PHOENIX –– On the scoresheet, Monday might’ve only gone down as one inning, 17 pitches and three inconsequential spring training outs for Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia.
But for the still-grieving pitcher, who just four months ago missed the World Seriesfollowing the loss of his newborn daughter, his official return to game action couldn’t have been any more meaningful.
“We’ve been waiting for that one,” Vesia said afterward, before adding with a gracious smile: “It was a little overwhelming … just trying to take it all in.”
Indeed, in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, Vesia’s outing was emotionally charged throughout. He received a rousing ovation from the crowd as he entered the game at the start of the fifth inning. He was greeted by a line of high-fives and handshakes as he returned to the dugout after his 1-2-3 frame.
Mostly, though, he rediscovered a feeling he had missed during thehardship of his heartbreaking winter–– getting to pitch, compete and exude his typically energetic demeanor from back atop a big-league mound.
“I just want to have fun on the mound,” he said. “I just want to be able to spazz out and be myself out there. Because right now, I feel really good out there. It’s just me and myself and baseball.”
Ever since arriving at Dodgers camp this spring, Vesia has been chasing that sense of normalcy.
He is grateful for all the support he and his wife, Kayla,received in the wake of last year’s tragedy, noting how on even the first day of spring, “we walk out the doors, and (there was) cheers and lots of love. It means a lot.”
But, the 29-year-old left-hander is also ready to fall back into familiar, comforting routines.
And compartmentalizing it all, he acknowledged, “has been hard, (but) hard in a good way, because I want to interact with the fans and all that, but I know I have a job to do.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
