Through it all, he never lost the faith he first discovered in Amarillo. Amazingly, Dravecky's faith only seemed to grow stronger. You can see why Wheeler is regarded as one of the primary influential religious leaders in the Amarillo community for three decades. Dravecky may have lost his arm, but his faith was stronger than ever. It started when Dravecky met Wheeler through Byron Ballard, a Gold Sox teammate, and his faith took off from there.
Baseball is crazy.
We didn't have much time, but we went whenever we could. The Draveckys were baptized on Aug. 27, 1981. I think if there was anything that stood out in my relationship with Roy, and Jan too as well, was that he was so approachable. Obviously we looked up to him and admired him and respected him for who he was and the position that God had given him. He is a very special person in my life and someone that I will never forget.