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David Jonathan Drew (born November 20, 1975 in Valdosta, Georgia) is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Boston Red Sox. He is a left-handed hitter, and began his major league career in 1998 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
College

Drew attended Florida State University, where he played under head coach Mike Martin. At Florida State, he was the winner of the 1997 Dick Howser Trophy, the 1997 Golden Spikes Award, and was named the 1997 Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, the 1997 Sporting News Player of the Year, and was a consensus All-American (1997). He also was named the 1997 ACC Player of the Year. He was a 1996 member of Team USA. Drew was First Team in 1996, Freshman All-American in 1995 and was named to the College World Series All Tournament Team in 1995. He was the first player in college baseball history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. He set a Florida State record by batting .455 in 1997 while managing to become one of only three players in college baseball history to have 100 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBI. During his college career, Drew broke 17 school and conference records.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] 1997: Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies

Drew was the second overall pick in the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Drew and his agent Scott Boras elected not to sign with the Phillies, sticking to their guarantee that they would not sign for less than $10 million. The Phillies had no plan to pay an unproven player this amount of money, and despite Boras' warnings, drafted Drew nonetheless. Consequently, Drew ended up playing for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League.

[edit] 1998-2003: St. Louis Cardinals

After playing for St. Paul in the 1997 season, Drew was selected fifth overall in 1998 by the St. Louis Cardinals. He signed a contract and blew through the minor leagues, hitting .316 through 26 games with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. He was called to the big club with the rest of the 40-man roster and made his debut on September 8, 1998, the night Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's single-season home run record. His first at bat, in the 6th inning, ended in a strikeout, and he finished the night 0-for-2. He would heat up, however, going 15-for-36 (.417) during 1998 with five home runs.

On August 10, 1999, in Drew's first appearance at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, he was booed loudly, and even had "D" batteries thrown at him by two fans.[1] Drew struggled to stay healthy, landing on the disabled list every season he played in St. Louis.

Also, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa apparently had concerns about Drew's effort. In his book Three Nights in August, Buzz Bissinger mentions La Russa's frustration with Drew's lack of passion. La Russa tells Bissinger that it seems Drew has decided to "settle for 75%" of his talent, in large part because of his enormous contract.[2]

[edit] 2004: Atlanta Braves

Drew was traded to the Atlanta Braves in December 2003, where he had the best season of his career while finally managing to stay healthy. In 2004, he displayed excellent power, patience, and defense hitting .305 with 31 home runs, 118 walks, and 96 RBI, finishing 6th in the MVP voting.

[edit] 2005-2006: Los Angeles Dodgers

In December 2004, Drew signed a five-year, $55 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which included an escape clause after the second year. Roughly halfway through the 2005 season, Drew's season was again cut short after being hit on the wrist by a pitch from Arizona Diamondbacks' pitcher Brad Halsey.

On September 18, 2006, Drew was part of only the fourth ever set of back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs with fellow Dodgers Jeff Kent, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson.

In 2006, Drew exercised his contract option clause, forgoing $33 million over the next 3 years to become a free agent. The Dodgers' General Manager Ned Colletti said in a teleconference that he was "surprised how it came down. Everything we had heard, everything that had been written led us to believe the player loved being here."[3] This was especially a surprise since a few days before, Drew had told an LA Times columnist on how happy he was in LA and that he was looking forward to the upcoming 2007 season.

[edit] 2007-2008: Boston Red Sox

On January 25, 2007, Drew officially signed a five-year contract with the Red Sox worth $70 million. Drew's revised contract has a clause that allows the Red Sox to opt out of Drew's five year contract after three or four years if Drew has extensive injuries due to a previously existing problem in his right shoulder.

For most of the 2007 season, Drew struggled offensively and spent time on the DL (due to a hamstring injury) as well as taking time off from the team to attend to his son's health. Many questioned the value of his large salary due to his mediocre numbers and ordinary defense, but results began to come late into

What can I say about Alone in the dark - I started with low expectations, hated the game at first, but then ended up enjoying it more and more, right up until the end.

AitD started with all the makings of a frustrating game - clunky controls, twitchy interactions, and a camera that make you cry. If you can force yourself to cope with these annoyances for the first bits of the game you'll find that it'll be well worth your while.

For me, Alone in the Dark took an immediate turn for the better when I found myself racing down 59th street in a desperate effort to escape a crumbling city. The music was fantastic, the action was intense and had it not taken me 50 attempts to clear the stage it would have qualified as one of the best heart-pounding moments in gaming for me this year. Unfortunately, even at it's best moments Alone in the Dark still manages a bit of stink. In this case, the driving mechanics in the game are somewhat craptastic. Still, if you can cope with them the game will make it worth it.

Despite many imperfections throughout the game, after finishing it, I have more good than bad things to say. It has quite a bit of unique ideas, even if they weren't pulled off so well. The inventory system was neat, albeit limiting - and the MacGuyver combinations made rummaging through trash bins and glove boxes a worthy endeavor. The 'visible' damage system didn't quite come off as intended, but I've got to give the devs credit for trying something different.

The DVD style mission structure made me laugh every time I fired up the game and heard 'Previously on Alone in the Dark'. I wish more games would use a system like that, it takes away those 'what the hell was I doing' moments you face after spending more than a few days away from a game.

If you're into survival horror games, Alone in the Dark is certainly worth your time. In my opinion, the game blew away Condemned 2 though that game garnered much higher review scores. Condemned 2 felt like an absolute chore to me, while I was eager to continue playing AitD. The game has an interesting story even though it's punctuated my much unnecessary swearing, and a god awful NPC.

If you can pick this game up for $25 and under I think you'll find it well worth the money.