Inside the tunnels on the way to the home clubhouse at PNC Park are murals of the award winners in the Pirates' history. Among them is a Doug Drabek, one of just two Pirate pitchers to ever win a Cy Young award, doing it in 1990.
The mural depicts him mid-delivery with dark black hair, a flattering portrait. Now grayer and older, Drabek was told about the mural before he got to see it in person.
"When Arizona came in, one trainer I had in the minor leagues sent me a picture, and then [another person] with another team sent me a picture," Drabek told a small pool of local reporters Saturday.
Today, Drabek is helping mold the next generation of pitchers, serving as the pitching coach for the Diamondbacks' Class AAA affiliate in Reno, NV. The Aces are playoff bound, but since they had already clinched, Drabek was given a three-day pass to head back to Pittsburgh Saturday to throw out the first pitch and be honored for his bobblehead doll night at PNC Park.
"It's always good to be back in Pittsburgh," Drabek said. "Loved [my time here], and loved the new stadium too. It's not so new now, but it's always a good time here."
Being a Pirate wasn't originally in Drabek's plans. He debuted with the Yankees in 1986, but they shipped him to the Pirates as part of a deal centered around starter Rick Rhoden in a swap of prospects for players to try to take the Yankees over the top.
Free of the pressure of being a rookie on a competitive team, Drabek was able to learn with Jim Leyland's young team, evolving into a Cy Young winner in 1990 and winning at least 14 games in five of his six seasons with the Pirates.
"You never know what would have happened," he said when asked if that trade altered his career. "I think I was fortunate because being young and then going from a very veteran team, going on to a young team that was basically starting over. I think it was good for me because I was given the chance to learn and struggle and lose and learn how to bounce back, and also learn in reality 'what kind of pitcher am I and what do I need to be to be successful?' And [pitching coach] Ray Miller had a lot to do with that. Leyland was good as far as getting everything he could out of young guys, but as far as the pitching coach, Ray really helped a lot."
With Drabek heading the rotation, those Pirates teams eventually rose back to prominence and won three straight National League East Titles, though they never got over the hump into the World Series.
"I just think back to the team we had and the chance we had to move on," Drabek said. "Obviously it didn't happen. The team was good, but for me, the continuity of the team was good because we were together for a few years. It was fun to come to the ballpark and into the clubhouse every day."
Game seven of the 1992 National League Championship Series is without a doubt the closest the Pirates came to that pennant, taking a 2-0 lead into the ninth with Drabek on the mound. Drabek said at that point he was running on adrenaline, but he faltered late and eventually took the loss, watching from the dugout.
While he struggled at the start of that inning, there is a group of fans who believe that if Leyland would have left Drabek in, the Pirates' ace would have come through and finished the game.
"I don't know. If they let us replay it, we'll find out, maybe," Drabek said about that theoretical. "I left Stan [Belinda] in a bad spot there. I'd like to say yeah, but you never know what would have happened."
That loss was a clear end of those competitive Pirate teams and started a streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons. While nobody could have foreseen decades of losing after that game, it was accepted it was that group's last chance together before the core hit free agency.
"In the back of everybody’s minds, they knew that it was a possibility," Drabek said. "Once that was done, it hit a lot of guys to where [we thought], ‘Okay, what’s next? What’s going to happen next year?’ I think it was a combination of that and that was the third year in a row that it didn’t happen. I think the disappointment and the uncertainty of the future popped into a lot of guys’ heads."
Today, the Pirates are in the midst of another rebuild effort to try to win their first division title since that 1992 team. If they do that and get over the hump to the World Series, Drabek will be one of the people cheering them on.
"I would be very happy for them," Drabek said. "Obviously, I’m with another organization hoping we’re doing it too. But I’d be happy for them just because I was given a great chance here and I was part of it here and part of a team that came close three times and didn’t win. If they got a group that did, I’d be happy for them and for the city of Pittsburgh, too. The people were great here."
