Danny Graves

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American baseball player (born 1973)

title: "Danny Graves" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1973-births", "living-people", "sportspeople-from-ho-chi-minh-city", "major-league-baseball-players-from-vietnam", "vietnamese-people-of-american-descent", "vietnamese-emigrants-to-the-united-states", "major-league-baseball-pitchers", "cleveland-indians-players", "cincinnati-reds-players", "new-york-mets-players", "mayos-de-navojoa-players", "national-league-all-stars", "miami-hurricanes-baseball-players", "kinston-indians-players", "canton-akron-indians-players", "buffalo-bisons-(minor-league)-players", "indianapolis-indians-players", "norfolk-tides-players", "long-island-ducks-players", "rochester-red-wings-players", "new-britain-rock-cats-players", "fort-myers-miracle-players", "american-people-of-vietnamese-descent", "sportspeople-of-vietnamese-descent", "all-american-college-baseball-players", "major-league-baseball-broadcasters", "cincinnati-reds-announcers", "american-expatriate-baseball-players-in-mexico"] description: "American baseball player (born 1973)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Graves" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American baseball player (born 1973) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox baseball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Danny Graves
image	Dannygraves.jpg
caption	Graves with the Rochester Red Wings in 2008
position	Pitcher
bats	Right
throws	Right
birth_date
birth_place	Saigon, South Vietnam
debutleague	MLB
debutdate	July 13
debutyear	1996
debutteam	Cleveland Indians
finalleague	MLB
finaldate	May 9
finalyear	2006
finalteam	Cleveland Indians
statleague	MLB
stat1label	Win–loss record
stat1value	43–44
stat2label	Earned run average
stat2value	4.05
stat3label	Strikeouts
stat3value	429
stat4label	Saves
stat4value	182
::

Cleveland Indians (–)
Cincinnati Reds (–)
New York Mets ()
Cleveland Indians () |highlights=
2× All-Star (2000, 2004)
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Daniel Peter Graves (born August 7, 1973) is a Vietnamese-born American former professional baseball player and current baseball analyst. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from 1996 to 2006, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds where he was their primary relief pitcher for five seasons and became the franchise's all-time leader in career saves. A two-time National League All-Star, Graves was the winner of the 2002 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. Graves also pitched for the Cleveland Indians and the New York Mets.

Born to a Vietnamese mother and an American serviceman father, Graves is the only Vietnam-born player in Major League history and one of the few American players of Vietnamese descent. After his playing career he became a radio and television baseball analyst. Graves was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2023.

Early life

During the Vietnam War, Graves was born in Saigon to Thao and Jim Graves, a U.S. Army sergeant. The family fled the country when Graves was 14 months old after they learned of the impending fall of Saigon. After settling in the United States, Graves and his brother, Frank, spoke Vietnamese until teasing from classmates caused them to abandon the language.

High school and college

He graduated from Brandon High School in Brandon, Florida, and was awarded a baseball scholarship to the University of Miami. As a right-handed relief pitcher for the school as a junior, he posted a 0.89 earned run average and led collegiate baseball with a school-record 21 saves.

Major League Baseball

Cleveland

The Cleveland Indians selected Graves in the fourth round of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. He tore his ACL during the College World Series two days after being drafted. After a year of rehabilitation, he was named Cleveland's top minor league pitcher of and was in the major leagues a year later

Cincinnati

He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in July with three other players for John Smiley and Jeff Branson in .

In his first nine seasons with Cleveland and Cincinnati, Graves compiled a 40–42 record as a pitcher with 406 strikeouts, a 3.89 ERA, and 172 saves in 755.2 innings. He is the only player ever to have more than one season in which all his hits were home runs. This happened in and , with one homer each.

In 2003, Graves was converted into a starter. He went 4–14 as a starter in 26 starts.

In 2004, Graves was again used as a closer. On April 16, 2004, Graves gave up a milestone and game-tying home run to Sammy Sosa in the bottom of the ninth inning. The game ended two pitches later, with Graves allowing a walk-off home run to Moisés Alou. Graves went on to save 41 games in the 2004 season.

The 2005 season did not start well for Graves. He struggled, posting a 7.36 ERA through 20 games. Fans in Cincinnati took notice and consistently booed Graves, leading up to a May 23 incident when Graves made an obscene hand gesture to a fan that leaned in the dugout after being called a "gook" while getting taken out of the game by Reds manager Dave Miley. The Reds quickly released Graves after the incident.

New York Mets

Graves was then signed as a free agent by the New York Mets on June 11, 2005.

After putting up a 5.89 ERA with the Mets, he was designated for assignment on August 23, 2005. He cleared waivers and was sent to Triple-A Norfolk on August 26, but was called back to the Mets when rosters expanded. Graves was 0–2 with an 18.00 ERA in five games with Norfolk.

On December 19, 2005, Graves signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. He pitched well in spring training, earning a spot in the Indians' bullpen, but was designated for assignment on May 12, , after he opened the season with a 2–1 record and 5.79 ERA in 13 relief appearances.

On May 18, 2006, Graves was assigned to the Indians' Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, in Buffalo. He finished the 2006 season with the Bisons with a 4.01 ERA (1 Win, 1 Loss).

Graves signed a minor league deal with the Rockies on December 19, 2006. He was released during Spring training in March 2007 before the season. During the 2007 season, Graves was on the roster of the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, leading the league in saves.

Graves later signed with the Minnesota Twins on March 30, , and played for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings most of the year. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed a minor league contract with the Houston Astros in January . The Astros released him on March 25, .

Danny Graves was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame on July 15, 2023, for his successful career.

Broadcasting career

Graves is now a baseball analyst on 120 Sports, "The Rally" on Bally Sports network, MLB.com, MLB Network Radio Sirius XM, and ESPN Radio. He joined the Reds Radio Network to do color commentary for select games in 2018.

Personal life

Graves is married with two children and has four children from a previous marriage.

References

"List of MLB players from Vietnam".
"Reds Hall of Fame {{!}} Alumni Directory {{!}} Cincinnati Reds".
(March 6, 2006). "Baseball takes Graves family back to Vietnam". [[Akron Beacon Journal]].
"Archived copy".
(May 23, 2005). "Reds end Graves' tenure after poor outing, altercation".
(Jun 7, 2005). "Mets sign jettisoned closer Graves".
AccessNorthGa.com. "AccessNorthGa.com - News Articles: North Georgia's Sporting News Weather and News".
"Cleveland Indians : News : Cleveland Indians News".
"Rockies add Graves to retooled 'pen".
"Rockies release Danny Graves". Redszone.com.
"Dayton news | Dayton Daily News".
"Danny Graves". kffl.com.
"Twins sign Danny Graves - Page 2". Redszone.com.
"Danny Graves Rumors". MLB Trade Rumors.
https://www.mlb.com/reds/hall-of-fame/alumni/gala
[https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/03/09/here-s-who-will-lead-this-year-s-opening-day.html Here’s who will lead this year’s Opening Day parade]

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