SEATTLE — In early February, a father and son got together at a college baseball field in South Carolina and played catch.
It had been Keith Smoak’s dream to see his son, Seattle Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak, in action at the University of South Carolina’s two-year-old baseball stadium. Justin Smoak, who’d played three years for the Gamecocks but left the school after the Texas Ranger drafted him in the first round in 2008, never played at the new ballpark.
So the Smoak family, from Goose Creek, S.C., spent a day this winter at the ballpark, where the father and son played catch before Justin took a few swings.
Probably with lumps in everyone’s throats.
Keith Smoak, who’d taught Justin the finer points of hitting when he was a kid, was diagnosed with lung cancer last May. He was in a wheelchair on their day at the ballpark.
“It was probably the best day of my life because I had my family there with me,” Keith Smoak told The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., in March.
Tuesday, Justin Smoak returned to South Carolina to be with his dad again, this time under dire circumstances. Keith Smoak’s health had worsened and he died Tuesday night.
The Mariners placed Justin Smoak on baseball’s bereavement list. It allows him to be away from the team for 3-7 days, although manager Eric Wedge said he’ll get all the time he needs.
“That’s something I am so respectful of,” Wedge said. “When it comes to family, everything is secondary as far as I’m concerned. When he contacts us and lets us know how things are going, then we’ll go from there.”
The Mariners replaced Smoak on the roster with power-hitting minor league outfielder Carlos Peguero. He wasn’t in the lineup Tuesday, but Wedge said “we’ll get him in there.”
Peguero, whose 23 home runs last year with Class AA West Tennessee led the Southern League, was batting .311/.380/.511/.891 in 45 at-bats this year at Tacoma, with two home runs and seven RBI.
“We have a lot of young ballplayers I was very impressed with in spring training, and he was right up there at the top of the list,” Wedge said. “He’s very athletic for a big guy. He gets up there and doesn’t get cheated; he’s aggressive. He has a chance to be a pretty good all-around player.”
Dead-ball rule
It turns out the high pop foul Monday night by the Tigers’ Ryan Raburn was a dead ball after it stuck a Safeco Field roof support beam.
Ground rules printed in the Mariners’ media guide indicate the ball would have been live and, if caught, Raburn would have been out. Updated ground rules, posted in the clubhouse, say that any ball that strikes the roof or support trusses in foul territory is immediately considered a dead ball.
Raburn’s popup was the first ball to strike the roof or a beam during a game in the history of Safeco Field. It fell just out of catcher Miguel Olivo’s reach.
Of note
Mariners closer David Aarsdma allowed two hits, two walks and two runs Tuesday night in his first injury rehab outing with the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers. Facing Colorado Springs in the eighth inning, Aardsma threw 22 pitches, 10 for strikes. Mike Jacobs hit a two-run homer off him after a leadoff walk. Aardsma had hip surgery in January and, barring setback, could be activated by the end of this month. … Relief pitcher Shawn Kelley, on the DL until late May after having elbow surgery last season, is scheduled for a 30-pitch bullpen today at the Mariners’ training facility in Peoria, Ariz. After that, he’s scheduled to join the Mariners on Thursday in Seattle to continue his recovery. … Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez began his appointments Tuesday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., as he and the Mariners continue to search for the cause of his ongoing stomach problems. James Clifford, the Mariners’ minor league performance coordinator, is accompanying Gutierrez in Minnesota. … Backup catcher Chris Gimenez started Tuesday at first base and may see more time there while Smoak is gone. It could make things dicey if No. 1 catcher Miguel Olivo gets hurt. Adam Kennedy is the Mariners’ emergency catcher, and Wedge had some special instructions for third-base coach Jeff Datz, who handles the catchers. “I told Datzy to keep him (Kennedy) on alert,” Wedge said.
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