Outreach of Hope: The Dave Dravecky Story

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Writer's Note: This Story is dedicated to Josiah Herring, the four-year-old grandson of Bleacher Report writer Gray Ghost, who earlier this year lost his battle with cancer.

"As time passes, my story fades away."

—Dave Dravecky

Dave Dravecky made his major-league debut with the San Diego Padres on June 15, 1982.

The left-handed Dravecky pitched 105 innings his rookie year, posting an ERA of 2.57.

In Dravecky’s sophomore year, he was named to Major League Baseball’s All-Star game and pitched two scoreless innings while striking out George Brett and Fred Lynn.

In over 25 innings of post season play, Dravecky was used both as a relief pitcher and as a starter. As a relief pitcher in the 1984 World Series for the Padres, Dravecky was flawless, allowing no earned runs in either the NLCS or the World Series, which the Padres eventually lost in five games to the Detroit Tigers.  

Dravecky started two games in the 1987 National League Championship Series for the San Francisco Giants. Throwing a complete game, he beat John Tudor of the St. Louis Cardinals in a 5-0 victory in Game Two. Tudor, however, took the rematch in Game Six in a 1-0 heart breaker. St. Louis would defeat the Giants in Game Seven and advance to the World Series.

Dravecky gave up only one run against the Cards in postseason play, earning him a miniscule post-season ERA of 0.38.

In an eight-year career, Dravecky went 64-57, posting an ERA of 3.13. Appearing in 226 games, he stuck out 558 batters.

Not Hall of Fame numbers, but respectable.

However, it is not his baseball career that Dravecky should be remembered for. It is his incredible courage and amazing victory over cancer.

After being traded to the Giants in 1987, Dravecky pitched an opening day shut-out to kick off the 1988 season. However, it was shortly after that victory that Dravecky noticed something was not right with his pitching arm. The Giant’s placed Dravecky on the disabled list citing stiffness in his left shoulder.

In a subsequent exam, doctor’s found in a lump in Dravecky’s pitching arm, but assured him it was harmless. Suspicious of the diagnosis, Dravecky and his wife Jan returned home to Ohio for more tests.

While sitting in a waiting room, Dave and Jan overheard doctor’s discussing his case in an adjacent office. The finding: a malignant desmoid tumor. Not the best way to find out that you have cancer, not that there is one.

Desmoid tumors develop in fibrous tissue surrounding muscles and other organs. Dravecky’s was located in the deltoid portion of his left shoulder. To save his arm, and his life, it had to be removed.

On the anniversary of their wedding, Oct. 7, 1988, doctors removed the cancerous growth. They also removed most of Dravecky’s deltoid muscle. In an attempt to eradicate all of the cancer cells in Dravecky’s arm, surgeons froze his humerous bone, leaving it fragile. Dravecky was told his pitching days were over.

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