Grieving baseball player makes emotional return

Oakland Athletics' Stephen Piscotty closes his eyes as he acknowledges a standing ovation from fans. Photo / AP

A few days after the death his mother, Oakland Athletics rightfielder Stephen Piscotty returned to the plate and was given the ultimate response by fans, teammates and his opponents.

Gretchen Piscotty, who died less than a year after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease), was honoured with a moment of silence before the game between the A's and the Astros.

Then the fans went a step further.

Gretchen Piscotty was diagnosed with ALS in May last year while Stephen was playing for the St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals traded the outfielder to the A's last year so he could be closer to his mother.

Piscotty caught the first out of the game against the Astros yesterday and received an extended ovation from the crowd in his first at-bat.

The umpire stepped off the plate and opposing pitcher Lance McCullers then also delayed play to ensure the crowd's cheers for Piscotty continued.

Piscotty touched his heart on his jersey before hitting a single.

His father was in attendance and later congratulated his son while being interviewed on the video board.

"It was a special moment," Piscotty said. "I got in the box and heard the crowd start to roar and stepped out. I just wanted to acknowledge and to say thank you for all the support the A's community has given me. It was a cool moment and I know my mom was watching."

"All day, I didn't feel alone. I felt like someone was with me," Piscotty said a day later.

"I had a round in batting practice where I hit five homers out of five and I've never done that. That's not me."

The Astros went onto win the game 4-2.