In life we should apply grace, just
like a major league pitcher locates his fastball, early and often.
Over a week ago, I had the privilege
of hearing and learning from ex major league pitcher, Dave Dravecky. He was speaking at a men’s breakfast where
over 1500 were in attendance and what he had to share was quite inspiring.
Allow me to give you my take from the balcony, the lobby, and as a passenger in
a car. These are the four tips I learned that day in baseball speak:
1- Get coached up
Dave Dravecky, a natural born
southpaw, was born in Ohio on Valentines’ Day in 1956 with an inherent love for
the game of baseball. As I stood in the balcony, he spoke of how this love was
nurtured by his father as he grew up when the two would throw catch in the
backyard. Dave went on to say as he got older that he played both baseball and
basketball in high school. Then, in the mid nineteen seventies, when college
beckoned he chose to attend Youngstown St. where he made the baseball team as a
walk on player. He also spoke of a very valuable experience of when he started
a playoff game only to get drubbed by twenty some runs by rival team Wright
State. This seemed helped him to learn he had not yet arrived and needed to
keep working on his craft.
After his college career, Dave had
the honor of being taken in the 21st round of the baseball draft by
the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1978. It was during the next few years in the minors
and being traded to the San Diego Padres that Dave’s pitching career and life
began to change.
It was then that he made mention of
two men who were instrumental in helping him change and grow. One was a
pitching coach, one was a fellow minor leaguer.
The first man was Eddie Watt, an ex-
Baltimore Orioles pitcher from the nineteen sixties, who was his pitching coach
and taught him how to better hone his craft and develop his pitches. It was
then through trial and error that Dave began to improve his repertoire and
eventually became major league ready.
The second man who made an impact on
Dave’s life was a fellow ball player and friend, Byron Ballard, who began
challenging Dave spiritually. This man’s persistence eventually led Dave and
his wife, Jan, into a relationship with Jesus who changed their perspective
forever.
In layman’s terms, Dave’s early life
taught me it is of major importance to take instruction to heart and then apply
it to your life.
2- Be ambidextrous
If you were to Google the name Dave
Dravecky on your computer, you would see many significant accomplishments in
his career. You would notice that he had a career ERA of 3.13 and never had a
year over 4.0. in his eight year career. He also went to the World Series, was
voted to an All Star game, and was the starter on opening day; all noteworthy
statistics by today’s standards.
But, the biggest challenge of Dave’s
career happened to him in 1988, his second year with the San Francisco Giants.
It was then that Dave’s life was about to hit a speed bump. It was during this
time that doctors diagnosed a lump in Dave’s left arm, his pitching arm. When
they examined it closely they discovered that it was cancerous and had to be
removed immediately. He and his wife faced this setback with their faith in God
fully intact, ready to fight.
So, ten months later on August 10th,
1989, after the cancerous lump had been successfully removed the resilient, left
hander found himself back on the mound. . He returned with a resounding triumph
as the Giants beat the Reds. However, in his next start five days later in
Montreal, Canada, instead of a speed bump Dave’s life was about to hit a wall.
In the sixth inning as he delivered a pitch he heard a deafening noise in his
ear and felt a tremendous pain in his arm. He had broken his arm and soon
discovered that the cancer had come back. The news get even worse when the
doctors told him that his left arm, his pitching arm, would need to be
amputated to keep the cancer from spreading.
Although the news was devastating
Dave had no choice but to learn to live differently. He would have to be
ambidextrous and learn to use his off hand. He could no longer play the game he
loved and he went through some very tough times. Nevertheless, he stated during
this difficult transition he was learning that Jesus plus nothing equals
everything. His life was now speaking, not just his pitching
In layman’s terms, Dave’s struggles
in his life taught me that sometimes, whether you like it or not, you must make
the necessary adjustment,.
3-Appreciate your fans
Everyone wants and needs to be
appreciated. This was never more apparent to me, then when before Dave began to
speak that he did something rather unique to encourage himself. As I looked on
from the balcony, he took out his phone and pulled up a picture of his
grandson, one of his biggest little fans, with his tongue sticking out.
Immediately, as he placed it on the podium, you could just see the levity it
granted him.
Anyone can be nice when everything
is going his or her way. Then it is easy to be pleasant and affable to fans and
those who request our time or attention. However, I believe Dave’s life has
spoken loudest when things were not going according to what he had hoped.
It was apparent from my view that
Dravecky appreciated his fans as they stood in line for over an hour and a half
to get his autograph. As I was standing in the lobby after the meeting was
over, I was sitting near where Dave was signing autographs and I could overhear
most of the questions. For instance, I overheard a man ask him about
depression, a subject some men would have brushed off; however, Dave was very
candid and honest in his personal reply holding nothing back. Having personally
suffered from depression as well, his compassionate response spoke volumes to
me as well.
Another way Dave showed his
appreciation was by doing what Jesus had taught us to do a long time ago- love
the little children.
Since, I was to be riding in the car
that was transporting our guest of honor back to the Philadelphia Airport; I
felt it appropriate to go along with my friend backstage to fetch Dave’s bag.
When I noticed the carry-on, with a San Francisco Giant logo attached to it, I
was surprised to see a baseball sitting on top of it. I discovered from my
friend that this was a prized possession bestowed upon Dave from several local
special needs kids in which they had signed it just for him. This was not lost
on him, as he put it in a special compartment so it would not be misplaced.
In layman’s terms, he taught me that
you can never be too young or too old to give or receive an encouraging word.
d- Locate the fastball
If I had to use one word to sum up
Dave Dravecky’s life it would be grace-full.
The best advice often comes when you
are not looking for it. As I approached Dave with his suitcase and autographed
baseball, I overheard him speaking grace to a father who was last in line and
wanted some advice for his lanky teenage son, who was aspiring to be a big
league pitcher. What I overheard Dave say was that the boy needed to focus on locating
the fastball before he could even think of being successful on any level. Dave
went on to say other pitches are nice, but the ability to throw a fastball for
strikes is the main secret to successful pitching.
Grace, like that aforementioned
fastball, was something the ex-big leaguer had been exhibiting all day. He was
really living it out when during a ten minute question and answer session in
front of the group a well-meaning gentleman asked him a tricky theological
question about whether we are predestined or whether we have a free will. The
question left me dumbfounded, but not Dave.
He paused for a moment and then with no remorse said that grace was the
best way to handle the situation and moved to the next question.
He also showed tremendous grace as
he interacted with people putting his arm around young and old alike as he
smiled over and over again for pictures. Then on the way down to the airport,
after he must have been exhausted, I witnessed him continue to show grace to
all of us who were in the car. He listened to our stories and even apologized
about a situation that wasn’t his fault, when he could have been agitated.
All this from a man who was once
asked by a baseball reporter after he broke his arm and knew he would probably
never pitch again, “where is your God now?’ As exhibited by his life, God never
left him and still is with him, as Dave continues to shows grace just like he
used to locate his fastball back in the day.
In laymen's terms, Dave taught me that when it comes to life grace is more than just being nice, it's a necesity
Swavel
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