Thursday, May 21, 2009

Scott Schoeneweis's Wife Died

The wife of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis was found dead at her home Wednesday.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said deputies found the body of 39-year-old Gabrielle Dawn Schoeneweis on the floor of the master bedroom in the family's suburban home shortly after noon.

Authorities said her 14-year-old daughter called the sheriff's office to report that she had found her mother lying there and unresponsive.

"At this point, anything we can do to support Scott and his family, will be our focus," said Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes, who was with the team. "I have talked to Scott Boras, the agent, a few times. We're trying to get the facts the best we can. It's devastating news. Everyone is taking it very hard."

Scott and Gabrielle Dawn Schoeneweis celebrated their 10th anniversary in January. They had three children together, and she already had a daughter when they were married.

"His world was just rocked. He and his kids, his family, his extended family, his in-laws, everybody's lives are changed forever. He took it as expected, very hard," Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. "As I told the team, just give him as much support as you can. Really, tell people that you love them if you do. You can never expect something like this to happen."

Francisco Rodriguez, who teamed with Schoeneweis in the Angels bullpen in 2002 and 2003, said he was "speechless" when he heard the news.

"I'm sad for him," Rodriguez said. "I can't imagine what he's going through right now, all the pain he's going through."

Former Mets teammate Ryan Church added: "He's always been able to battle through adversity because he's had cancer before. Everybody needs to be thinking about him and his family and just pray, pray a lot."

Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he still considers Schoeneweis part of his family. "I mentioned that to our people, that we've got to reach out and do all we can to help support him at this time," Manuel said. "And whatever he needs from us, we'll be here for him."

1 comment:

Freedo said...

I went to high school with Schoeneweis, and he was kind of an arrogant guy. Nails and others know that I have been critical of him, but in this case I really feel for the guy. This is a huge tragedy.