Dave Dravecky

Dave Dravecky
Pitcher
Born: February 14, 1956 (1956-02-14) Youngstown, Ohio
Batted: Right	Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 15, 1982 for the San Diego Padres
Last MLB appearance
August 15, 1989 for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics
Win–Loss record	64–57
Earned run average	3.13
Strikeouts	558
Teams
San Diego Padres (1982–1987) San Francisco Giants (1987–1989)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (1983) 1989 Hutch Award

David Francis Dravecky (born February 14, 1956 in Youngstown, Ohio, graduated from Boardman High School in 1974, United States) is a Christian motivational speaker, author, and former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres (1982–87) and San Francisco Giants (1987–89). He is well remembered for his battle against cancer, which ended his career as his team was reaching the 1989 World Series. He won the Hutch Award in 1989.

Biography

Early career

A left-handed pitcher, Dravecky represented the Padres at the All-Star game in 1983, his second season, in which he won 14 games. Equally proficient as a starter or coming out of the bullpen, Dravecky helped the Padres to their first pennant the following year.

On July 4, 1987, the San Francisco Giants acquired Dravecky, P Craig Lefferts and 3B Kevin Mitchell from the San Diego Padres for P Mark Grant, P Mark Davis and 3B Chris Brown for their pennant drive. He went 7–5 during the stretch, and in the playoffs pitched a shutout in Game 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals and lost Game 6 by a score of 1–0. The Cards won in seven games.

Crisis and comeback

The following season, a cancerous desmoid tumor was found in Dravecky's pitching arm. He underwent surgery on October 7, 1988, removing half of the deltoid muscle in his pitching arm and freezing the humerus bone in an effort to eliminate all of the cancerous cells. By July 1989, he was pitching in the minors, and on August 10, he made a highly publicized return to the major leagues, pitching eight innings and defeating Cincinnati 4–3. In his following start five days later against the Expos, Dravecky pitched three no-hit innings, but in the fifth inning, he felt a tingling sensation in his arm. In the sixth inning he started off shaky, allowing a home run to the lead off batter and then hitting the second batter, Andres Galarraga. Then, on his first pitch to Tim Raines, his humerus bone snapped, and Dravecky collapsed.

The Giants won the National League pennant in 1989 (defeating the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS in five games), and in the post-game celebration, Dravecky's arm was broken a second time when running out to the mound to celebrate. A doctor examining Dravecky's x-rays noticed a mass in his arm. Dravecky's cancer had returned, ending his career. Eighteen days later, Dravecky retired from baseball, leaving a 64–57 record with 558 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA in 1,062⅔ innings. He won the 1989 Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership.

Retirement and later career

After two more surgeries, his left arm continued to deteriorate, and on June 18, 1991, less than two years after his comeback with the Giants, Dravecky's left arm and shoulder were amputated. Then he went on as a motivational speaker.

Dravecky wrote two books about his battles with cancer and his comeback attempt: Comeback, published in 1990, and coauthored, with wife Jan and Ken Gire, When You Can't Come Back, published in 1992. He has also written a Christian motivational book titled "Called Up" which was published in 2004 by Zondervan. With the help of Tim Stafford, Dave Dravecky saw Comeback republished as a self-titled autobiography for children in 1992.

External links

• Official website
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Outreach of Hope