Tweet
Steve Bedrosian reminisces at Ephrata card show
LancasterOnline.com (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania)
Sunday, Mar 24, 2013
By Tom Arnold, Correspondent
EPHRATA, PA -- With the start of baseball season looming, Lancaster
County fans received a treat when former major league pitcher Steve
Bedrosian visited Ephrata on Saturday morning for the Ephrata Lions
Club's annual sports card show and auction.
"This is the 34th show," said Nevin Rutt, one of the show
organizers. "I remember 34 years ago when our first guest was [former
Phillies pitcher] Chris Short. It's still just as much fun as it was
then."
Bedrosian, who will turn 56 in December, looked tan and slim. Besides
a touch of gray at the temples, the former pitcher looked as though he
could take the mound again and go for another save.
"Bedrock" was one of the top closers in the league through the late
1980s and finished his career with 184 saves. In 1987, while with the
Phillies, Bedrosian finished with a 5-3 record and a 2.83 ERA and a
league-leading 40 saves. That performance earned him the Cy Young
Award and Rolaids Relief Man of the Year.
"I'm blessed for sure," Bedrosian said. "Looking back ... playing 14
years for four different teams, raising a family in between, four boys
and a little girl we adopted from Russia, and now the journey has come
full circle with my son [Cameron Bedrosian] playing for the [Los
Angeles] Angels. Now we're chasing him around."
For a man who has amassed a multitude of awards to accompany a 1991
World Series championship and a 1987 All-Star appearance, Bedrosian
claims an event in San Francisco as one of his all-time favorite
moments in baseball.
"If I had to pick one moment, I guess I'd pick winning the Willie
McCovey Award while with the Giants in 1990," Bedrosian said. "I guess
that and the Dave Dravecky story are two of the best memories of my
career."
Dravecky was a Giants pitcher who was diagnosed with cancer. He first
had part of his pitching arm removed, and eventually had to have an
amputation from his shoulder down.
"There was a game where [the fans] pledged money on every pitch, like
they do for a March of Dimes walk where they pledge for every mile and
so on," Bedrosian said. "Well, Dravecky came back and pitched a game
against Cincinnati and won 3-1. Going into the eighth inning in
Candlestick, [the Reds] got two men on and they called for me and I
came on and got the save.
"I'm glad I won, because if I'd have lost that game, oh my... it would
have all been on me."
Along with that game, Bedrosian was happy for his Cy Young Award, but
upset at the same time that the Phillies didn't win it all that year.
"I wish we could have won as a team, but we didn't," he said. "But I
got to play with some of the greats, like [Mike Schmidt] and [Steve]
Carlton and watched them retire. But I guess winning the Cy Young was
the highlight."
With his son Cameron pitching in the Angels organization, Bedrosian
doesn't have enough time to watch professional baseball.
"We are chasing him all over the place while he plays," he said. "So I
don't get as much of a chance to watch or listen to the majors as I'd
like. I still keep an eye of the Phillies and Braves and Twins. In
fact, the other year when Roy Halladay won the Cy Young Award, I was
asked to come and present it to him, since I was the most recent
winner presenting it to Halladay. That was nice."
These days Bedrosian is content to do a few card shows and a few major
league fantasy camps, and of course follow his son.
"I retired as a baseball coach after 14 years, and coached all my
boys," he said. "I coached briefly in the Braves' minor-league
system. I also served on the board of education for 10 years, the last
two as chairman.
"I served in the only county in Georgia that does not pay their board
of education members - so obviously I did it because I enjoyed it, not
for the pay," he said with a laugh.
From: Baghdasarian
LancasterOnline.com (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania)
Sunday, Mar 24, 2013
By Tom Arnold, Correspondent
EPHRATA, PA -- With the start of baseball season looming, Lancaster
County fans received a treat when former major league pitcher Steve
Bedrosian visited Ephrata on Saturday morning for the Ephrata Lions
Club's annual sports card show and auction.
"This is the 34th show," said Nevin Rutt, one of the show
organizers. "I remember 34 years ago when our first guest was [former
Phillies pitcher] Chris Short. It's still just as much fun as it was
then."
Bedrosian, who will turn 56 in December, looked tan and slim. Besides
a touch of gray at the temples, the former pitcher looked as though he
could take the mound again and go for another save.
"Bedrock" was one of the top closers in the league through the late
1980s and finished his career with 184 saves. In 1987, while with the
Phillies, Bedrosian finished with a 5-3 record and a 2.83 ERA and a
league-leading 40 saves. That performance earned him the Cy Young
Award and Rolaids Relief Man of the Year.
"I'm blessed for sure," Bedrosian said. "Looking back ... playing 14
years for four different teams, raising a family in between, four boys
and a little girl we adopted from Russia, and now the journey has come
full circle with my son [Cameron Bedrosian] playing for the [Los
Angeles] Angels. Now we're chasing him around."
For a man who has amassed a multitude of awards to accompany a 1991
World Series championship and a 1987 All-Star appearance, Bedrosian
claims an event in San Francisco as one of his all-time favorite
moments in baseball.
"If I had to pick one moment, I guess I'd pick winning the Willie
McCovey Award while with the Giants in 1990," Bedrosian said. "I guess
that and the Dave Dravecky story are two of the best memories of my
career."
Dravecky was a Giants pitcher who was diagnosed with cancer. He first
had part of his pitching arm removed, and eventually had to have an
amputation from his shoulder down.
"There was a game where [the fans] pledged money on every pitch, like
they do for a March of Dimes walk where they pledge for every mile and
so on," Bedrosian said. "Well, Dravecky came back and pitched a game
against Cincinnati and won 3-1. Going into the eighth inning in
Candlestick, [the Reds] got two men on and they called for me and I
came on and got the save.
"I'm glad I won, because if I'd have lost that game, oh my... it would
have all been on me."
Along with that game, Bedrosian was happy for his Cy Young Award, but
upset at the same time that the Phillies didn't win it all that year.
"I wish we could have won as a team, but we didn't," he said. "But I
got to play with some of the greats, like [Mike Schmidt] and [Steve]
Carlton and watched them retire. But I guess winning the Cy Young was
the highlight."
With his son Cameron pitching in the Angels organization, Bedrosian
doesn't have enough time to watch professional baseball.
"We are chasing him all over the place while he plays," he said. "So I
don't get as much of a chance to watch or listen to the majors as I'd
like. I still keep an eye of the Phillies and Braves and Twins. In
fact, the other year when Roy Halladay won the Cy Young Award, I was
asked to come and present it to him, since I was the most recent
winner presenting it to Halladay. That was nice."
These days Bedrosian is content to do a few card shows and a few major
league fantasy camps, and of course follow his son.
"I retired as a baseball coach after 14 years, and coached all my
boys," he said. "I coached briefly in the Braves' minor-league
system. I also served on the board of education for 10 years, the last
two as chairman.
"I served in the only county in Georgia that does not pay their board
of education members - so obviously I did it because I enjoyed it, not
for the pay," he said with a laugh.
From: Baghdasarian