This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Daz Cameron got a very special gift just in time for Father’s Day.
The 28-year-old Brewers outfielder and his wife, Jasmine, welcomed a daughter just less an hour before midnight heading into Sunday. Halo Bodhi Genevieve Cameron, his second child -- he also has a one-year-old son, Yazwohali -- came out at seven pounds, 13 ounces, and 19 inches long.
“It's beautiful, man,” Cameron added. “Just to be there, and be around family, and then see my wife give birth was amazing.”
Milwaukee placed Cameron on the paternity list, which lets a player take a leave of absence up to three days, on June 13. It isn’t easy for players to leave their families, especially after the birth of a child.
Cameron acknowledged it was tough, but he also said being a father and a professional baseball player -- especially at the big league level -- is all about balance. He was activated from the paternity list on Monday, and he knows he’s there to help the Brewers win ballgames whenever his name is called.
Learning how to balance it all is a process. Fortunately, Cameron already has a lot of experience with it.
He’s the son of Mike Cameron, who played 17 seasons in the Majors -- including 2008-09 with Milwaukee -- collected three Gold Glove Awards and was an All-Star in 2001. The majority of Mike’s big league career came after Daz was born on Jan. 15, 1997.
Growing up with a professional baseball-playing dad taught Cameron some things about how to manage it with his children.
“I think it's just understanding the life,” he said. “A lot of the guys who have kids know that the time spent away from home when you go to the stadium is the balancing part that we all balance as players to continue to make [the] best for our families. Understanding the lifestyle is a lot of patience.
“We're gone away from home sometimes. Sometimes, the family comes with us. But the most important part is when you're here as an athlete versus when you're at home as a father. You prepare for your job to help the team win a ballgame that day, and then when you go home, of course, it's family. It's everyday life living there, so the balanced experience part of it is important.
“And planning, making sure that you plan ahead of time. We wake up early, eat breakfast, and get everything going for that day to start the day, and then go on from then and there. So, I think it's just a lot of planning.”
Cameron’s family just got bigger, and he’s cherishing the newest blessing in his life.
“It's just amazing,” Cameron said. “Of course, there's always just those experiences that you go through as a father, and to see that I have a daughter now, you kind of look at life a little differently from that perspective. … Overall, it's just one of those things that we're living and learning through the experience. I'm glad that we experienced it.”