Dustin Pedroia leaves game after learning that his wife is in labor (Video)

It's a universal truth that babies wait for no one, not even if their father is a baseball player competing in a game with major implications on the playoff race. Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia learned that in a very public way on Wednesday night when he was pulled from the field during warmups for the seventh inning and told that his wife Kelli was in labor with the couple's second child.

As Deadspin's Erik Malinowski notes, you can see the precise moment Pedroia is informed he'll be trading a spot in the lineup against the Yankees for a set of scrubs and a box of cigars:

Pedroia missing some baseball action to be with his pregnant wife is nothing new. He missed the 2009 All-Star game in St. Louis when complications arose during Kelli's pregnancy with the couple's firstborn child, a son named Dylan.

[Manny Machado fakes out Rays in critical Orioles victory]

This was obviously a little different, though, as the game actually counted. Though the Red Sox have long since played their way out of contention, the Yankees are in a tight race for the AL East and Boston's in the role of spoiler. Pedroia already had two hits on the night, including a double in the fourth inning, when he hoofed it to the hospital.

Leaving the game was the natural and only decision, of course, and Pedroia's departure was particularly applauded by fans wearing pinstripes. MSNBC's Willie Geist was manning the Yankees official Twitter account on Wednesday and here's what he had to say:

An update on mother, child and 2008 AL MVP was not immediately available, but we'll pass it along as soon as we get it.

[Newly released 2013 MLB schedule features year-round interleague play]

As for the rest of the game, Pedroia was replaced by Ivan DeJesus who ended up getting that at-bat (and a strikeout) in the eighth inning instead of the ninth as the Yankees scraped out a 5-4 victory that kept them tied with the Orioles atop the AL East.

Credit New York's save to the stork.

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