David Price’s life changed when he was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened shortly after that.
The Boston Red Sox starter went from the highest point in his life to the lowest when just two days after he signed his first contract with the Rays, on Aug. 17, 2007, his best friend from high school, Nate Stephens, died of a heart attack while playing basketball at the age of 22.
“He was devastated,” Price’s mother, Debbie Price, said in a recent ESPN “E:60” interview. “That was really the first time he really had to deal with any type of death.”
But Price would have to deal with it again, as another one of the starting pitcher’s best friends, Tyler Morrissey, died in a car accident on April, 24, 2008.
“I lost two of my best friends in eight months,” Price said. “I just kind of woke up, and they were gone. That’s tough.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVqCCTC21U
Price made his MLB debut Sept. 14, 2008, less than five months after Morrissey’s death, and helped the Rays reach the World Series that fall. Since then, he’s amassed five All-Star selections, a Cy Young Award and two ERA titles, all with the dates of his best friends’ deaths stitched onto his glove in their memory.
And now, he’s ready to win for them in Boston.
“It’s a city that has winning in their blood,” Price told ESPN. “It’s a tough place to play. But it’s probably the best place to play and win. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
