Doug Drabek

Lore & Background

Drabek was born in Victoria, Texas. He attended St. Joseph High School in Victoria, where he played football and baseball. Drabek was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 4th round of the June 1980 MLB draft, but did not sign. He attended the University of Houston and played three seasons for the Cougars baseball team. Following his junior year, Drabek was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 11th round of the June 1983 MLB draft and signed on June 11.

In Their Own Story

The August night is warm and the river smells like wet concrete and hot dogs. Three Rivers is packed, the way it always is when the Pirates are in a pennant race, and the PA announcer calls the name with a little extra breath: "Doug… Drabek." The lefty steps to the mound, rolls the ball around in his glove, and the crowd noise drops to that low, expectant hum that only a good pitcher can produce. He sets his foot, drives up, and the curveball leaves his hand with that late, violent break. The batter—some big righty from the Cardinals—swings, and the bat clips air. The catcher catches it on the second bounce. Drabek doesn't celebrate. He just nods, almost to himself, and turns to the next batter. Behind him, in the bleachers, a kid in a too-big Pirates cap is already winding up an imaginary pitch, trying to figure out how the ball got there. That kid will remember this pitch for forty years. Drabek will not. That's the thing about the good ones.

Reader's Guide

After signing with the White Sox, Drabek was assigned to the Niagara Falls Sox in the short-season New York-Penn League where he finished 6–7 with a 3.67 earned run average (ERA) in 16 games with 103 strikeouts in 103+2⁄3 innings. After pitching one game for the Single-A Appleton Foxes, Drabek was promoted to the Double-A Glens Falls White Sox and was 12–5 with a 2.24 ERA. On August 13, he was traded to the New York Yankees along with Kevin Hickey to complete an earlier deal made on July 18 for Roy Smalley. Drabek then spent the rest of the 1984 season with the Double-A Nashville Sounds. In 1985, Drabek returned to Double-A and spent the entire season at Albany-Colonie in the Eastern League and finished with a 13–7 record with a 2.99 ERA with 153 strikeouts in 192+2⁄3 innings. After starting the 1986 season a with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, Drabek made his Major League debut on May 30, coming in relief for starter Joe Niekro in a 6–3 loss to the Oakland Athletics. He would spend the rest of the season with the Yankees, appearing in 27 games (21 starts) and go 7–8 with a 4.10 ERA. Following the 1986 season, the Yankees traded Drabek with Logan Easley and Brian Fisher to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rick Rhoden, Cecilio Guante and Pat Clements. Drabek enjoyed his best years with Pittsburgh, from 1987 to 1992, during which time he regularly pitched over 230 innings and consistently finished in the top 10 in the National League ERA race. He went 22–6 with a 2.76 ERA in 1990 en route to winning the National League Cy Young Award and leading the Pirates to the postseason (where they lost in the NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds). His 22 wins that year were a league high; it was also 7 more wins than his previous single-season mark. On August 3, 1990, while with the Pirates, Drabek had a no-hitter broken up by a Sil Campusano single with two out in the ninth. The hit was the only one Drabek would allow in defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 11–0. Drabek signed as a free agent after the 1992 season with the Houston Astros. Despite a solid 3.79 ERA and playing for a rising team, he posted a 9–18 record and led the National League in losses. He improved in the strike-shortened 1994 season to 12–6 with a 2.84 ERA, and was named an All-Star for the first and only time in his career. When play resumed after the players' strike in 1995, however, he was unable to maintain his

Did You Know?

• Drabek won the National League Cy Young Award in 1990 with a 22–6 record and a 2.76 ERA.
• On August 3, 1990, Drabek had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the ninth inning by a Sil Campusano single.
• Drabek was an MLB All-Star in 1994, the only All-Star selection of his career.
• He pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1987 to 1992, a span of six seasons.