Mark Alan Dewey (born January 3, 1965) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player. He was a 6'0" right-handed relief pitcher who played six seasons in the major leagues with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

(1990, 1995–96),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

(1992), and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(1993–94).Born in Grand Rapids, Dewey played for the

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

Lakers. In 1987, he struck out 87 batters in 97.2 innings. On June 2, 1987, Dewey was drafted by the Giants in the 23rd round of the 1987 amateur draft. He appeared in 205 major league games and had a lifetime record of 12–7 (.632 winning percentage) with 168 strikeouts, 70 games finished and 8 saves. His lifetime

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

was 3.65 for an

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA o ...

of 110. His best season was 1993 when he had 7 saves for the Pirates in 21 games and maintained an impressive 2.36 ERA for an Adjusted ERA+ of 171. In his final season, Dewey appeared in 78 games for the Giants—3rd most in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. Dewey earned $225,000 in his final season in the big leagues. In 1995, Dewey was inducted into the Grand Valley State University Athletic Hall of Fame. Dewey was involved in a notable controversy on July 28, 1996, when he refused to participate with his teammates in a pregame ceremony intended to support research of a cure for

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. As part of "Until There's A Cure Day", members of the Giants wore AIDS awareness ribbons on their uniforms and stood in a group shaped like that symbol during speeches by Giants owner

Peter Magowan Peter Alden Magowan (April 5, 1942 – January 27, 2019) was an American businessman. He was the managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball from 1993 to 2008. He was the chief executive officer of Safeway Inc. ...

and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Dewey refused to take the field for the ceremony, and he wore his ribbon sideways (which would have resembled the Icthys, a popular symbol meant to represent Jesus in Christian culture). He cited religious reasons for his refusal, stating that the ceremony was "against isChristian principles" and voicing the belief that

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

is a

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewey, Mark Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Grand Rapids, Michigan New York Mets players Pittsburgh Pirates players San Francisco Giants players Nashville Sounds players Grand Valley State Lakers baseball players 1964 births Living people Aiken Foxhounds players Everett Giants players Clinton Giants players San Jose Giants players Shreveport Captains players Phoenix Firebirds players Tidewater Tides players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players American expatriate baseball players in Australia