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Garth Brooks Cuts Padres Training Short Due To Family Illness
Garth Brooks left the Padres training camp in Peoria, AZ over the weekend for what the Padres term "personal reasons." Brooks has been at the training camp for less than a month, fulfilling a lifelong dream to play baseball on a semi-pro basis. An AP report indicated that Brooks left the camp to be with his mother, who has been battling cancer, in Los Angeles.
The Padres told AP that they were not sure if or when Brooks planned to return. Padres owner John Moores said, ''Obviously he's welcome back, but we're a lot more concerned about him mom's situation as opposed to whether he's just coming back. It would be a shame if he doesn't because it's obvious to everybody he was committed.''
Brooks' mother reportedly had a portion of her tongue removed to deal with throat cancer in 1998. In an October, 1998 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Brooks described a recent hospital episode in which his mother's cancer appeared to be moving toward her brain.
The Padres invited Brooks to take part in the training camp and are paying a symbolic salary to Brooks' Touch 'Em All Foundation. If Brooks proves himself at training camp, his next baseball move would be to a minor league team.
In other Brooks news, Billboard reports that a May 4th release date has been set for Garth Brooks In ''The Life Of Chris Gaines''. The album will be released as a soundtrack to the Brooks-produced movie ''The Lamb,'' which is due to be released in 2000.
The unusual lead time for the soundtrack is, according to Brooks, designed to ensure that fans are familiar with the material before heading into theatres. The movie traces the ways in which the death of a popular rock star affects the world, the music business and one particular fan, Brooks told Billboard.
In traditional non-traditional Brooks fashion, the album will be marketed to a pop audience with Brooks performing the music of the movie rock star. Brooks will appear in music videos in character as Gaines and will take to the talk show circuit as Brooks talking about the life of Gaines.
