Frank Enrico Pastore (; August 21, 1957 – December 17, 2012) was an American
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player and radio host. He
pitched for the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
from 1979 until 1985 and for the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
in 1986, and was in the
Texas Rangers organization in 1987.
Playing career
Pastore was born in
Alhambra, California, and was valedictorian of the 1975 class of
Damien High School in
La Verne, California. That year, Pastore went to the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the amateur draft. Pastore continued to be promoted within the organization, with an impressive 3.28 ERA in the minor leagues. He made his major league debut on April 4, 1979, at
Riverfront Stadium, pitching three scoreless innings in a loss to the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
. Used equally as a
reliever
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...
and
starter during his rookie season, he then moved full-time to the starting rotation in 1980.
Pastore's best statistical season came in 1980 with the Reds, as he posted a record of 13 - 7 with an
ERA
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Compa ...
of 3.27 in 27 appearances. Pastore was hit on the elbow with a batted ball on June 4, 1984. That injury caused him to appear in only 41 games in the 1984 and 1985 seasons combined. He was then released by the Reds in 1986 following spring training. However, Pastore quickly signed with the Minnesota Twins, and spent the entire season coming out of the bullpen. Following the season, he signed with the Texas Rangers and was assigned to the AAA
Oklahoma City 89ers. However, Pastore started four disappointing games with the team (compiling a 1-3 record and 8.46 ERA) before retiring.
Later life
After baseball, Pastore went back to school, graduating with a degree in business administration from
National University
A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state.
Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...
in 1989. He then spent the next two years with the national leadership of Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. He then attended the
Talbot School of Theology at
Biola University
Biola University () is a private, nondenominational, evangelical Christian university in La Mirada, California. It was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It has over 150 programs of study in nine schools offering bachelor's, ...
, graduating ''summa cum laude'' with an MA in philosophy of religion and ethics in 1994. In 2003, Pastore completed his second master's degree, in political philosophy and American government, from
Claremont Graduate School.
On January 5, 2004, Pastore became the host of ''The Frank Pastore Show'' on
KKLA-FM in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, which became one of the largest Christian talk shows in the United States.
In 2011, Pastore authored ''Shattered: Struck Down, But Not Destroyed'', a book recounting how he became a
born-again Christian
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...
during recovery from his 1984 pitching arm injury.
Pastore once held the record for the fastest time to finish eating the famous 72-oz steak dinner, "The Texas King", at
the Big Texan Steak Ranch
The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steakhouse restaurant and motel located in Amarillo, Texas, United States, which opened on the previous U.S. Route 66 in the 4500 block of East Amarillo Boulevard in 1960. It relocated to its present location on Inte ...
. Pastore's record of 9 minutes 30 seconds stood for 21 years, until being broken by
Joey Chestnut
Joseph Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. As of 2022, he is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He is a California native and resides in Westfield, Indiana. Chestnut's height is ; his weigh ...
in 2008.
Death
On November 19, 2012, during his radio show while discussing how his faith affects his view of death, Pastore said:
...you guys know I ride a motorcycle, don’t you? So, at any moment, especially with the idiot people who cross the diamond lane into my lane, all right, without any blinkers -- not that I’m angry about it, but at any minute I could be spread out all over the 210 (Freeway).
That same day, he was critically injured on the
Foothill (210) Freeway in
Duarte, California, when a woman from
Glendora, California, driving a
Hyundai Sonata, collided with his
Honda VTX 1800, throwing him off the motorcycle. He was hospitalized in critical condition with serious head injuries.
Less than a month later, on December 17, 2012, Pastore died from pneumonia and other complications of his injuries.
Pastore is survived by his wife, Gina, children Frank Jr. and Christina, and one grandchild.
References
External links
*
Pastore Homepage
Los Angeles Times Op-Ed Piece, ''Christian Conservatives Must Not Compromise''
* ttp://www.tyndale.com/X_Products/details.php?isbn=978-1-58997-611-5 Book Detail Page for Shattered by Frank Pastore
Sports Illustrated stats on Frank Pastore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastore, Frank
1957 births
2012 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Cincinnati Reds players
Minnesota Twins players
Baseball players from California
Nashville Sounds players
Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players
Indianapolis Indians players
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Wichita Aeros players
Billings Mustangs players
Trois-Rivières Aigles players
American Christians
Former atheists and agnostics
American talk radio hosts
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sportspeople from Alhambra, California
Motorcycle road incident deaths
Road incident deaths in California