DETROIT — On the most emotional night that Oakland Athletics reliever Pat Neshek has spent in the majors, when almost every question about the loss of his infant son left him on the verge of tears, one practical matter made him laugh.
After retiring the two Detroit batters he faced Saturday in Game 1 of an American League division series, which the Tigers won, 3-1, he was asked if he could bounce back to pitch in Sunday afternoon's Game 2.
"Oh, yeah," he said, nodding his head. "I'll be good."
Good is a relative term.
Last week, Neshek and his wife, Stephanee, celebrated the birth of their first child, given the regal baseball name of Gehrig John. Neshek, a baseball card collector long before he played professional baseball, suggested the name to Stephanee in honor of Lou Gehrig. He knew he was not the first player to think of it; the former pitcher Curt Schilling also named one of his sons Gehrig. To Neshek's delight, Stephanee liked the name.
"She's a big baseball fan," he said.
But 23 hours after Gehrig was born, he stopped breathing. Doctors are still not certain what happened, Neshek said. Stephanee urged her husband to rejoin the A's for the postseason.
"We sat in the house the first day and the second day," Neshek said. "I didn't know if I could make it a third day. My wife said, We need to get out of here for a little bit. We thought it was the right choice, and it ended up it really was."
They flew here Friday from their home in Melbourne, Fla., leaving Neshek's parents to watch their three dogs and four more belonging to Stephanee's parents, who went along to Detroit. They were on their way to the team hotel from the airport Friday when David Forst, the Athletics' assistant general manager, called Neshek to say that the team had petitioned Major League Baseball to allow the players to wear Gehrig's initials, G.J.N., on their uniforms.
"I broke down right in front of everybody else," Neshek said.
The round black patch, worn on the left sleeve, made it easy for Neshek to put on his uniform Saturday. "I wanted to honor my son," he said.
Although Neshek said he did not feel an overwhelming urge to pitch in Game 1, Manager Bob Melvin — who never questioned putting Neshek on the division series roster — tried to find a spot to use him.
"We wanted to try to get him into a game sooner than later," Melvin said. "I don't know that there's any great time to try to potentially get him a soft landing in the playoffs."
With A's starter Jarrod Parker tiring in the seventh, Neshek got the call to warm up.
"It wasn't too bad," he said. "But when I got up, a couple of the fans said, 'We're Tigers fans; thanks for showing up.' That kind of overwhelmed me a little bit."
The sidearming Neshek carried that emotion to the mound. With runners on first and second with one out, Neshek got Omar Infante to hit a ground ball, albeit too slowly for shortstop Stephen Drew to turn a double play.
Then Neshek froze Austin Jackson with an 0-2 slider for an inning-ending strikeout.
"Probably the best slider I had all year," he said.
Tigers catcher Alex Avila said: "My wife's pregnant. I can't even imagine what he's been going through. I know he's a tough guy and everything, but it's very impressive. He forever has my respect."
Melvin did not ask Neshek to go back out for the eighth. That was fine with Neshek, who was so emotional in the dugout he was not sure he could.
"I was thinking about him the whole time," Neshek said of his son. "You just kind of take it second by second and see what happens. I find comfort in baseball. I feel normal on the mound. I don't know what would happen if they took that away from me. I think it really helped."
A's catcher Derek Norris said: "I knew with all the emotion that's probably running through his head, he wants to pitch the best he can possibly do. And I thought he did just that.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Pat Neshek Pitches for Athletics vs. Tigers After Baby’s Death
Dengan url
https://suporterfanatikos.blogspot.com/2012/10/pat-neshek-pitches-for-athletics-vs.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Pat Neshek Pitches for Athletics vs. Tigers After Baby’s Death
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Pat Neshek Pitches for Athletics vs. Tigers After Baby’s Death
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar