HOUSTON — Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers was fast asleep in his Boston hotel room after his club’s three-city roadtrip began with a win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park last Tuesday night.
At 4:30 AM Wednesday, the left-hander’s cell phone rang.
His wife, nine months pregnant, had her water break.
It was panic time. While Thayer Weathers was back home in Greenwich, Conn., being rushed to a local hospital, her husband was 180 miles away.
Weathers hustled to get a car service, then he prayed the whole way that he’d get there in time. He wanted to be there for Thayer. He just couldn’t miss the birth of his first child.
His car service pulled up to his home at 9:47 AM, then he drove to the hospital. He hustled through the ER and down hallways until he was in a delivery room.
Three days ahead of the due date, Paul David Weathers was born at 10:04 AM.
“If we would have been anywhere else, I probably wouldn’t have got there,” Weathers said Saturday night after pitching well in his first start as a father, a two-run, 5 1/3-inning no-decision in an 8-3 Yankees win over the Astros.
Watching the birth of a life that he created was one of the best moments of Weathers’ life.
“I watched everything,” Weathers said. “It was cool. He passed all of his tests. He’s a big chunk … 9 pounds, 10 ounces!”
For the next two days, Weathers navigated fatherhood and his job.
While on paternity leave, Weathers drove down to Yankee Stadium to throw a bullpen on Thursday and returned Friday to play catch.
Back in Connecticut, he soaked in fatherhood at the hospital, then after his wife and son were discharged.
“He was laying on my chest for a couple of nights,” Weathers said with a beaming smile. “Definitely priceless memories.”
No, Weathers said with a laugh, he doesn’t know yet whether little Paul is left-handed like his dad, or a righty like his grandfather, former Yankees reliever David Weathers.
Leaving his wife and new son to travel to Houston on Friday night was tough, but Weathers had to go. His paternity leave was up and he was the Yankees’ scheduled starter on Saturday night.
With a couple exceptions, Weathers has been very good early into his first season with the Yankees and the 26-year-old lefty looked like a rising star again before leaving a 2-2 game in the sixth inning.
“Son is doing great, mom’s doing great, so it was fun just to play baseball and get that back out there,” said Weathers, whose 3.21 ERA is 17th best among qualifying American League starters.
Weathers would have loved to be the pitcher of record, but he contributed to the Yankees extending their winning streak to eight games.
“It’s so good to have him back from paternity leave,” manager Aaron Boone said of Weathers. “He was able to do what he needed to do between starts to be ready, and I thought he threw the ball really well.”