Faith and Sports: Giant Comeback Cut Short

When Dave Dravecky walked off the pitcher’s mound in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park this summer, the crowd hailed him with a standing ovation. The salute, the third for him that day, was not just for the Giant pitcher’s performance—for even more remarkable than seven innings of one-hit, shut-out pitching was the fact that Dravecky was on the field at all.

Only ten months earlier, a cancerous tumor had been removed from the 33-year-old’s pitching arm, along with part of his deltoid muscle. At that time, his career seemed ended. But Dravecky’s miraculous recovery provided the 1989 baseball season with its inspirational highlight.

Only five days later, however, in a game against the Montreal Expos, Dravecky’s dream season ended. While throwing a pitch, he suffered a stress fracture in his weakened upper-arm bone. The sickening crack could be heard across the field, and it sent teammates running to the fallen pitcher. The injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.

“Without Jesus Christ, there is no story,” Dravecky had told reporters the day after his successful comeback performance. He explained that during his rehabilitation, he had not prayed to pitch again but rather that “I would serve him through this whole thing, no matter what the outcome was going to be.”

Even after the broken arm, Dravecky’s resolve to talk about his Christian faith in press conferences and interviews remained as strong as his determination to overcome his injuries.

“It’s been such an exciting experience—being able to tell what God has done in my life through this ordeal, experiencing the peace and bond he has created in trusting and obeying him, and relying on him entirely as the strength that has gotten me through,” he said in an interview with CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

“Certainly the tumor hasn’t been the most positive situation I’ve ever experienced,” said Dravecky, “yet I knew that God could use it for his glory. It was never a question of asking God why. The reassurance that God was in control kept me and my family under control.

“I wouldn’t be truthful if I said I didn’t have any concern at all,” he said. “But I can honestly say that, for the first time in my life, I experienced that peace that passes understanding. This was a tremendous relief.”

At first, Dravecky’s faith found favor within the baseball press. More recently, however, he has come under attack. In columns and letters to the editor, writers have criticized him for constantly talking about his beliefs. “They believe I have been misleading people,” he says. “They say that I shouldn’t use baseball to advertise God. How can they reduce God to something I would ‘advertise’?”

Dravecky continues to talk about his faith. “God has allowed me to be a light in a world of darkness,” he says. “I am commissioned, not to be a baseball player, but to be a witness for Christ. Why hide the most important aspect of my life?”

The ballplayer’s resolve was tested still further in September when his wife’s father died. “As deeply as it hurt us, we still had God’s peace in our lives,” he said. “We came to realize how precious life is. We’re only here for a moment. That’s why we need to share Christ.”

Doctors believe Dravecky’s pitching arm will heal completely, and perhaps be even stronger. His comeback is far from over.

By John Carvalho.

On Competition

While Dave Dravecky’s Giants played for a pennant, the Minnesota Twins, 1987’s World Series champions, were cleaning out their lockers. And sports-writers, as they are wont to do, were asking what went wrong with the Twins. Some laid blame at the feet of Gary Gaetti, an All-Star third baseman who last season became “a born-again Christian.” Though his performance on the field remained strong, his foul language—along with other profligate pastimes—tamed, causing writers such as Sports Illustrated’s Hank Hersch to ask if Gaetti had “lost the fire so vital to his success as a ballplayer.”

The SI profile raised an old question, one easily answered but not laid to rest by believers who play, coach, and observe sports: Can Christians be competitive? Gaetti was quick to answer: “Anybody that says I would be docile about losing, I’d challenge him to stand in front of home plate with the ball and try to block me, and see if I have lost my intensity to play.”

The notion that Christian athletes care less about success is “the biggest lie in sports,” according to Watson Spoelstra, founder and president emeritus of Baseball Chapel. The former sportswriter offers as evidence a list of “gamers”—players who could be counted on for big plays in crucial situations—published several years ago by the Sporting News. More than half, Spoelstra said, were Christians.

“People only raise the issue when someone isn’t winning,” said Sam Rutigliano, who coached 18 years in the National Football League. In fact, he said, Christian athletes generally have the character traits that make for better players. “Every coach wants quality people, stable people, who can handle the stress,” said Rutigliano, who now coaches at Liberty University. “In my experience, they’ve been believers.”

“The world will always have misperceptions of what a Christian is,” said Rutigliano. “For Christians in sports, that’s one of the biggest battles. I go to Galatians 1:10: ‘You can’t please men.’ So don’t worry about what they say.”

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