DETROIT — A’s reliever Pat Neshek honored his son last night in the way he knows best. He got on the mound and pitched. He pitched with his right arm and his heart.
He got back on the mound in the seventh inning of the A’s 3-1 loss to Justin Verlander and the Tigers in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Neshek retired both Tigers he faced. That he was on the mound at all tells you the strength that is inside this man. His newborn son, Gehrig John, died Wednesday in Florida, 23 hours after being born.
Neshek and his wife Stephanee decided it was important to come back to the A’s and get on the mound as quickly as possible. It was her idea to fly to Detroit, and they came here Friday.
His wife was at the game, with her parents. Afterward Neshek said there was no doubt in his mind they had made the right family decision to come back to the team, to his baseball home, after such a tragedy.
“I wanted to honor my son. It’s been pretty special the outpouring from fans and everybody,’’ Neshek told a small group of reporters at his locker. “My son was only around for a day, but it was pretty special what he accomplished.’’
Tigers catcher Alex Avila expressed his admiration for Neshek with these moving words: “My wife is pregnant and I can’t even imagine going through that,’’ Avila said. “I know he’s a tough guy and everything, but that is impressive what he did. He forever has my respect. I can’t imagine the emotions he is going through right now.”
Neshek, 32, said on Friday that the one day he spent with Gehrig John “was probably the best day I’ve ever had. The one day … I’d go through it all again for that one day. It was pretty awesome.”
He said his wife’s strength through the ordeal has been amazing.
“All year she has made sacrifices for me,’’ he said.
He paused and said: “What hurt the most is that she wanted Gehrig to see me pitch. Hopefully, we can have a couple of other kids, but that is what she wanted most.’’
Pitching last night, he said: “I just took it second by second. I really don’t know how I did it. I know I find comfort in baseball. I feel normal on the mound. I don’t know what would happen if you took that away from me and I think it really helped.’’
Neshek said he suggested the name Gehrig “and she liked it. It’s a great baseball name.’’
On their uniforms last night the A’s wore the initials — GJN — to honor Gehrig.
“It’s a pretty special organization,’’ Neshek said. “I flew in from Florida [Friday] with my wife and her parents. We were all in a rental car driving over and I got a call from [A’s assistant general manager] David Forst. He said, ‘I hope we can have your approval, but we’re trying to get approval from major league baseball to put your son’s initials on the jersey.’
“I broke down. I broke down right in front of everybody,’’ Neshek said. “I thought that was pretty special. I wanted to honor my son and that made it really easy to put the [jersey] on, when I looked at it that way.
“I think each day gets easier,’’ Neshek added. “I know when I see my wife tonight, she will be proud and that will make the days easier going forward.’’