Royals Pitcher Learns of Father’s Death After Pitching in World Series

Telling anyone they've lost a loved one is tough. But what would you do if the person you were telling was scheduled to work one of the biggest stages around: pitching in their first World Series game?

That's the situation that unfolded Tuesday night in New York during game one of this year's World Series. Kansas City Royals pitcher, Edinson Volquez, was on the mound. His father, 63, had passed away earlier Tuesday in the Dominican Republic. But Volquez's family elected not to tell him until after he'd pitched.

According to this KARE-11 story, Royals' general manager, Dayton Moore, told Ned Yost, the team's manager, before the game that Volquez's father had passed. But his family specifically asked that Edinson himself not be told about his father's death until after he'd been taken out of the game.

“The whole time I kept thinking, Eddie was out there pitching his tail off,’’ Yost said, “and I kept thinking, his dad isn't watching him. His first start in a World Series and his dad isn't watching him.

“I was really monitoring him. He was happy, upbeat. He was there talking to all of his friends. Ok, he doesn’t know anything.

“It was hard for me to know what I know, and see the way he competed. It was a sad situation. There was no road map. You just do what the family asked you to do. It was real special to them that Eddie goes out and pitches that game.," the story said.

That's a really tough scenario for everyone involved. But I agree with the family's decision. There was nothing Edinson could have done to change things; telling him of his father's death could only have ended his dream of pitching in the World Series, or put him in the unenviable position of having to decide if he should pitch or not. Sometimes, as the saying goes, ignorance really is bliss.

What would you have done-- and what would you have wanted done if you were in Edinson's position?