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TIM DREW
NEWS
Tim
retired from baseball midseason 2008. He asked pitching coach
Tommy John (yes, THE Tommy John) for one last favor - to start
one more game. He took the mound, threw a strike, and
then Coach John came out to the mound and took the ball from
Tim for the last time.
ALSO
. . .
NEW
STUFF !!! Are
you sure you're going to heaven? Click here for a FLASH
version that will let you know for sure.
Would
you like to write to me direct? Ask me questions / advice
about your walk with God? Write me here at johnsaucier@teamjam.org
and I will collect and reply to my mail each week. Also try me
at timdrew@teamjam.org
.
CHECK OUT TIM'S LATEST EDITION OF "HIGH
HEAT",
TIM'S
TESTIMONY
July,
2000 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians were in a pennant race
and I was pitching in front of a sold out crowd of 42,000
people. I was getting my first start in front of my home crowd
against the Houston Astros and the likes of Moises Alou, Craig
Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. I could feel my heart racing and my
hands were sweaty and cold. Though only 21, I was living my
dream of pitching in the major leagues.
There
was only one other time in my life that I ever felt like that.
I was nine years old and sitting on the front row in church in
Vacation Bible School. Though raised in a Christian family,
there was still something very important I needed to do. God
was speaking to my heart, encouraging me to ask Him to be my
Savior. My heart was racing and my hands were clammy. I knew
that I needed to respond to the teacher’s message. Even
though I was young, I knew that this was the most important
decision in my life. Once I made that decision, you could see
the difference God had made in me. I was a totally different
person. To this day, Christ’s influence in my life causes me
to live by higher standards than most people think is
acceptable.
How
amazing it is to know God is on your side. Is God on your side
yet? If not, let me help you. Here are some steps to take to
join God’s team. 
Dante
Booker, Tim, Joey Nygem, Greg
Lewis
TEAM JAM's CONNECTION
Ever
since Tim's first autograph show in the Akron area after being
drafted, it was made known by the local media that he was a
Christian. When TEAM JAM founder, John Saucier noticed
this, he decided to write and begin a friendship that would
coincide with Tim's eventual arrival in Double A Akron.
Unfortunately for John, he put that idea "off" until Tim
actually DID arrive in Akron for the 2000 season.
When
Tim finally received a letter from John, he really didn't
take time to read it. He merely shook the letter open so
that the baseball card of himself (that he expected to be in it)
would fall out. But to his surprise, there was no card and
no request for an autograph. It was merely a request to meet
him and talk about ministry opportunity that could be mutually
accomplished while Tim played baseball in the Akron area.
This
began a series of meetings with teens, dinners with high school
athletes, visits to games and eventual road trips to see Tim pitch
all over the country. In the offseason, John and Tim teamed up to
minister to young people in both Tim's home town of Hahira,
Georgia, and Akron, Ohio. The relationship has
resulted in a few thousand young people hearing about Christ's
work in Tim's life, dozens of young people coming to know Christ
and many Bible Studies among Tim's teammates and young people in
Ohio and Georgia.
Eventually,
to their surprise, Tim was traded by the Indians in 2002. Still, phone calls,
this website and occasional visits have continued their ministry
relationship. The effectiveness now is only geographically
broader. TEAM JAM and Tim both agree that Tim's
placement in cities all over America and Canada is God's way of
using his athletic platform to speak to people that he would have
otherwise never met.
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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Tim spent parts of five seasons
in the Major Leagues. Originally drafted by the Cleveland
Indians in the first round of the 1997 draft, right out of high
school, Tim retired as an active player in 2008 at the age of 29.
When drafted in 1997, Tim and his brother J.D. (St. Louis
Cardinals), made history when they became the first brothers to be
drafted in the first round of the major league draft in the same
year/draft. After little brother Stephen (Florida St.
'2002-04) was the 16th overall pick by Arizona ('04 draft), they
became the first trio of brothers to be drafted in
the first round.
PAST HISTORY
Tim was called up
to the Indians for a couple of starts and surprised everyone by
making the powerful Indians starting rotation coming out of Spring
Training in 2001. The irregular work as a fifth starter in
April and early May, inhibited Tim's development and he was sent
back to Triple-A until the September call up.
The 2002 season
started with Tim in Triple A again, and after a couple of sluggish
starts, Tim reeled off an
eight
game winning streak, including two shutouts, and saw his e.r.a.
drop well under 3.00. But by then, the Indians' parent club
was already making the decision to dump large salaries and go with
a youth movement. Late June saw them make the blockbuster
trade that sent Bartolo Colon to the Montreal Expos in exchange
for several minor league prospects, including Brandon Phillips and
pitcher Cliff Lee. Almost without explanation, due to Tim's
good health, success, and youth, the Indians included him in the
trade. This was probably influenced by the fact that the
Expos' pitching coach, Dick Pole, had been Tim's coach in
Cleveland the year before.
Tim went on to
record 14 wins in his stints with both Buffalo and Ottawa in the
minors and then was one of only three call ups by Montreal in
September. His first outing was against Atlanta, pitching 3
2/3 innings of shut out baseball in long relief and after a couple
more successful stints, found himself closing out three
consecutive ball games. The Expos won all three, Tim
received credit for two saves, and gave up no earned runs.
If not for an Andres Gallaraga error on the last out of the
inning/game during the middle game of that stretch, Tim would have
had three consecutive saves. He also got the nod for the
last game of the season that determined 2nd place for the National
League East, and responded by switching from the bullpen to the
starting role and pitched 5 no hit, no run innings before tiring
in the sixth. He still got credit for the win and the Expos
clinched 2nd place.
Tim is
also active in a number of ministries off the field. He is a
Baseball Chapel leader during the season among his teammates, an
advisory board member of TEAM JAM, active in his home church in
Hahira, Ga., and regularly shares his testimony at churches during
and after the season. Last winter he also traveled on
two mission trips to foreign countries, including Venezuela and
Brazil.
Player
of the Month (May 2002)
June 2002
Buffalo Article
MORE . . . on the
Drew's
Recently,
the third child
in the Drew family,Stephen,
was drafted 16th overall in the MLB draft. His first round
selection added to the Drew family's growing legacy. The three
brothers are the only brothers in MLB history to have been drafted
in the first round.
Stephen was also drafted out of high school (Pittsburgh Pirates),
and turned down over $1 million dollars to accept his scholarship
to FSU. He then went on to post almost a .400 batting
average, start at shortstop, hit for power, make All-ACC, be voted
the freshman of the year in the conference, MVP of the conference
tournament, freshman All-American, and Baseball America's freshman
of the year,
not to mention being second team All-American. All that was in spite of missing the first two
months of the season with a broken ankle. In
his sophomore year, Stephen was named third team All-American and
the ACC's first team shortstop again. Going
into his junior year, Stephen was been named the top shortstop in
the country and a First team, preseason, All-American choice. At
the end of the season he was named All-American again as a third
team selection at shortstop. For
more on Steve's Florida State career, go to Florida
State's site.
Drew
hits upper deck shot in the Minneapolis Metrodome to lift FSU
over #14 Nebraska. For more on this story, click
here . . .
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