Spring 2025

Stephen Piscotty hits home run in first game back after mother’s death from ALS

Stephen Piscotty simply put his hand on his heart, tapped it a few times, and looked up to the sky in salute to his late mother.

The Oakland Athletics’ right fielder hit a solo home run in his first at-bat following his return to the team after being on bereavement leave. The 27-year-old flew cross-country to be with Oakland in Boston at Fenway Park, following the death of his mom, Gretchen, to Lou Gehrig’s Disease on May 6 at the age of 55.

His home run helped lift the A’s to a 5-3 win over the Red Sox.

“It was pure joy. It’s been an emotional week,” said Piscotty. “Coming around third, I just immediately started thinking about my mom and kind of put my hand over my chest like she would do.”

RELATED: Gretchen Piscotty, mother of Oakland’s Stephen Piscotty, passes away at 55

The A’s continue their series against the Red Sox on Wednesday night. First pitch is 7:10 p.m. ET.

Sports Spectrum
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.