Kids in the clubhouse: What do MLB players without kids think?

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The debate raged on Friday, as it did the day before and the day before that. Adam LaRoche, his son Drake and Chicago White Sox management have given us the most unexpectedly contentious topic of baseball’s spring training this year: How often should kids be allowed in MLB clubhouses?

(AP) The Drake LaRoche case — in which the White Sox asked that 14-year-old Drake not come around so often, and his father Adam responded by retiring in a fit — has inspired fiery responses in both comment sections and clubhouses. Chris Sale, the White Sox ace, has basically declared war on team president Kenny Williams over this, calling Williams a liar and accusing him of ruining the clubhouse.

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LaRoche has spoken his mind and the White Sox theirs. Other teams have explained their policies about having kids in the clubhouse. Other major-league dads have talked about how much they enjoy having their kids around (no surprise there.)

This is one of those stories on which there are no shortages of opinions and perspectives. But how about one more? How about the guys in the clubhouse who don’t have children?

Madison Bumgarner, the San Francisco Giants ace, sat in his chair in his team’s clubhouse before Friday night’s game against the San Diego Padres, pecking away at this phone. He’s in a different place in life than the dads who bring their kids to the ballpark. Bumgarner is 26, married, but doesn’t have kids.

If anybody’s going to get annoyed by the presence of a kid running around a big-league clubhouse, it’s someone who doesn’t have one of their own. Still, ask Bumgarner what he thinks about sharing his workspace with youngsters and he’s welcoming.

(Getty Images) “I don’t mind it,” Bumgarner says. “It all depends on the kid, really. It’s kind of that way with anybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s a kid or an adult.”

[Elsewhere: Despite Adam LaRoche debate, baseball dads love having kids in clubhouse]

Fellow Giants pitcher Jake Peavy brings his children around sometimes. So did Tim Hudson, who retired after spending the last two years with the Giants.

“Most of ‘em are great. Probably a rare case when they’re not,” Bumgarner said. “It always makes the dad feel good. That’s a pretty special thing.”

A couple lockers down, Hunter Pence — another Giant who doesn’t have kids — doesn’t object to having kids around either.

“Your teammates are your family,” Pence said. “And their families are your family.”

That cuts to a key part of this debate that the general public may not fully grasp unless it’s spent any time around a big-league ball club: Baseball players operate differently than a normal workforce. The shared space, the long hours, the intense travel schedule, it makes the MLB clubhouse a bit like its own ecosystem. So as the public objects, “Well, I can’t bring my kid to work everyday,” what gets lost in that is that baseball isn’t a normal job with normal rules.

“There isn’t anything the same about here and working in an office,” Bumgarner said.

Rougned Odor is the youngest starter on the Texas Rangers’ roster, but certainly not the youngest in the Rangers’ clubhouse, where Prince Fielder Adrian Beltre, Shin-Soo Choo, Robinson Chirinos and others bring their kids around regularly. Odor is 22, doesn’t have kids but doesn’t mind having them around either. It probably helps that he comes from a baseball family in Venezuela, where he got to hang out clubhouses when he was little.

Rougned Odor of the Texas Rangers. (Getty Images) “I have fun with Prince’s son, with A.B.’s son. Choo has a couple of sons too. Chirinos too,” Odor said. “They always bring them here. I play with them. I play catch. I catch when they’re hitting B.P.”

Andrew Susac is 25 and among the younger Giants players. Kids? He doesn’t have any, but doesn’t have problem with them being in the clubhouse.

“Whether they’re hanging out or helping the clubbies out sometimes, washing some shoes,” Susac said. “It doesn’t bother me personally. But some people might feel differently.”

Baseball’s unwritten rules are at play here, to some degree. Baseball is a sport in which well-respected veterans receive privileges — some get two lockers or can show up a little later to a spring morning workout. Some, like LaRoche, get to bring their kids around.

LaRoche’s arrangement was different, because Drake was there pretty much every day — an estimated 120 games last season, according to a USA Today report. That doesn’t happen if LaRoche is a young player. Nor does it happen if LaRoche has a poor reputation among his peers.

“We police ourselves,” Bumgarner says.

Which brings up another caveat: If players do have a problem with a kid in the clubhouse, they’re likely not going to speak to the media about it First, it’s one of those what-happens-here-stays-here type of things. But beyond that, some players, like Bumgarner, are aware that it’s just not easy being a major-league dad.

“It’s a tough spot in this game to have kids,” Bumgarner says. “If you have kids early in your career, you’re gonna miss a lot of it, you’re not going to see ‘em, you’re not going to see your wife as much. If you wait, you’ll get to do all that, you’ll get to be around ’em a little more, but you’ll be an old dad.”

Tough indeed. For a while, Adam LaRoche found the baseball version of “having it all.” And now he — and the White Sox — are learning how messy parenthood can be.

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