Frank Pastore

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. Despite less than overwhelming statistics (Pastore's career minor league record is 34-41 with a 3.28 ERA), he continued to be promoted within the organization and made his major league debut on April 4, 1979 at Riverfront Stadium, pitching three scoreless innings in a loss to the San Francisco Giants. Though used equally as a reliever and starter during his rookie season, he 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 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 (a former atheist) went back to school, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Business Administration from National University in 1989, 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, graduating summa cum laude with a 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, which became one of the largest Christian talk shows in the United States.

In 2011, Pastore authored a book with Tyndale House titled Shattered: Struck Down, But Not Destroyed, recounting how, during recovery from his 1984 injury, he became a born-again Christian.

Pastore once held the record for the fastest time to finish eating the famous 72oz steak dinner "The Texas King" at The Big Texan Steak Ranch. Pastore's record of 9 minutes 30 seconds stood for 21 years, until being broken by Joey Chestnut in 2008.

On November 19, 2012, Pastore was seriously injured on the Foothill (210) Freeway in Duarte, California when a 56-year-old woman from Glendora, California, driving a Hyundai Sonata, inexplicably collided with his Honda VTX 1800, throwing him off the motorcycle. He suffered serious head injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition. Only hours before the accident, Pastore had made comments about how

"I mean... look, 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, alright, without any blinkers -- not that I’m angry about it, but at any minute I could be spread out all over the 210 (Freeway). But that’s not me, that’s my body parts. That key distinction under-girds the entire Judeo-Christian worldview, and also your pursuit of reality."

Such statements led people to speculate that he had predicted his own death. On December 17, Pastore died from complications from pneumonia and potentially as a result of his injuries. Pastore is survived by his wife, Gina, children Frank Jr. and Christina, and one grandchild.