Aoki, wife expecting baby any day now

CINCINNATI -- Outfielder Norichika Aoki will be on high alert this week as the Brewers continue their long road trip. His wife, Sachi, is about to give birth to the couple's second child.

"Any day now," Aoki said.

Her due date is Thursday, when the Brewers finish their three-city trip with an afternoon game in Houston. Sachi is back in Milwaukee with her mother, and if she goes into labor while the team is still on the road, Aoki will return early to be by her side.

The couple has a daughter named Emily and is expecting a son this time.

"It's always on my mind," Aoki said through translator Kosuke Inaji. "Ron [Roenicke, the Brewers manager] joked about it, saying I'd better have my phone on me when I'm out in the field. I was planning on having the phone while I'm at bat."

Aoki smiled and assumed his batting stance, with one hand holding an imaginary cell phone to his left ear.

"I like to play in games and contribute to the team, but at the same time, my wife is in a foreign country and she doesn't understand too much English," Aoki said. "I would like to be there for her when she is having the baby."

Any day now.

"Today is Father's Day, and it got me thinking," Aoki said. "Maybe today."