Books and articles about Moe Drabowsky

Born in Ozanna, Poland, Drabowsky came to the U.S. with his parents in 1938. He accepted a reported $50,000 bonus to sign with the Cubs after fanning 16 in a no-hitter for Trinity College of Hartford. Joining the Cubs' rotation immediately, Drabowsky managed a 2.47 ERA as a rookie. Inclined to work inside, he led the NL with 10 hit batsmen in 1957, hitting a record four men on June 2, 1957. He finished second in the league with 170 strikeouts, going 13-15 for a seventh-place club. A sore arm cost Drabowsky his fastball in 1958, when he yielded Stan Musial's 3,000th hit. Drabowsky struggled, pitching for eight clubs in four years. The Orioles drafted him for 1966 and Drabowsky turned his career around with a 6-0, 2.81 record and seven saves for the 1966 World Champions. Relieving Dave McNally with one out and the bases loaded in the third inning of Game One of the World Series, Drabowsky gave up just one hit, no earned runs, and struck out 11 to earn the win as he finished the game. He had a WS-record six strikeouts in a row. He won his first 12 Baltimore decisions, achieving ERAs of 1.60 and 1.91 in '67 and '68. Doing it all, Drabowsky also batted .364, .350, and .286 in 1966-1968. Selected by the Royals in the 1969 expansion draft, Drabowsky led the AL with 11 relief wins, saving 11 with a 2.94 ERA in 52 games. He returned to Baltimore to post a 4-2 record down the stretch in 1970, climaxed with two more clutch relief performances in that World Series. He returned to Poland in 1987 as a baseball ambassador, helping the Poles form their first team for Olympic competition.

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A well-known flake, he was once rolled to first base in a wheelchair after being hit by a pitch and specialized in bullpen pranks. (MC)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 24, 1957: Chicago Cub pitchers walk 9 Reds in the 5th inning, an NL mark, as Cincinnati wins 9-5. Moe Drabowsky starts with 4 walks, Jackie Collum adds 3 and Jim Brosnan has 2 passes. » June 2, 1957: Moe Drabowsky of the Cubs ties a NL record by hitting 4 batters in the first game of a doubleheader against the Reds. Cubs lose 6-4. » May 13, 1958: With his pinch double in Wrigley Field off Moe Drabowsky, Stan Musial of the Cardinals becomes the 8th hitter in history to get 3,000 hits. The Cards win, 5–3. » June 8, 1958: Moe Drabowsky of the Cubs beats the Pirates 4–0. Ted Kluszewski's broken bat single in the 2nd inning is the only Pittsburgh hit. » June 6, 1959: In the Cubs 8–2 win over Pittsburgh, Bucs reliever Ron Blackburn collects his only hit of his ML career, a homer, off Moe Drabowsky. Blackburn hurls four innings of hitless ball. The Cubs score six in the 1st, lead by Banks' triple and Moryn's home run. » April 14, 1960: At San Francisco, the Cubs win 6–5 despite a helping hand by Cubs pitcher Moe Drabowsky. Moe, warming up in the bullpen when teammate Frank Thomas lines a ball down the 3B line, fields the double cleanly, and the interference holds Thomas to a single. But Thomas has a wind-blown double in the 9th to win the game. Ernie Banks has a grand slam in the 3rd to counter three solo homers by the Giants. » March 31, 1961: The Milwaukee Braves send infielders Andre Rodgers and Daryl Robertson to the Cubs for pitchers Moe Drabowsky and Seth Morehead. » April 24, 1962: Reds rookie Sammy Ellis wins his first ML game, beating the Mets, 7–3. Ellis goes six innings and allows just one hit, but walks 11 and is replaced by Moe Drabowsky. » May 6, 1962: At Cincinnati, the Cards salvage a nitecap win, 3–0, when Stan Musial blasts a 3-run home run in the 9th off Moe Drabowsky. Bob Gibson is the winner. The Reds win the opener, 5–4. Musial also sets a record for most games played, appearing in his 2,786th and 2787th. » May 25, 1962: Ernie Banks is beaned by Moe Drabowsky and taken from the field on a stretcher, as Cincinnati beats Chicago 2–1. » August 20, 1963: For the second time in two weeks, Don Blasingame is the only thing between the Senators and a no-hitter. Blasingame's single off the A's Moe Drabowsky is the only hit for the Nats in a 9–0 Game One loss. The A's complete the sweep with a 7–5 victory in game 2. Dave Wickersham is the winner. » October 5, 1966: With first-inning home runs by Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson and 11 strikeouts from relief P Moe Drabowsky, the Orioles win Game One of the World Series 5–2. » October 15, 1968: Roger Nelson is the initial choice of the Royals in the American League expansion draft. Don Mincher is the Pilots' first choice. Other Seattle selections include Tommy Harper, Tommy Davis, Gary Bell, and Lou Piniella. Kansas City chooses Wally Bunker, Moe Drabowsky, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Joe Foy. » June 2, 1996: In St. Louis, Todd Stottlemyre outpitches Houston's Darryl Kile to win, 2–0, as the Cards sweep Houston in three games. Kile (6–4) hits four Cards in the game, the first time a pitcher has done that since Moe Drabowsky on this same date in 1957.