Ty Wigginton delivered his own son

Every now and then, at playgrounds and recitals and Little League games, guys will pull out their Dad cards. They'll nonchalantly trade amazing stories about themselves — things that they've heroically fixed around the house or wisdom that they've shared with their children about life (or video games).

Imagine having the misfortune of comparing Dad cards with Ty Wigginton. He has you beaten in the cool-job department: He's a major league baseball player.

Some of his pals at work — Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Carlos Ruiz — are local icons.

But his Dad card also trumps yours because he's done the unthinkable: He's delivered his own child.

Wigginton's brief career change — from infielder/outfielder to delivery specialist — came about unexpectedly on Dec. 20, 2006, when he and his wife, Angela, were at their home in North Carolina.

Angela Wigginton was a few weeks away from her due date for their second child when the contractions started coming. And they didn't stop. A trip to the hospital seemed like the next step. "She got in the shower and I started getting our 2-year-old son [Chase] ready to go," said Wigginton, 34.

"Then she went into the bedroom closet to grab some clothes to head to the hospital and the next thing you know, she's saying that we're having this baby."

Wigginton said he didn't have a chance to think about the surreal experience he was about to be a part of. He moved quickly and told his wife to lie down in the closet-turned-delivery room while he dialed 9-1-1.

"I had time to give them my address and set the phone down," he said, "and then I caught the baby."

Wigginton picked the phone up from the ground, and heard the 9-1-1 dispatcher tell him that the baby would come out more with each contraction.

"I said, 'The baby's here now,' and [the dispatcher] was like, 'What?' " Wigginton said.

He wrapped the couple's newborn son, Cannon, in towels, and used a shoestring to tie off the umbilical cord.

About 10 minutes later, the medics arrived.

Wigginton deferred any praise for his performance on that winter morning to his wife. "She was the real trouper," he said. "She was very calm."

The couple later had a daughter, Laila, in 2008, while Wigginton was playing for the Houston Astros.

At Angela's very first inkling that she might be having a contraction, "We went straight to the hospital," he said, laughing.

"I remember the doctor was like, 'Hey, do you want to catch the baby?'? " Wigginton said. "I said, 'I've already done that.'"