I just watched a show on MLB network about the '84 Padres. A part of this show included an account of the trials of pitcher Dave Dravecky. For obvious reasons, I can’t detail the entire saga in this post but a brief summary is warranted. Basically, the man had cancer in his pitching arm, had half of his deltoid removed, made a remarkable, miraculous comeback for one game and five days later horrifically broke his arm in a game. Dravecky’s pitching arm had to be aputated as doctors found a recurrence of cancer cells.
If Dravecky’s story doesn’t exemplify mental toughness, I don’t know what does.
It’d be cool if anyone familiar with the Dravecky story would chime in with thoughts.
As a side note, the man went on to right several books and participate in countless speaking engagements in the hopes to inspire others with his story.
As another side note, his rotation mate Eric Show exemplifies a darker mental side of pitching which is juxtaposed to Dravecky’s if anyone would also like to comment on that.