Death and baseball are not compatible subjects.
I remember the state of shock in the Padres clubhouse during that first week of spring training in 2002 after outfielder Mike Darr was killed in a traffic accident near the Padres complex in Peoria, Ariz.
I cannot imagine what Yangervis Solarte, his family and his Padres family is experiencing today.
Baseball teams are, after all, families. When any group of people work and live together daily for eight straight months, bonds are formed. Players feel it every time another player is traded or optioned or released.
There but for the Grace of God . . .
And now the Padres, all the Padres, have lost a member of their extended family.
Yuliette Solarte, the 31-year-old wife of the Padres' third baseman, died Saturday night of complications due to her year-long fight with cancer. The couple have three young daughters.
Nothing else counts right now but Yangervis Solarte and his three daughters. The season . . . it will play out on its own. If Solarte feels he can't return this season, we accept that. If he feels he needs to be back, we understand that, too.
His extended Padres family knows what Solarte has been dealing with.
I thought about that Friday afternoon. Solarte's name was in the original starting lineup posted by manager Andy Green at Coors Field in Denver. Then his name was scratched due to a personal family matter. 
Sitting here in San Diego, I worried what that meant. The third baseman, of course, was headed home to Florida to be with his wife and family.
The entire Padres family mourns.
NOTES FROM THE SCOREBOOK:
-- First baseman Wil Myers is the first Padre to ever have a 25-25-25 season in doubles, home runs and stolen bases. He reached the milestone Friday night with his 25th homer at Coors Field off Tyler Chatwood. Myers stole his 25th base on Sept. 2. He extended his doubles count to 27 Sunday. Only two other first basemen - Houston's Jeff Bagwell (twice) and Joe Carter in 1987 - have ever had 25-25-25 seasons. The closest a Padre had ever come to a 25-25-25 season was outfielder Reggie Sanders in 1999 with 24 doubles, 27 home runs and 36 steals. Mike Trout is the only other Major Leaguer to have a 25-25-25 season this year.
-- Left-handed reliever Brad Hand is the seventh relief pitcher in Padres history with 100 or more strikeouts in a season. Hand, who leads the National League with 75 appearances this season, has 102 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings. Lance McCullers Jr. holds the Padres record for strikeouts by a reliever with 126 in 1987. Rollie Fingers had 113 in 1977. Trevor Hoffman had 111 in both the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Hand's 102 strikeouts are currently tied for fifth on the list with Heath Bell (2007) and Mark Davis (1988).
-- Shortstop Luis Sardiñas was 0-for-4 both Saturday and Sunday after going 12-for-28 during a seven-game hitting streak with a double, a triple, and a homer for six RBIs and seven runs scored.
-- Outfielder Jon Jay is hitting .302 (13-for-43) since returning from the disabled list Sept. 6 after missing seven weeks with a right forearm fracture.