The new dad talks about his first son and returning to the Orioles

Adam Jones passed by Matt Wieters' locker a few minutes ago with a congratulatory handshake and a question. "Where's my cigar?" he said. "They're coming," Wieters said back. Matt and his wife, Maria, are the proud parents of a baby boy. Maverick Luther Wieters, weighing 8 lbs and 2 ounces and just more than 21 inches long, arrived at 5:11 a.m. yesterday. Wieters is back with the team today and will bat fourth and catch tonight. Now about that name. "It was not because of Top Gun," Wieters said. "My wife I like the 'M' initial. But I find it hard to find a non-cool Maverick. Haven't found one yet. "It was a long day. My wife is a trooper and went through 23 hours of labor. A lot of it is waiting on the contractions. What she went through, she was more tired than I was. Catching 18 innings is a lot easier than what she had to do." Was Wieters tempted at all to try and come to Camden Yards and play last night? "If it would have been a quick delivery and something where I would have spent time with my family and gotten some rest, I would have considered it," he said. "But as much as my wife had been through and as much as I wanted to spend time with my new son, once we went into the early morning I wanted to spend time with my family and that is what I felt was most important." While sporting a huge smile today, Wieters said he did get some rest and feels ready to play tonight. "I got a little bit last night," Wieters said. "The first night, not much (sleep) at all. Last night I was able to scrape together six or eight hours somewhere around waking up. I feel pretty good today. It is great to get back with the guys and back to playing baseball. "That made it a lot easier (when the O's won last night). I told [Ryan] Flaherty, he made my night a little easier when he hit that ball out." Wieters said being through what he has been through and experiencing the birth of his first child kind of puts pennant race pressure in perspective. "It does," he said. "It's something where this team has goals, but first and foremost for me has always been my family and my family is in a good place right now. So it's exciting to get back here for sure. It's an exciting time for me professionally, but more important, personally."



Hammel will pitch Monday in Sarasota
Wieters catching tonight
 

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