David Francis Dravecky (born February 14, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player, a motivational speaker, and an author. He played Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres (1982–87) and San Francisco Giants (1987–89). Cancer ended his career as his team was reaching the 1989 World Series. He won the Hutch Award in 1989.\n', '

A left-handed pitcher, Dravecky represented the Padres at the All-Star game in 1983, his second season, in which he won 14 games. Equally proficient as a starter or coming out of the bullpen, Dravecky helped the Padres to their first pennant the following year.\n', '

Dravecky became friends with two other Padres pitchers, Mark Thurmond and Eric Show, who also held strong Christian beliefs. In the spring of 1984, Show recruited the other two to the John Birch Society, a far right US political group, and the three were widely reported on after they distributed Birch literature from a booth at the June 1984 Del Mar Fair. Dravecky stated he saw Birch beliefs as the "natural outgrowth" of a born-again Christian philosophy. Over his first six seasons, Dravecky had a 60-55 win–loss record, and the Associated Press wrote that he was better known for his association with the John Birch Society than his pitching.\n', '

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