Myron Walter Drabowsky (July 21, 1935 – June 10, 2006) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago White Sox. A noted practical joker, Drabowsky engaged in such antics as leaving snakes in teammates' lockers or phoning the opposing team's bullpen to tell a pitcher to warm up. He batted and threw right-handed.
Born in Poland, Drabowsky emigrated to America in 1938. He excelled as a pitcher in high school and college and was signed as a bonus baby by the Chicago Cubs. He debuted for the Cubs in 1956 and finished tied for second in the National League in strikeouts in his rookie season. In 1958, he gave up Stan Musial's 3,000th hit. An arm injury that year curtailed his effectiveness, and after a couple more seasons with the team, he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves. He played for the Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Kansas City Athletics in 1961 and 1962 before remaining with the Athletics through the end of the 1965 season. During this period, he was sent to the minor leagues a few times, and while in the major leagues, he typically went back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen, except in 1963, the year he had his lowest earned run average (ERA) as a starter. Drabowsky also was the losing pitcher to Early Wynn in Wynn's 300th win that season. Following the 1965 season, he was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Baltimore Orioles.
Once in Baltimore, Drabowsky was used almost exclusively as a relief pitcher. After three starts in 1966, he pitched only in relief for the rest of his career. He became a part of one of the best bullpens in the major leagues and posted ERAs of 2.80, 1.60, and 1.91 during his first three years with the club. The Orioles won the American League (AL) pennant in 1966, and in Game 1 of the 1966 World Series, Drabowsky relieved an ineffective Dave McNally with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning. Though he walked a batter to let in a run, he finished the inning with the Orioles leading 4–2, and he threw six scoreless innings after it to preserve the Game 1 victory. The Orioles swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games.
Drabowsky was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft after the 1968 season. He won their first game in franchise history and led the AL in wins for relief pitchers, with 11. In 1970, he was traded back to Baltimore, where he won his second World Series, this one against the Reds. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971 and 1972 before finishing out his career with the Chicago White Sox that year.
After his career, Drabowsky worked for an envelope company and a communications firm until the 1980s, when increased salaries for coaches allowed him to support himself in baseball. He was the pitching coach for the White Sox in 1986, then for several of their minor league teams. Later, he served as the pitching coach for the Cubs in 1994, before rejoining the Orioles as their minor league pitching instructor in Florida. He died June 10, 2006, at the age of 70.
Early life Moe was born Mirosław Drabowski in Ozanna, a village in southern Poland, located near Leżajsk. His mother was an American citizen. The two fled to the U.S. in 1938 when Adolf Hitler began mobilizing in Eastern Europe. His father joined them a year later, and the family settled in Wilson, Connecticut, a village in the town of Windsor, just north of Hartford.
Growing up in Connecticut, Drabowsky was an avid Boston Red Sox fan. His favorite player was Bobby Doerr, and he wanted to be a second baseman too, but he was converted to a pitcher by his prep school coach, who observed he had a good arm. Drabowsky went to the Loomis Prep School, now Loomis Chaffee School, in Windsor where he had an 8–0 record with a no-hitter his senior year.
He later attended Trinity College in Hartford, where he studied economics. He had an academic scholarship to study at the school until he started partying too much in a fraternity. While at Trinity, he studied economics and played for their varsity baseball team, with whom he also threw a no-hitter. He played summers in Canada, in the Halifax and District League, for the Truro Bearcats. While with Truro, he caught the eye of former Chicago Cubs shortstop Lenny Merullo in 1956, who signed him to play for the Cubs that year. Sources differ on the exact amount of the contract, but Drabowsky himself said it was for $75,000 ($ today). This made Drabowsky a bonus baby, meaning the Cubs would have to keep him in the major leagues for two full seasons or expose him to waivers.
Baseball career Chicago Cubs (1956–60) Drabowsky made his major league debut on August 7, 1956, having just turned 21. He pitched a scoreless inning of relief in a 6–1 loss to the Milwaukee Braves. Eleven days later, pitching coach Dutch Leonard asked Drabowsky, "How would you like to do some throwing tonight?” "I'd like it," Drabowsky responded. “Then you’re starting against the Cardinals tonight.” Pitching into the eighth inning, Drabowsky held the St. Louis Cardinals to one run, picking up his first major league victory. He continued to make starts for the Cubs the rest of the year and finished the season with a 2–4 record, a 2.47 earned run average (ERA), and 36 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched.
In 1957, Drabowsky was the Cubs' number two starter. He was 4–8 with a 5.04 ERA through July 4; after that, he went 9–7 the rest of the way, with a 2.51 ERA. Control problems affected him during the year, such as in a game against the Cincinnati Redlegs on June 2, when he hit four batters (including future teammate and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson twice) in innings, tying a major league record. On August 4, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Drabowsky threw a shutout in a 6–0 victory. He threw another shutout against Cincinnati on September 4, also in the first game of a doubleheader, giving up just two hits this time in a 1–0 victory. Drabowsky finished the year with a 13–15 record. His 170 strikeouts tied him for second in the National League with teammate Dick Drott, behind another rookie, Jack Sanford of the Philadelphia Phillies, who had 188. His 33 games started were 4th (tied with Lew Burdette and Sanford), 239 innings pitched 6th, and 12 complete games 8th in the NL (tied with Brooks Lawrence and Don Newcombe). Additionally, he led the league with ten hit by pitches.
In 1958, Drabowsky did not appear in a game with the Cubs until May 1, delayed by a throat ailment and a stint in the United States Army Reserve. In his second start of the year, on May 13, he threw a curveball in the sixth inning of a start against the Cardinals which pinch-hitter Stan Musial made contact with for a double. The hit was Musial's 3,000th. Entering July 11, Drabowsky had an 8–7 record and a 3.80 ERA. In a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates held that day, though, Drabowsky "heard something snap in [his] elbow." He gave up five runs in the next inning, skipped his next start, and failed to get out of the first inning in his next before having to take time off. "The arm responded to treatment at first,” said Drabowsky, “then I had trouble again. I strained my shoulder favoring the elbow. One thing led to another." He returned for four starts in August but struggled and was shut down for the rest of the year. At season's end, Drabowsky had posted a 9–11 record with a 4.51 ERA and 77 strikeouts. He gave up 19 home runs, three shy of the previous year's total, despite pitching 114 fewer innings.
Drabowsky kept his spot in the Cubs' rotation in 1959 but saw little improvement from the year before. His best game of the year came on August 7, when he threw a five-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Drabowsky finished the season 5–10 in 31 games (23 starts), but his ERA dropped to 4.13, and his innings pitched rose to . However, he had seven fewer strikeouts than he had in 1958.
In 1960 spring training, Drabowsky's arm was pain-free. However, used mostly in relief, he posted a 9.70 ERA through July 4. This got him a demotion to the minor leagues for the first time, as he was sent to the Triple-A Houston Buffs of the American Association. At Houston, Drabowsky won all five of his starts and had a 0.90 ERA before getting recalled to the Cubs in August. He pitched better for the Cubs in his return, posting a 4.03 ERA in his final 11 games. In 32 games (seven starts), Drabowsky had a 3–1 record, a 6.44 ERA, and 26 strikeouts in innings pitched.
Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas City Athletics (1961–65) At the end of spring training in 1961, the Cubs decided no longer required Drabowsky and traded him along with Seth Morehead to the Milwaukee Braves for Daryl Robertson and Andre Rodgers. Milwaukee did not have room for him in their rotation, though, and used him exclusively in relief, where he had an 0–2 record and a 4.62 ERA in 16 games. After Drabowsky gave up four runs in the sixth inning of a 10–8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on June 8, Milwaukee banished him to the minor leagues and never bothered to call him up again the rest of the season. He finished the year pitching for the Louisville Colonels of the American Association, where in 20 games (nine starts), he had a 9–6 record but a 4.75 ERA, with 54 strikeouts in 106 innings pitched. Milwaukee left him unprotected from the Rule 5 draft after the season, and he was selected by Cincinnati. He started 1962 with the Reds, who used him both as a starter and a reliever. In 23 games for them (10 starts) through August 4, he went 2–6 for them with a 4.99 ERA. On August 13, the Kansas City Athletics acquired him for cash. He appeared in 10 games (three starts) for Kansas City the rest of the year, going 1–1 with a 5.14 ERA. Drabowsky's combined stats on the season were a 3–7 record, a 5.03 ERA, and 75 strikeouts in 33 games (13 starts).
Kansas City sent Drabowsky to the Triple-A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League to start the 1963 season; most of his appearances were in relief (19 games, 2 starts) but after going 5–1 with a 2.13 ERA, he got called up to the major league club in June. Back in the majors, he was used as a starter once again. He lost his first six decisions, then went 7–7 the rest of the year to finish 1963 with a 7–13 record. One of the losses from the losing streak was notable; it was the 300th win for Early Wynn, on July 13. Despite the losing numbers, he had a very good 3.05 ERA and topped one hundred strikeouts for the first time since his rookie year, making the 1963 season a resurgence.
Drabowsky's 1964 season got off to a good start, as he pitched into the eighth inning in his first start and gave up just one run in a 3–1 victory over the Washington Senators. After that, he would lose seven decisions in a row before getting another win on June 8 (again against the Senators). He pitched out of the bullpen for a few games in June; by the end of July, he was being used almost exclusively as a reliever. Drabowsky appeared in the most games of his career that season (53), starting 21 times and logging innings. He struck out 119, the most since his rookie season. However, his record was 5–13, and his ERA was 5.29, a jump from the 3.05 mark the year before.