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Geoff Baker covers the Mariners for The Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout spring training, and during the season.

September 30, 2009 at 5:54 PM

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Matt Tuiasosopo has much more than baseball on his mind

Posted by Larry Stone

Mariner infielder Matt Tuiasosopo spent a nearly sleepless night checking on his relatives in American Samoa, where a devastating earthquake and tsunami has caused major damage.

"It's definitely been on my mind non-stop,'' Tuiasosopo said today before the Mariners' game with Oakland. "I stayed up all night last night, talking to as much family as I could get ahold of. My grandpa is over there. I have a lot of family I've never even met.''

The Tuiasosopos were relieved to learn last night that their grandfather was OK, and his home survived.

"I've heard that our family village is OK,'' Tuiasosopo said. "There were only a couple of houses that were damaged. But my Grandpa's house is OK. For the most part, I think all of our family that is over there is safe. But I'm not sure.''

He said the entire Tuiasosopo family, with branches in Washington and California, have been scouring the internet and making phone calls to check on relatives.

"It's tough getting hold of people,'' he said. "One of my aunts finally got hold of my Grandpa last night.''

Tuiasosopo said he plans to get involved in the relief effort.

"I'm going to talk to my dad and see what we can do,'' he said. "I've just been praying non-stop. Our faith is huge and important. A bunch of guys on the team are helping me out, and I'm thankful to them. It's definitely something on my mind.''

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Matt Tuiasosopo has much more than baseball on his mind

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