Steve Avery

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Steve Avery bigraphy, stories - American professional baseball player, pitcher

Steve Avery : biography

April 14, 1970 –

Steven Thomas Avery (born April 14, 1970) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who began his major league career with the Atlanta Braves in the early 1990s.

Personal life

Avery was born in Trenton, Michigan. After graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in Taylor, Michigan, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in June . Avery married Heather McMillian on November 12, 1991. They currently live in Dearborn, Michigan with their three children.

Career

Atlanta

Avery made his first career start on June 13, 1990 against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium, giving up eight runs in 2.1 innings. He ended his rookie year with a record of 3–11 in 21 starts with a 5.64 ERA. The pitching staff of Avery, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Pete Smith, were dubbed Atlanta’s "Young Guns".

1991

The season was a good year for both Avery and the Braves. The team went from worst to first while Avery compiled a record of 18–8 with a 3.38 ERA. He gave the Braves their first win of the season, a 7–5 victory over the defending world champion Reds. In the heat of the September pennant race with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 21 year-old Avery beat them twice, 9–1 at home, and 3–0 on the road, pitching a complete game both times. Avery’s last win of the regular season was a stellar performance against the Houston Astros. Avery threw a no-hitter for 6.2 innings until Luis Gonzalez broke it up with a single.

Avery’s amazing season continued with one of the greatest postseason performances of all-time. He shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates for 16.2 innings over two games and accumulated two 1–0 wins. His performance earned him MVP honors for the 1991 NLCS. In the 1991 World Series, Avery earned no decisions in two starts but pitched effectively in both Game 3 and Game 6.

Continued success

In , Avery lowered his ERA to 3.20, but his record fell off to 11–11, mostly due to the Braves’ inability to score runs when he pitched. However, his playoff success continued when he took the mound against the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS. He extended his mastery over the Pittsburgh offense to 22.1 shutout innings before giving up five runs in the seventh inning of a Braves rout in Game 2. After lasting only of an inning and giving up four runs in his second start in Game 5, Avery kept the Pirates at bay in the crucial middle innings of Game 7 in relief of John Smoltz. Avery’s clutch performance kept the game close enough for Francisco Cabrera to perform his heroics in the ninth inning.

Avery started Game 3 of the 1992 World Series and was the losing pitcher in the first World Series game ever played outside the United States. He pitched effectively but lost, 3–2 to the Toronto Blue Jays. In Game 6, he was pulled after giving up a home run to Candy Maldonado in the fourth inning. Avery appeared on his way to another loss, but a Braves rally extended the game into the eleventh inning before the Blue Jays prevailed, winning their first World Series and saddling the hard-luck Braves with their second consecutive World Series defeat.

Unexpected decline

In , Avery had the best season of his career. He was selected to the All-Star team and had a record of 16–4 entering the September 12, 1993 game against the San Diego Padres. Avery lost and suffered an injury to a muscle under his pitching armpit. Many blame Avery’s injury on his heavy workload as a young pitcher; he had started 135 major league games before reaching the age of 24. Avery was never again the same pitcher, although he ended the year 18–6 with a 2.94 ERA, a record unusually favorable for a team’s fourth starter.

Avery was outpitched early in Game 1 of the 1993 NLCS by Curt Schilling of the Philadelphia Phillies. A late rally tied the game and got Avery off the hook, but the Braves still lost. In his second matchup with Schilling, the Braves again got Avery off the hook for the loss, but again ultimately lost the game in extra innings, 4–3.