dave dravecky

bio

Dave Dravecky’s story is one of hope, courage and perseverance in the midst of dark and overwhelming uncertainty. In 1988 Dave was at the top of his game and life. Not only did he have a wonderful family but he was reaching his all-star peak playing the game of his childhood dreams. His 5-1 opening day victory over the Dodgers was overshadowed later that fall by the discovery of cancer and the removal of half of the deltoid muscle in his pitching arm. For baseball fans worldwide Dave Dravecky etched his name into history on August 10, 1989. Defying all odds, after battling cancer in his pitching arm, Dave came back to pitch once again in the Major Leagues. People were on their feet cheering and anticipating the game while he stretched and warmed up. He became an inspiration not only to cancer fighters, but to all who needed hope that day.

As Dave took the mound, no one could deny the miracle that was taking place. After being told by his doctors, “Short of a miracle, you’ll never pitch again,” Dave pitched a 4-3 win for the San Francisco Giants. Sadly, Dave’s comeback was short-lived. Five days later, in Montreal, Dave threw “…the pitch that could be heard round the world.” Dave’s arm had split in two. As he tumbled to the ground, his mind filled with doubt and fear. Little did he know that the dream he had since he was a little boy, was simply a platform for his purpose to share hope with the suffering around the world.

Dave’s triumphant defeat of the cancer and his return to the game of baseball is chronicled in his award winning book, Comeback, which has sold more than 650,000 copies. After Dave’s comeback and fall from the mound, with the weakened bone, the cancer returned yet again. The arm was not going to get better at this point so Dave decided to retire from his dream, the game of baseball, in November of 1989.

Slowly the treatment and the cancer ate away Dave’s arm and simultaneously his career. Radiation treatment after radiation treatment resulted in a staph infection that placed a hole in the middle of his arm exposing bone. Finally, the arm along with Dave’s shoulder blade and left side of his collar bone had to be amputated for fear the cancer would spread and take Dave’s life. In the book, When You Can’t Comeback, written with his wife, Jan, Dave describes his loss:

“My arm caught the attention of the entire school, when, as a teenager, I pitched my first no hitter…(Later) my ability to provide for my family was not based on how smart I was or how hard I worked. It was based solely on what my arm could do on game day. When people talked with me, it was the center of conversation. ‘How’s the arm today, Dave? Is your arm ready for tonight?’ My arm was to me what hands are to a concert pianist, what feet are to a marathon runner. It’s what made me valuable, what gave me worth in the eyes of the world. Then suddenly my arm was gone.”

Dave continues to examine the impact of the amputation on his life in his book, The Worth of a Man. With the absence of his arm, Dave seemed to be stripped of his identity. He began to ask questions many men ponder. Where does my worth come from? What creates my value and identity? Is there more to me than the game of baseball? Is there more to me than my left arm? After a long search, Dave discovered his true worth could never be shaken by adversity or loss. He realized nothing that he did based on worldly success could place value on his life or create his identity. In his book, Dave offers men a new definition of worth.

Because of the overwhelming response to their story and their desire to walk along side others who suffer, Dave and Jan founded Dave Dravecky's Outreach of Hope, a nonprofit organization in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Draveckys realized through their own experiences that one cannot battle cancer alone, so they have created this ministry to bring hope for those who hurt.

Dave is in great demand as a speaker with a story that reaches all age groups, his messages range from motivational to inspirational to evangelical. Dave Dravecky genuinely relates through his own experiences with loss and suffering, and he powerfully inspires through the encouragement he gathered from the faith and hope he discovered along his journey.

testimony

Before I came to faith in Christ, I never thought of myself as a “wretched man,” as Paul uses the term in Romans 7. In fact, I thought I was a pretty good guy. I didn’t rob banks, I didn’t beat up old ladies, I didn’t steal cars—I had pretty much avoided all the “biggies.” I thought my soul was in great shape.

And when it came to my body? Well, not to brag, but I was quite a specimen. A strong, lean, fighting machine. It’s what got me to the major leagues. I thought I was invincible and that nothing would happen to me. “Wretched man?” Not me! My body was in just as good shape as my soul. Maybe better.

When someone believes this kind of thing, as I did, he really can’t be too careful about what he reads. The only way to perpetuate such a lie is to keep away from the truth. And to keep away from the truth, you had better avoid the Bible. That was my mistake; I began reading God’s word. And what I found there blew my self-image all to pieces.

I had started reading little pieces of good news such as Ecclesiastes 7:20: “ There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.” I would note verses like Proverbs 20:9: “ Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?” I would gulp when I saw that even somebody as “good” as King David could say, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). And then the Word started getting personal.

The image I had of myself as a good guy just slightly below the stature of, say, Billy Graham, took a nosedive when I started reading the book of Romans. I soon realized with alarm that I was and am a sinner. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Paul wrote in Romans 3:23. I underlined the word all in my Bible so I would remember that I qualify, along with everyone else on the planet. That was hard to take, but it would soon get worse. When I got to Romans 6:23, I read that “the wages of sin are death.” Now, hold on! I don’t rob banks! I don’t beat up on old ladies! I don’t steal cars! Sure, I sin. Everyone does. But…

No “buts” about it. “The wages of sin are death.” No exceptions. You sin, you die. Period. I finally realized that because of our sin, all of us already are terminal, whether we have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or not. Fortunately, however, there is more to the message than that. “The wages of sin are death” is only the first half of the verse; the second half says, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And just a little before that Paul had written, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

This gave me the hope I needed, especially when I read the payoff verse in Romans 8:1: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And how did I get “in Christ Jesus”? What did I have to do? Paul answered my question almost before I could ask it: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom. 10:9-10). Once I had done that, I was “in Christ.” Now my soul truly was in great shape.

And my body? You know the story. When cancer invaded my life, I started to realize very quickly that the ‘body of death” Paul was talking about didn’t refer solely to our souls. I started coming to grips on a very personal level with the magnitude of the fall of man. Like never before, I started to understand the implications of Adam’s sin in both the physical and spiritual realms. The curse came home to me: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. I will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:17-19).

Because of sin, both our souls and our bodies were cursed. That is why Paul cries out, “What a wretched man I am!” Wait a minute—me, wretched? You bet. You, Wretched? I’m sorry, but the answer is “yes.’ Then Paul asks his own question—and fortunately for us, gives an answer: “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus bore the spiritual penalty of our sin on the cross. That’s taken care of the moment we come to him in faith. Yet our physical bodies are still subject to decay. He has promised that one day he will take care of that, too, when he clothes us in indestructible bodies that will never wear out and never feel pain or see decay (see 1 Cor. 15:35-57). But for now, we will still see the results of the Fall in our own fragile bodies. We still feel pain. We still suffer. We still watch as disease or accidents or old age cripples, maims, and eventually kills all of us.

Even in this in-between time, however—after our spirit has been renewed but before it’s our body’s turn—We can look to Jesus Christ and begin to understand how God can provide the comfort, the strength, the encouragement and the healing that is necessary on the journey of life when we come face-to-face with suffering.

The greatest healing of all occurs when we own up to our sin, confess it and turn to Jesus in faith. Then his blood washes it all away and transforms us into new creatures, spiritually whole and healed. That is the greatest healing of all, and it prepares us to cope with affliction when it comes barging into our lives.

Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Reprinted from "Do Not Lose Heart, " by Dave & Jan Dravecky, Zondervan Publishing, Copyright 1998.