it like a champ.”
The Dodgers also done this. In all three cities, they won two of the three games.
Graterol described the journey, which involved taking a charter flight from Los Angeles to New York and a train from New York to Baltimore, as “beautiful.” “Nearby and just behind me were babies. Beautiful.”
There were so many newborns that, on April 4, after a 5-2 victory over Colorado, the wives and girlfriends of the Dodgers players and coaches hosted a collective baby shower in a suite at Dodger Stadium. Ellen Kershaw was a key player in such preparation.
On that particular day, Elizabeth’s husband recorded the first of his 21 saves for the year. The bullpen is currently talking about playpens because four out of the six new babies were born to relievers.
“You’re not necessarily sitting down there talking about the game or situations that could come up in the game the whole time,” Ferguson said. You’re sort of bringing up real-world issues, which keeps your mind at peace during the entire game.
The new fathers agree that having children has improved their mental agility to this extent.
“Game-changer,” Ferguson referred to it. “In the past, I used to bring my outings home with me and keep them for a few days. This wasn’t fair to my wife, either. But now, dude, I see him as soon as I exit the elevator right here in the stadium before I even make it to my car. And it doesn’t matter to him if I pitched a perfect game or whether I struck out the side or five runs. That has enabled me to focus on my child and my family instead of the professional aspect of this.
There is a general sentiment of that nature.
I have totally fallen in love with being a dad, which has really stuck out to me, said Phillips. And I believe that because of our total love for him and the love it has inspired in my wife and me, our relationship has advanced to the next stage.
The Dodgers’ clubhouse is the same way.
Phillips remarked, “I think it’s also elevated our friendships to new heights. “Because our methods of relating are different. In addition to being teammates and rivals on the field, we can connect over the experiences our children give us.