Danny Graves

Danny Graves
Pitcher
Born: August 7, 1973 (1973-08-07) (age 38) Saigon, South Vietnam
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 13, 1996 for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
May 9, 2006 for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics
Win–Loss record	43–44
Earned run average	4.05
Strikeouts	429
Saves	182
Teams
Cleveland Indians (1996–1997) Cincinnati Reds (1997–2005) New York Mets (2005) Cleveland Indians (2006)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star selection (2000, 2004) 2002 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award

Daniel Peter Graves (born August 7, 1973 in Saigon, South Vietnam) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Born to an American serviceman father and a Vietnamese mother, he is the only Vietnam-born player in the history of the major leagues, and one of the few Vietnamese-American players. Graves pitched for most of his career for the Cincinnati Reds, where he was team's saves leader each year from 1999–2004, except for 2003 when he was a starting pitcher.

He played college baseball at the University of Miami.

Biography

High school and college

Graves's family moved to the U.S. when he was fourteen months old. He graduated from Brandon High School in Brandon, Florida and was awarded a baseball scholarship to the University of Miami. As a right-handed relief pitcher for the school as a junior, he posted a 0.89 earned run average and led collegiate baseball with a school-record 21 saves.

Major League Baseball career

Graves was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft. Two days after being drafted, he tore his ACL during the College World Series. After a year of rehabilitation, he was named Cleveland's top minor league pitcher of 1995, and was in the major leagues a year later. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in July 1997.

In his first nine seasons with Cleveland and Cincinnati, Graves compiled a 40-42 record as a pitcher with 406 strikeouts, a 3.89 ERA, and 172 saves in 755.2 innings. He is the only player ever to have more than one season in which all his hits were home runs. This happened in 2000 and 2001, with one homer each.

The 2005 season did not start well for Graves. He struggled, posting a 7.36 ERA through 20 games. Fans in Cincinnati took notice and consistently booed Graves, leading up to a May 23 incident when Graves made an obscene hand gesture to the crowd while being taken out of the game by the Reds' manager. He was later signed as a free agent by the New York Mets on June 11, 2005.

After putting up a 5.89 ERA with the Mets, he was designated for assignment on August 23, 2005. He cleared waivers and was sent to Triple-A Norfolk on August 26, but was called back up to the Mets when rosters expanded. Graves was 0-2 with an 18.00 ERA in five games with Norfolk [2].

On December 19, 2005, Graves signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. He pitched well in spring training, earning a spot in the Indian bullpen, but was designated for assignment on May 12, 2006 after he opened the season with a 2-1 record and 5.79 ERA in 13 relief appearances [3].

On May 18, 2006, Graves was assigned to the Indians' Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, in Buffalo. He finished the 2006 season with the Bisons, with a 4.01 ERA (1 Win 1 Loss).

Graves signed a minor league deal with the Rockies on December 19, 2006 but was released during Spring Training in March 2007 prior to the season. During the 2007 season, Graves was on the roster of the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, leading the league in saves.^[1]

Graves later signed with the Minnesota Twins on March 30, 2008, and played for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings most of the year. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed a minor league contract with the Houston Astros in January 2009. He was released by the Astros on March 25, 2009.

Personal life

Graves is single with four children from a previous marriage.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

References

1. ^ [1]

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Vietnamese American Pitcher a Man for All Seasons
• Danny Graves official website
• Reds: Graves is still just a big kid
• National Public Radio story about Graves "Bringing Baseball to Vietnam" - audio archive

Preceded by John Franco

Lou Gehrig Memorial Award 2002

Succeeded by Jamie Moyer

Persondata
Name	Graves, Danny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 7, 1973
Place of birth	Saigon, South Vietnam
Date of death
Place of death