Sweeney home among those endagered by Cal. fires

When I heard about the fires in California, for some reason Mike Sweeney popped into my head. I of course knew he was a SoCal guy, and I wondered how or if the fires have affected him.

Turns out, very significantly.

"We only had time to grab what we could. We got our marriage certificate, the birth certificates, three wedding pictures and two pictures of the kids with Pope Benedict last year in Rome," Sweeney said Wednesday night. "That's all we have."

Sweeney has been told that nearly 50 homes in his community have been consumed by flames and nine were lost within a mile of his home. But he isn't sure about the fate of his house.

"I don't have any certainty. They're not letting any residents in," he said. "We're checking on the Internet and our home is not on that list, so we're very thankful."

Other ballplayers and their families might be in danger too, and David Justice's home has already been lost:

Players with the Padres and other teams who live in the San Diego area also have had to evacuate. Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek lives in the area, but Sweeney has not been in contact with him.

"David Justice lost his home; it was completely burned down," Sweeney said. "It's hit hard in the baseball community because so many live within two or three miles."

Maybe it's because my dad is a firefighter, but I just find news about people losing their homes in fires to be terribly sad. I'm going to keep an eye on this situation; hopefully no more families have to lose their homes, much less members of their families.