Before entering his 10th MLB season this year, Graveman had played for five professional teams in five different cities, in two different countries and in two of the top-5 biggest cities in the United States.
And it all started at the Charles E. Bailey Sr. Sportplex in Alexander City.
No one, much less Graveman, thought that a skinny kid from Benjamin Russell High School could amount to the big time reliever he is today. Yet, here he is.
“I am just a small town kid from Alabama, still playing the game that I love,” Graveman said in April. “I have done all this because I love playing baseball. I didn’t see myself in 2009 as a senior, playing for Benjamin Russell… I couldn’t see 10 years down the road.”
About 14 years after last taking the rubber for Benjamin Russell, the former Wildcat and Mississippi State star is coming off a silver medal finish with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, during which the righty reliever picked up a win in 1 1/3 total innings pitched.
While Graveman has found success at every stop – pitching in the College World Series, the Major League World Series and now the World Baseball Classic – his time at the WBC may be his crowning moment.
“I have played in the big league World Series and the College World Series and both of those were amazing, but I don’t think there is a way to replicate the World Baseball Classic after playing in that,” Graveman said. “You think about the magnitude of those games and I am blessed and fortunate to be able to be in those scenarios.”
Graveman ended his 10th season being traded back to the Houston Astros. He pitched a combined 68 innings, and had a season ERA of 3.12. The Astros claimed the AL West title and advanced to the ALCS.
