Former Met Returns To Action

Former Mets relief pitcher, Scott Schoeneweis, has been activated from the bereavement list. As we all know, and that was reported here, Schoeneweis’ wife, Gabrielle, 39,was found dead in their Arizona home. As of now, there is still no reported cause for Mrs. Schoeneweis’ passing.

Scott Schoeneweis considered retiring, but said, "It's something that I would feel unfinished for me, personally. I think my wife would want me to play as well. My son is getting to the age where he is getting into it as well. He understands it. He wants Daddy to be a baseball player, too."

After being away from the team for three weeks, Schoeneweis had spent his time being a full time father of four. He decided it was time to get back to baseball, and bring his life a little more normalcy, “I kind of put myself on the back burner," he said. "It's been kind of tough on me recently. I'm running out of things to do. At 8:30 at night, everybody is asleep, so it's good to continue on and have something else to be distracted [by]. Baseball is pretty distracting. It takes a lot of concentration and focus. It will be good for me personally."

Not knowing what to expect when he takes the mound for the first time, Schoeneweis offered, “It's kind of an odd feeling sometimes, but fortunately I'm a professional athlete that has the innate ability to be able to turn things on and off mentally. I've been able to train myself to do that in the past. It will be emotional, I'm sure. It's different. It's not the same. It's my job and I'm fully confident I can get the job done."

Scott and Gabrielle were married for 10 years. Together they had three children, and Gabrielle has another child from a previous relationship.

Although Schoeneweis drew the ire of Mets fans, including me, he was never disliked. He was well liked by his teammates, as well as me on a personal level. That all being said, once again, we here at 24 Hours…wish the best for Schoeneweis and his family, hoping that maybe getting back to baseball, the thing he knows and loves, will help the healing.

Sources: Jesse Sanchez - MLB.com, Huffington Post - May 20, 2009