Ben Petrick

Benjamin Wayne Petrick (born April 7, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball player.

Petrick, who was born in Salem, Oregon, was a highly accomplished athlete while attending Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, Oregon. He was recruited heavily to play both football and baseball, and ended up going straight into the Colorado Rockies' farm system when they drafted him in the second round (38th overall) of the 1995 amateur entry draft. Petrick became a solid prospect, finding a great deal of success with the Rockies' AAA affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He was called up to the Rockies for the first time in 1999 and hit .323 with 4 home runs in only 62 at-bats. In 2000, he hit .322 in 52 games for the major league club. However, he soon experienced a dramatic dropoff in production, hitting only .238 in 85 games in 2001. On July 13, 2003, Petrick was acquired by the Detroit Tigers from Colorado in exchange for pitcher Adam Bernero. After an unsuccessful stint with the Tigers, Petrick was released. He attempted a brief comeback with the AAA Portland Beavers, and then retired.

In May 2004, when Petrick announced his retirement from baseball, he disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease after the 1999 season. He revealed that as time went on, it had become clear that despite the medication and treatment he was receiving, the effects of Parkinson's would no longer allow him to play baseball at a high level.

Petrick did numerous interviews and spoke publicly about his story at various events and fundraisers in order to raise awareness of Parkinson's disease. His father Vern (former athletic director at Glencoe) also suffers from Parkinson's. Ben Petrick now coaches baseball and football at Glencoe.

In 2009 Petrick had his first of two Deep Brain Stimulation surgeries. A week later he was in the hospital and nearly died from massive brain infection. A year later in 2010 he underwent the Deep Brain Stimulation again this time it was successful and he has seen some positive results and a reduction in his symptoms.

Petrick, with help from friend Scott Brown has written a book called "40,000 to One," which is a collection of short stories from his life. Ben also does some public speaking and co founded a blog site with Scott Brown called Faith In the Game.

Petrick is married to Kellie Starkey. They have two daughters together: Makena and Madison. Petrick's aunt is Connie Ballmer, wife of Microsoft CEO and billionaire Steve Ballmer.