This article is based on my interview with Gary Lavelle in 1983.
NOTE: Left-handed reliever Gary Lavelle pitched 13 seasons in the Major Leagues, the first 11 with the San Francisco Giants, from 1974 to 1984. He pitched in more games (647) than anyone in the history of the Giants, including Christy Mathewson. He is also first for the franchise in games finished (369) and fourth in saves, with 126. He was on the National League All-Star team in 1977 and again in 1983.
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After the Fellowship of Christian Athletes gathering had ended, a young woman stopped to chat with guest speaker Gary Lavelle. “For the first twenty minutes, I thought you were a pastor, but when you kept talking about baseball, I realized you were a player!” she exclaimed.
At 6-1, 200 pounds, it’s easy to see why the big lefthander has been mowing them down for nine major league seasons. But the San Francisco Giants ace reliever knows the Bible and the league’s opposing hitters. As the charter member of the Giants’ “God Squad” teams of the late 1970s, Gary helped lead several teammates to a personal relationship with Christ.
The youngest of five boys, he was raised in Bethlehem, Pa., on a diet of baseball, football, and basketball, “but baseball was always my first love.” As a high school sophomore, Gary tossed his first no-hitter. His senior year, he hurled another no-hitter and a bunch of one- and two-hitters and got a phone call from the Giants. Assigned to their Salt Lake City farm club, Gary began a long climb to the majors. In September 1974, after eight seasons in the minors, he was called up to the parent club.
Gary married Regina in 1972 and had their first child, daughter Jana, in 1975. “I’d fulfilled a dream. I had success, money, a beautiful wife, our first child…but something was missing,” he said.
At the end of the ’75 season, Lavelle went to Venezuela to play winter ball. He met former Minnesota Twins pitcher Tom Johnson, who shared about knowing God personally and “answered many questions I had.” Gary gave his life to the Lord soon after. “The hardest thing was coming home,” he said about changing his habits. “I didn’t want to go into bars anymore.”
Photo courtesy MLB.com
Reporters found the new Lavelle even more complicated to figure out. They were accustomed to the old Lavelle who’d angrily vent his frustration after a poor performance. “I asked the Lord for strength in both the good times and bad, and before long, the press began to report on my newfound composure,” he said.
His teammates also saw the change, and when opportunities surfaced, Gary witnessed them. “I don’t preach. I share what the Bible has to say about life,” he stated. By 1978, the press had dubbed the Giants the “God Squad” because of the number of professing Christians on the team, several of whom were the result of Gary’s influence.
Gary’s performance speaks as loudly as his words, but his biggest challenge came in 1980. “I’d gotten off to a terrible start and lost my job as the #1 reliever. I kept asking the Lord, ‘Is this the end of my career?’ he recalled. “He gave me the desire to work harder, to go the extra mile.”
Gary began a weight training program the following year, and by 1982, his arm had returned to form. “I learned to persevere when the odds are against you, but it also made me realize baseball will end someday and I’ll need to go on,” he said.
“The Lord will guide my path after baseball. I have peace about that.”
Note: Lavelle became a highly successful Virginia high school and college baseball coach after retiring from MLB.
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This article appeared in Sharing the Victory, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, July-August 1983. Sieger is the author of The God Squad: The Born-Again San Francisco Giants of 1978.
