OTDIB – 08/15/89 – Dave Dravecky makes strong men throw up

Phil Gurnee ♦ August 15, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

Chad Bettis made headlines last night by throwing seven fantastic innings after coming back from his cancer treatment.  That was his first start.

Anyone who was watching Dave Dravecky pitching on August 15, 1989 will never forget it. He was making his second start after coming back from cancer treatment and much like Chad Bettis was the feel good story of the day in baseball.  Pitching to HOF Tim Raines he broke his arm and would never pitch again. It looked horrific at the time, and twenty-eight years later, it still does.

August 15th, 1965 – The Japanese community of San Francisco holds Masanori Murakami Day

at Candlestick Park to honor the first Japanese player to have reached the American major leagues. Ordinarily a reliever, Murakami makes his first major league start as the Giants outslug the Phillies 15-9.

Baseball Reliquary has the run down on him.

“In the spring of 1964, the Nankai Hawks of Japan’s Pacific League sent nineteen-year-old Masanori Murakami to the Class A Fresno Giants to improve his skills.  To nearly everyone’s surprise, Murakami, known as Mashi, dominated the American hitters.  With the San Francisco Giants caught in a close pennant race and desperate for a left-handed reliever, Masanori was called up to join the big league club, becoming the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues.