DANNY GRAVES AUTOGRAPHED/SIGNED MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Description

DANNY GRAVES  AUTOGRAPHED/SIGNED MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Shipped with USPS First Class Mail.
Daniel Peter Graves
(born August 7, 1973) is a Vietnamese-born American former
Major League Baseball
pitcher
. Born to a
Vietnamese
mother and an American serviceman father, he is the only
Vietnam-born player
in the history of the major leagues and one of the few American players of Vietnamese descent. 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
.
Contents
1
Early life
1.1
High school and college
2
Major League Baseball
3
Broadcasting career
4
Personal life
Early life
Graves was born in
Saigon
to Thao and Jim Graves, a
U.S. Army
sergeant
, during the
Vietnam War
. The family fled the country when Graves was 14 months old after they learned of the impending
fall of Saigon
. After settling in the United States, Graves and his brother, Frank, spoke
Vietnamese
until teasing from classmates caused them to abandon the language.
[1]
High school and college
[
edit
]
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
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.
In 2003, Graves was converted into a starter. He went 4–14 as a starter in 26 starts.
[2]
In 2004, Graves was again used as a closer. On April 16, 2004, Graves gave up a milestone and game tying home run to
Sammy Sosa
in the bottom of the ninth inning. The game ended two pitches later, with Graves allowing a walk off home run to
Moisés Alou
. Graves went on to save 41 games in the 2004 season.
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 a fan that leaned in the dugout after being called a "
gook
" while getting taken out of the game by Reds manager
Dave Miley
.
[3]
Graves was quickly released by the Reds after the incident.
[4]
He was later signed as a free agent by the
New York Mets
on June 11, 2005.
[4]
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.
[5]
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.
[6]
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.
[7]
He was released during Spring training in March 2007 prior to the season.
[8]
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.
[9]
[10]
Graves later signed with the
Minnesota Twins
on March 30,
2008
, and played for the Triple-A
Rochester Red Wings
most of the year.
[11]
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
.
[10]
[12]
Broadcasting career
Graves is now a baseball analyst on
120 Sports
, MLB.com, MLB Network Radio Sirius XM, and ESPN Radio. He joined the
Reds Radio Network
to do color commentary for select games in 2018.
[13]