Nathaniel Lowe Home Run Honors Mom

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Dateline: Goodyear, Arizona

David Nathaniel Lowe circled the bases in a meaningless spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A little over 30 years ago Wendy Lowe gave birth to the baby that grew to 6'4" and belted that home run. She was the age her son is now.

On Thursday, Nathaniel, Lowe blasted a long drive 444' from home plate. It was the day his mother lost a 33 month battle with cancer at the age of 60."

"A lot of people with her type of cancer are gone a whole lot sooner," Lowe said. "For her to give it 33 months of fight is pretty special. In the end, I'm glad that she's done hurting."

Baseball is not that easy. Hitting a round sphere coming at you at 86.3 miles an hour with a twist like the slider he hit with a round bat is one of the most difficult things to do in sports.

Lowe hit one and the trip around the bases meant more to him because of his mom. He did the most difficult thing of all. He let his mom go.

"She was fighting hard but in the end it was kind of rough. It is a horrible way to die," He said. 

"It is weird when I lost my grandfather, I knew I'd hit a home run. I hit a home run. I lost my mom. I knew I'd hit a home run. I hit a home run. When my brother (Josh Lowe of the LA Angels) gets back in the lineup, I know in his first couple at bats. He'll send one out too. It was a cool affirmation because she put in so much work for us to get here (Major Leagues). It was a fun trip around the bases. Even if it is spring training, it's pretty special."

Lowe's father will come out to visit his two sons after he collects his thoughts. The family will honor Wendy after the season.

"It felt like it was time," Lowe said. "I felt like I said goodbye to her five or six times, honestly. I'm happy she's not hurting."

Lowe was technically unemployed when he signed a minor league contract with the Reds on February 14, five days after camp started. He is at a disadvantage. He has to perform to make the team or spend the season in the minor leagues. 

"I think she would want me to keep going," Lowe said. "Especially in this position here where nothing is handed to me. I have to make this opportunity. She did the same thing. Nothing was handed to her she worked hard. She put us in a great position for us to be where we're at now."

Lowe grew up in his mother's native Atlanta, two miles from where she went to high school. 

"I was lucky enough to spend 15 years of my childhood there," Lowe said. "We moved to Orlando when I got out of college and my brother got out of high school. She was a great mom and gave us a great life."

She raised a son that is quickly becoming a favored teammate in the Reds' clubhouse.

"You can see guys gravitate to him," Terry Francona said. "I talked to him a couple times because I wanted to make sure he was ok. He talked about how his dad was exhausted emotionally. He wanted to stay. I told him, 'I don't want to be in your business but if you need anything, anything. He is quickly becoming somebody that you want to be around to everybody. We tell guys to enjoy being part of this culture. You hope guys listen but he's really taken this to heart."