Dustin Ackley’s trip to spring training interrupted by birth of first child
As obsessed baseball fans, we can’t hide our anticipation for the beginning of spring training. It’s something that consumes our thoughts all winter, and although we know baseball games that count are still too far away, we drive others crazy reminding them when spring training begins. It’s just in our nature, and we feel no shame.
Well, apparently this also describes the newborn son of Seattle Mariners outfielder/second baseman Dustin Ackley, because he simply couldn’t wait for spring training to make his first official appearance.
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According to MLB.com’s Greg Johns, Ackley and his wife Justine weren’t anticipating the arrival of their first-born child until early April, so they went ahead and started their yearly trek from Lapeer, Mich., to Arizona for the open of spring training early last week. However, two days into their four-day journey, the unexpected happened. Justine went into labor, forcing them to detour to the closest hospital.
Fortunately, the couple was able to race to a hospital in Oklahoma City, which worked out very well considering they easily could have been in the middle of nowhere as opposed to near a major city. It’s also somewhat ironic given the sports connection between Seattle and Oklahoma City and a certain NBA franchise that moved. But regardless of that, Parson Bennett Ackley was born on Thursday, Feb. 19 without any complications.
From MLB.com:
It was crazy, to say the least,” said Ackley, whose wife and newborn son remained behind when he finally completed his journey to Spring Training and arrived just in time for Wednesday’s reporting day at Peoria. “We were thinking he’d probably be late and would come right about when the season was starting.”
Ackley said Parson is still in the NICU due to his premature arrival, but is doing fine and could be released in the next few days.
Here’s a good shot of Parson.
As Ackley would also say, this isn’t how they drew it up, but such is life when one delves into parenthood. Expect the unexpected, and always be prepared to adjust. That’s the lesson, but here’s the question: Will Parson be able to negotiate his way to the Mariners season opener?
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If so, he’ll be our new hero.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
