Ben Petrick

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Ben Petrick
Catcher / Outfielder
Born: (1977-04-07) April 7, 1977 (age 47)
Salem, Oregon, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1999, for the Colorado Rockies
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 2003, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average.257
Home runs27
Runs batted in94
Teams

Benjamin Wayne Petrick (/ˈpiːtrɪk/ PEE-trik;[1] born April 7, 1977) is an American former Major League Baseball player. A native of Oregon, he grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. After reaching the Majors, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and retired in 2004, returning to Hillsboro to coach at his old high school. As of 2013 he has been a consultant for the Hillsboro Hops, a minor-league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, helping the team's young players acclimatize to life as a professional baseball player. He is the author of the book 40,000 to One.

Early life[edit]

Petrick, who was born in Salem, Oregon, was a highly accomplished athlete while attending Glencoe High School[2] in Hillsboro, Oregon. He played football, basketball and baseball.[3] He was recruited to play college football as a safety. He ultimately signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for Arizona State.[4] Petrick opted to enter the Colorado Rockies' farm system when they drafted him in the second round (38th overall) of the 1995 amateur draft and agreed to a signing bonus of $495,000.[3][5]

Minor leagues[edit]

His first season in the minors was for the single-A Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League in 1996.[6] The next season, he spent with the high-A Salem Avalanche, and for the 1998 season he was promoted to the AA New Haven Ravens.[6] Petrick then played for the AA Carolina Mudcats to start the 1999 season before being promoted to the Rockies' AAA affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox after 20 games.[6]

Major Leagues[edit]

He was called up to the Colorado Rockies for the first time in 1999 and hit .323 with 4 home runs in only 62 at-bats.[5] In 2000, he hit .322 in 52 games for the major league club.[5] However, he soon experienced a dramatic drop off in production, hitting only .238 in 85 games in 2001. On July 13, 2003, Petrick was acquired by the Detroit Tigers from Colorado in exchange for pitcher Adam Bernero.[5] After an unsuccessful stint with the Tigers, Petrick was released. He attempted a brief comeback with the AAA Portland Beavers and the Toledo Mud Hens, and then retired.[6]

Petrick is only the second player (after Bob O'Farrell) to record 4 RBI in a major league game without getting a hit.[7] He achieved the feat in a 15–11 loss to the San Diego Padres on September 20, 2000, allowing his teammates to score by way of two ground outs, a sacrifice fly and a bases loaded walk.[8]

Later life[edit]

In May 2004, when Petrick announced his retirement from baseball, he disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease after the 1999 season.[9] He revealed that as time went on, it had become clear that despite the medication and treatment he was receiving, the effects of Parkinson's would no longer allow him to play baseball at a high level. At one point he stated that his symptoms were due to Lyme disease, but he has since returned to discussing Parkinson's as their cause.

Petrick did numerous interviews and spoke publicly about his story at various events and fundraisers in order to raise awareness of Parkinson's disease. His father Vern (former athletic director at Glencoe) also suffered from Parkinson's and died in January 2019.[3][10][11]

Petrick has three daughters.[12] He got remarried in Summer 2021, to Heidi (Springer) Petrick. Petrick’s aunt is Connie Ballmer, wife of Microsoft CEO and billionaire Steve Ballmer.

Petrick and Scott Brown have written a book called 40,000 to One (ISBN 0615583458), a collection of short stories from his life; The book was a New York Times best-seller in 2012 after ESPN aired a short film about Petrick.The film rights to the book were sold later that year.

In January 2013, the Hillsboro Hops announced that Petrick would join the Hops coaching staff as a consultant, assisting team "acclimating to life as a professional baseball player."[13]

Petrick has developed a motivational website and clothing line called Strength Through Weakness; www.strengththroughweakness.com

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ben Petrick's new book: 'Forty Thousand to One'". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  2. ^ "When life gets shaken up" Archived March 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine by Jason Vondersmith, from The Portland Tribune
  3. ^ a b c Wulf, Steve. "Strength from weakness". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Petrick, Ben; Brown, Scott (2012). Forty Thousand to One. BookBaby. ISBN 9781620955512. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d "Ben Petrick". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d "Ben Petrick Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Batting Game Finder: From 1908 to 2019, (requiring RBI>=4 and H=0), sorted by greatest RBI". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  8. ^ "San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies Box Score, September 20, 2000". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  9. ^ "Ex-Rockies C retires, has Parkinson's disease". 21 May 2004.
  10. ^ Pursinger, Geoff (January 17, 2019). "Longtime Glencoe teacher, coach, Vern Petrick leaves lasting legacy". Hillsboro News-Times. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  11. ^ Harding, Thomas (May 13, 2020). "Petrick opens up about living with Parkinson's". MLB.com. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  12. ^ Saunders, Patrick (August 19, 2012). "Former Rockies' catcher Ben Petrick refuses to let Parkinson's disease defeat him". The Denver Post.
  13. ^ "Hillsboro Hops Announce 2013 Coaching Staff". Minor League Baseball. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-10.

External links[edit]

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