CancerTreatmentBooks.com
Information About Cancer and Cancer Treatment

Dave Dravecky




David Francis Dravecky (born February 14, 1956 in Youngstown, Ohio) is a
Christian motivational speaker, author, and former Major League Baseball
player for the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. He is remembered
for his battle with cancer which ended his career as his team was reaching
the World Series.

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 starting pitcher or coming out of the bullpen, Dravecky helped the Padres
to their first pennant the following year.

In 1987, the San Francisco Giants acquired Dravecky 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.

The following season, a cancerous 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 of 1989, he was pitching in
the minor leagues, and on August 10, he made a highly publicized return to
the major leagues, pitching 8 innings and defeating the Cincinnati Reds 4-3.
In his following start five days later against the Montreal 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 gave up a home run to the
leadoff batter, hit the second batter, and in his first pitch to Tim Raines,
his humerus bone snapped, ending his season.

The Giants won the National League pennant in 1989, and in the post-game
celebration, Dravecky's arm was broken a second time. A doctor examining
Dravecky's x-rays noticed a mass in his arm. Cancer had returned. Eighteen
days later, Dravecky retired from baseball, aged 33, with a career record of
64-57 and a career ERA of 3.13 in 8 seasons.

After two more surgeries, his left arm continued to deterriorate, and on
July 18, 1991, less than two years after his comeback with the Giants,
Dravecky had to have his left arm amputated.

Dravecky wrote two books about his battles with cancer and his comeback
attempt: Comeback, published in 1990, and When You Can't Come Back,
published in 1992.

Cancer - List of Famous Cancer Patients - Medical Topics - Medical_Terms - Medicine - Alternative Therapies -