ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The shooting at a mass school in Uvalde, Texas was particularly troubling for Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Brooks Raley.
The small community of about 16,000 west of San Antonio is the left-hander’s hometown, he attended school in the building where the shooting took place and his parents and a brother still live there.
“It’s a pretty small town,” Raley said Wednesday. “News travels fast. My family is still there, my brother lives there, his wife and daughter. So it arrives near home.”
Raley, 33, was less than an hour before a game against the Miami Marlins at the Rays’ clubhouse at Tropicana Field when he learned that 19 children and two adults had been gunned down at his old school.
While Raley made it clear he did not want to discuss the political implications of Tuesday’s shooting, he acknowledged the news was difficult to digest.
“I was just sitting in here and hearing something and not really moving on because we were like 40 minutes before the game. I need to talk to my parents just to get a little background and get as much information as possible,” he said.
Brooks Raley is from Uvalde, the small Texas town where a gunman killed 19 children. AP photo
“I went to this school. I’ve walked these halls so I can imagine what they experience every day and I feel with that community,” Raley added. “It’s a small and close-knit community, so obviously it’s tough. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do. It will take.”
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Raley, a two-time sports star at Uvalde High School, hasn’t lived in his hometown since he went to college at Texas A&M, where he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2009. He currently resides in College Station, Texas with his wife, Rachel, and their three daughters.
“It’s the largest city west of San Antonio,” he said of his hometown. “I mean, we have an H&B and a Walmart and a few fast food places. Not much there.”
His reluctance to discuss the tragedy publicly is partly due to all the unanswered questions, Raley said.
“It’s just a tragedy. Obviously growing up there and going to that school kind of hits home,” the pitcher said. “Having young children of my own, you just feel for these families and you pray for them and your thoughts are with them.”
Raley is in his first season with the Rays. The left-hander was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and three saves in 14 appearances entering Wednesday night’s game against the Marlins. He made his major league debut with the Cubs in 2012 and also played for the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros during his career.