The San Diego Padres put together a heroic effort to stave off elimination in Game 3 of the NLDS on Tuesday night, from Nick Pivetta gutting out 4.1 innings to Jake Cronenworth's redemptive homer to Xander Bogaerts' mad dash around the bases to Michael King volunteering to come out of the bullpen for a six-out save. It was the kind of performance that should endear a team to its city for years, one that drives home just how much playoff baseball can and should mean.
And yet, even amid all of that, some fans still wanted to focus on one Padre who wasn't on the field: star closer Mason Miller, who missed Game 3 in order to be there for the birth of his child. I want to be clear that this was by no means reflective of Padres fans as a whole, most of whom responded to the news by wishing Miller and his wife well and respecting the decision. But because this is America in 2026, there were also plenty who couldn't wait to call him, in essence, soft — and if you don't believe me, just take a look at some of the replies to a post from the San Diego Times-Union's Kevin Acee breaking the news.
The Padres are without Mason Miller for at least tonight. He has been placed on the paternity list.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) October 7, 2026
He said he was hoping baby would come while Padres were at home so he would miss as little time as possible, but there was no way he was missing the birth of his first child.
Respectfully (or, well, not-so-respectfully), what are we doing here? We've made meaningfully progress in how we talk about what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a male athlete, and the harm done by creating a world in which expressing emotion or weakness is considered worthy of scorn. But since we apparently still have work left to do, let's reiterate one more time: We live and die with our teams at this time of year, but your own feelings of fandom are in no way more important than a parent being present for the birth of their child.
Mason Miller doesn't have to apologize for going on paternity leave during NLDS
It's hard to extricate this from the fact that Miller has had, by his preposterously lofty standards, a pretty rough start to this postseason. After sailing through the Wild Card series against the Chicago Cubs, he let Game 2 against the Milwaukee Brewers slip away, coughing up the game-winning runs in the bottom of the ninth amid suspicion that he was tipping his pitches. From a player San Diego had mortgaged a large part of its future to get, it was a crushing failure at the worst possible time.
Of course, no one was more crushed than Miller himself, the man who had to actually stand on the mound and face down the fact that he'd let the biggest moment of his career to date slip through his fingers. And none of that comes even close to justifying giving him grief for wanting to be with his wife while they welcomed their child into the world — you know, just one of the most foundational moments of life on Earth.
In the aftermath of San Diego's win in Game 3, none of Miller's actual teammates — the people who are most invested in this run, and in having their best pitcher available — had anything negative to say about him or his decision. All they wanted to talk about was how King stepped up, and what would be required to keep their season alive in Game 4. Because they more than anyone understand the sacrifices required to play professional baseball. Those sacrifices are richly compensated, sure, but it doesn't make them any less real, and there's no reason why someone should have to live with a lifetime of regret just to satisfy some strangers on the internet who have decided to launder their own personal problems through a game.
Instead, the Padres picked up their closer when he couldn't be with them. Fans should do the same; they should be proud that one of their best players is so dedicated to his family, and they should be proud that their team is still playing long enough to welcome him back on Wednesday night.
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