No, it's part of an activity that's rooted in 150 years or so of American culture. And the issue goes far beyond this one particular incident concerning one Daniel Murphy.
When a professional athlete signs a contract with a team, he is agreeing to give 100% effort toward winning as many games as possible for that organization and to show up to the scheduled games unless incapacitated physically or perhaps emotionally. Thus he has professional responsibilities to his teammates, to the team's management, and to the fans of that team without whose support his princely salary would not be possible.
A player does not have to be an Einstein to figure out how to act responsibly in the bedroom so that the birth of a new child will occur in the off-season, so as not to conflict with his professional responsibilities, at least with a very high degree of probability. But by putting a "paternity leave" clause in their player contracts, the ultraleft PC crew which runs today's major league baseball under Selig's administration has encouraged players to cop out of that rudimentary calculation and thereby disrespect their obligations to teammates, management, and fans that their contract embodies.
Yes, there might be occasions when there are unexpected medical problems for a mother and/or fetus and/or baby during the pregnancy and/or delivery process that may come up during the player's season. But fortunately, in modern day America, thanks to tremendous advances in obstetrics over the last century or so, such situations will be rare. When they do arise, the team's management and the player will usually agree to a paid leave of absence from the team so that the player can attend to his personal affairs, just like with any other serious illness or death in the player's family. But the large majority of these "paternity leave" in-season situations are caused by callousness on the part of the player to others to whom he is responsible via his contract. And if he does wind up with a healthy new baby, what the heck is the matter with keeping up on events from afar, like millions of other fathers in many professions and occupations have done through generations?
Yes, this kind of irresponsibility with paid "paternity leave" is emblematic of the decadence of American society and the woosification of American men and men's sports. Not only is the player irresponsible, but the "Major League Baseball" administration is just as much as fault for enabling the situation. Neither is beyond criticism. And this Murphy thing is just one such situation among many with more to come.
He was entitled to take time off, per his contract.
While he supported his wife, he let down the other team members. Many of those team mates are fathers with families, too.
I think the wife should have encouraged her husband to honor his duty to the other men on the team and sought support from a trusted female member of her family or a good friend.
By the way,....I am a mother of four.