Two star pitchers are facing the choice between being on the mound or in the delivery room. It’s not an easy decision

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With less than an hour to go before a playoff game with their season on the line, the San Diego Padres announced star closer Mason Miller wouldn’t be available.

It was shocking, a move that could have potentially derailed the Padres’ attempt to stave off elimination as they faced a 2-0 deficit in their best-of-five National League Divisional Series against the Milwaukee Brewers .

Miller and his wife, Jordan, are expecting their first child and Jordan went into labor on Tuesday just hours before Game 3 of the series. Faced with choosing between being available for his team and being present with his wife as their family grew, Miller chose to stay with Jordan and skip the game.

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On the other side of the country, as his team got ready to play in a similar elimination game, New York Yankees starter Max Fried found himself facing a similar dilemma.

Fried and his partner are expecting their first child this week, coinciding with Fried starting a Game 3 elimination contest in which the Tampa Bay Rays could knock the Yankees out of the playoffs and end their season.

The Yankees’ hurler was just as sure as Miller what he would do – he was going to be on the mound.

Such is life in October for baseball players facing the bright lights of the playoffs, when difficult decisions must be made constantly on and off the field as the long baseball season comes to an end.

For the Padres’ closer, the choice was clear – he’d be with his wife over the team.

The Millers announced in April that Jordan was pregnant with their first child. According to the San Diego Tribune, Miller told reporters over the weekend that the baby wasn’t expected for a couple more weeks and he hoped the team would be in San Diego when the time came so he didn’t have to make a last-second flight back home.

Miller was adamant then that he’d pick being with his wife over the Padres, if it came down to that. He really hoped it wouldn’t. And yet, it did.

“Mason got a hold of us early afternoon, right when he would probably come to the ballpark. He was kind of monitoring the situation and just deciding if he’s going to come today or things were going to happen. He decided that he needed to stay with his wife,” Padres manager Craig Stammen told reporters after the game.

“We knew sometime in the afternoon, but we wanted to give him enough time in case the baby comes really quick, or it goes the other way, and he could come to the game. We gave him the opportunity. We waited until an hour a half, an hour before the game time to make the final call.”

Professional athletes have to make “family or team” decisions all the time, choosing between being there for family or for the team. And in so many cases, the pressure from fans, media, teammates, coaches and front offices, lead to athletes choosing the game over their families.

For so many average dads, it might seem like an open-and-shut decision to choose family at a time as monumental as childbirth. But when your job means you have the hopes and dreams of millions of fans riding on your shoulders – well, there’s a bit more gray area in that black-and-white choice.

Fried and his long-term girlfriend, Reni Meyer-Whalley, are expecting their first child any day, the Yankees pitcher confirmed on Tuesday. When asked whether the uncertainty complicates his thought process around whether to start Game 3 of the Yankees’ ALDS series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Fried was unequivocal.

“No. I’ve got a really supportive family that understands that this is my job, and it’s not going to affect what happens tomorrow,” he told reporters, adding later that he planned to start on Wednesday regardless of what’s happening away from the park.

Fried is surely hoping for a best-case scenario – pitching on Wednesday night and having his child arrive afterward, making the decision much easier about whether to be in the delivery room or on the mound. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no word that anything had changed Fried’s mind ahead of the 8 p.m. ET start to Game 3.

For Miller, much is still unknown.

After Michael King, the starter in Game 2, pitched in Miller’s spot late in Game 3 and helped the Padres to a 4-3 win that extended their season to another night, Stammen said he didn’t know if the fire-throwing closer would return for Wednesday night’s contest.

“I think Mason will make that public whenever they have a baby and everything’s good to go,” Stammen said.

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距离季后赛开赛不到一小时，圣地亚哥教士队宣布明星终结者梅森·米勒将无法出战，而这场比赛对他们的赛季至关重要。

这令人震惊，这一举动可能会破坏教士队在与密尔沃基酿酒人队的五局三胜制国家联盟分区系列赛中以 0-2 落后的情况下避免被淘汰的努力。

米勒和妻子乔丹即将迎来他们的第一个孩子，乔丹在周二系列赛第三场比赛开始前几个小时开始分娩。面对为球队效力和陪伴妻子迎接新生命的两难选择，米勒最终决定留在乔丹身边，缺席比赛。

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如果小卡米内罗在布朗克斯，他肯定会家喻户晓。但现在，他将在那里结束洋基队的赛季。

在国家的另一端，当他的球队准备参加一场类似的淘汰赛时，纽约洋基队的先发投手马克斯·弗里德发现自己也面临着类似的困境。

弗里德和他的伴侣本周将迎来他们的第一个孩子，与此同时，弗里德将率队参加第三场淘汰赛，坦帕湾光芒队有机会将洋基队淘汰出季后赛，结束他们的赛季。

洋基队的投手和米勒一样确信自己会做什么——他要站上投手丘。

这就是棒球运动员在十月份的生活，他们即将进入季后赛的聚光灯下，漫长的棒球赛季即将结束，无论场上场下，他们都必须不断做出艰难的决定。

对于教士队的终结者来说，选择很明确——他宁愿陪伴妻子，也不愿为球队效力。

米勒夫妇四月份宣布乔丹怀上了他们的第一个孩子。据《圣地亚哥论坛报》报道，米勒周末告诉记者，孩子还要过几周才会出生，他希望到时候球队还在圣地亚哥，这样他就不用临时赶飞机回家了。

米勒当时坚决表示，如果必须二选一，他会选择陪伴妻子而不是效力于教士队。他真心希望这种情况不会发生。然而，最终还是发生了。

“梅森在下午早些时候联系了我们，那大概就是他原本应该来球场的时间。他一直在关注情况，犹豫今天是否要来，或者是否会发生什么变故。他最终决定留在妻子身边，”教士队主教练克雷格·斯塔门在赛后告诉记者。

“我们下午某个时候就知道了，但我们想给他足够的时间，以防孩子很快出生，或者情况反过来，他也能来看比赛。我们给了他这个机会。我们等到比赛开始前一个半小时，也就是一个小时，才做出最终决定。”

职业运动员经常需要在“家庭还是团队”之间做出抉择，要么陪伴家人，要么为团队效力。很多时候，来自球迷、媒体、队友、教练和俱乐部管理层的压力，最终导致运动员选择比赛而非家庭。

对很多普通爸爸来说，在生育这样人生大事上选择家庭似乎是一个毋庸置疑的决定。但如果你的工作意味着你肩负着数百万粉丝的希望和梦想——那么，这个黑白分明的选择就远不止如此了。

洋基队投手弗里德周二证实，他和交往多年的女友雷妮·迈耶-沃利即将迎来他们的第一个孩子。当被问及这种不确定性是否会影响他是否出战洋基队与坦帕湾光芒队美联分区系列赛第三场比赛时，弗里德的回答斩钉截铁。

“不。我的家人非常支持我，他们理解这是我的工作，这不会影响明天发生的事情，”他告诉记者，并补充说，无论公园外发生什么，他都计划从周三开始上班。

弗里德当然希望一切顺利——周三晚上投完球，孩子随后出生，这样他就能更容易地决定是待在产房还是在投手丘上。截至周三下午，在美东时间晚上8点第三场比赛开始前，还没有任何消息表明弗里德的想法有所改变。

对米勒来说，还有很多未知数。

在第二场比赛中担任首发投手的迈克尔·金在第三场比赛的后半段顶替米勒上场，帮助教士队以 4-3 获胜，将他们的赛季延续到下一场比赛之后，斯坦门表示，他不知道这位火球终结者是否会在周三晚上的比赛中回归。

“我认为，等他们有了孩子，一切就绪之后，梅森会公开这件事的，”斯坦门说。