Stephen Piscotty returned to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night after he missed several games following the death of his mother, and the outfielder made his presence felt immediately.
In his first at-bat of the game in the top of the second, Piscotty belted a solo home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park. He placed his right hand over his chest as he rounded third base and trotted home.
What a moment. #TeamGretchen pic.twitter.com/f80X5hqBax
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) May 16, 2018
Wow, what a photo by Adam Glanzman of Getty Images: pic.twitter.com/QD68gujXLd
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) May 16, 2018
Piscotty’s mother, Gretchen, died May 6 after a lengthy battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The A’s gave him the option of sitting out after he took a red-eye flight from California, but Piscotty wanted to play. He said the gesture he made while rounding third will be a way for him to pay tribute to his mom going forward.
Stephen Piscotty, on hitting that homer: "Pure joy."
"Coming around third, just immediately started thinking of my mom. I put my hand over my chest like she would do, and that’s kind of going to be my thing going forward."
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) May 16, 2018
A’s manager Bob Melvin described how special Piscotty’s home run was for the team.
“To hit a home run in his first at-bat like that, there’s something in the air,” he said. “Probably Gretchen … It was like a walkoff. The guys just embraced him when he got in the dugout.”
Piscotty’s homer couldn’t help but make us think of the incredible homer a Marlins player hit in Miami’s first game after the tragic passing of Jose Fernandez. Moments like that are what make baseball about more than just baseball.
