After dad’s death, Justin Smoak lets big bat do the talking

When Justin Smoak returned to the Seattle Mariners earlier this week, he asked that the team's beat writers respect his privacy and not ask about the recent death of his father, Keith.

That's quite understandable, as far as anybody's concerned. Everyone grieves differently and the 24-year-old first baseman is choosing to mourn his father privately instead of through the media.

Smoak says he prefers to keep the questions about baseball and, after a week spent on bereavement leave, he's giving the Mariners reporters plenty of on-the-field material to ask about. In his three games since returning to the team, Smoak has gone 4 for 11 with two homers, a double, two walks, three runs and eight RBIs.

During Thursday afternoon's 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers, Smoak drove in the go-ahead run with a RBI double to deep center in the fourth inning.

Not so coincidentally, Smoak's offensive output helped the Mariners to their first sweep of the season and their first sweep at Detroit Comerica Park since 2003. His eight RBIs were more than the six runs the entire Tigers lineup scored during the series.

"That's something you want to do, just get back into it," Smoak said after the series' second game. "Try to take your mind off other things."

Keith Smoak passed away in South Carolina on April 19 after a battle with lung cancer and there's no question that he died proud of his son and their close relationship. It was Keith who encouraged Justin to try and become a switch-hitter at age 9. It was also Keith who was with him every step of the way to the big leagues ? from growing up alongside Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters in Charleston, S.C., to his college career at the University of South Carolina to being the main reason the Mariners were willing to part with Cliff Lee last summer.

We can't say that his father's memory is the only reason that Justin Smoak is mashing the ball so well this week. He was hitting the ball well before the bereavement leave, too, with a .291/.403/.491 slash line in 67 at-bats through April 18.

But as Smoak works toward becoming the star slugger that many predict him to be, it's clear that his father will always be near the front of his mind ? and his teammates, too.

Indeed, when Smoak hit a home run in his first game back on Tuesday night, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times reported that Smoak �was greeted at home plate by catcher Miguel Olivo.

"That was for Papa," Olivo said.

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