ST. LOUIS -- Stephen Piscotty got a Cardinals-style welcome as he stepped to the plate for the first time in the second inning of Tuesday night’s game.
It was Piscotty's first appearance at Busch Stadium since the Cardinals traded him to the A's in December 2017. The 40,556 fans gave him a standing ovation as his named was announced and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina stepped out, giving the fans more time to cheer.
“That was really special,” Piscotty said. “A lot of emotions coming back there. It’s awesome to have my family there and my mom was there with me, too. It was very special. It’s hard to put into words.”
Piscotty tipped his helmet to the crowd, eliciting louder cheers.
“I thought it was great,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “That was pretty touching. It takes a lot to move Stephen a little bit and you could tell that it did. I kind of expected that. The fan base here is absolutely terrific and they remember their guys. I think everybody in our dugout felt great about that.”
He would fly out in that at-bat, walked in the fourth and singled home a run during the A’s six-run rally, which drew cheers from the crowd. Piscotty also made a nice sliding catch on a Paul DeJong drive in the seventh.
In what was heralded as a favor to Piscotty, the Cardinals traded him to Oakland so he could be near his mother, Gretchen, who was battling ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Piscotty grew up in the Oakland area and went to Stanford.
Gretchen Piscotty died at 55 in May 2018. The baseball world raised thousands of dollars to benefit the ALS Therapy Development Institute in her name.
“That trade meant the world,” Piscotty said before the game. “Going through what we went through as a family, I couldn’t imagine being 2,000 miles away from that.
"I thought the trade in itself was unique. It hopefully sets a precedent for the future. You don’t hope for things to happen, but if they do, maybe teams can weigh that into consideration. I thought it was great for both organizations. It just meant the world to me and my family, especially my mom.”