Card Corner--George "Doc" Medich

For the most part, baseball players are not heroes. (They shouldn't be role models either, but they nonetheless are, given the widespread influence they have on the younger set.) The truly heroic figures in American society are the underpaid teachers, the studious doctors, the honest police officers, and the selfless members of the military. Yet, in some cases, baseball players can double as heroes. In 1978, a handsome veteran pitcher named George Medich (shown here in that season's Topps card) earned that distinction.

Coming up as a rookie with the New York Yankees in 1972, Medich went on to post a solid career as a starting pitcher. He won 124 games for the Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Oakland A's, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Milwaukee Brewers. As if the travels and demands of major league baseball didn't sap enough of his time, Medich also kept busy by attending medical school, eventually earning his degree from the University of Pittsburgh. While all of his Topps cards list him as George Medich, his procession through the rigors of medical school prompted most baseball people to refer to him as Doc Medich.

Although the demands of the long baseball season forced Medich to split his concentration between his athletic and healing passions, he did put his medical training to good use under the most dire of circumstances. During a 1976 game between the Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies, Medich made his way into the stands at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium to perform CPR on a 74-year-old man who had suffered a heart attack. While awaiting the arrival of an ambulance, Medich performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Medich's efforts notwithstanding, the man died later in the day.

Two years later, Medich's heroic ventures paid off far more tangibly. On July 17, 1978, another man suffered a heart attack during a game at Memorial Stadium between Medich's Rangers and the hometown Baltimore Orioles. Medich once again rushed into the stands and performed CPR on the stricken 61-year-old man. An emergency medical services team soon arrived and rushed the man to a local hospital, where he received further treatment. This man recovered from the heart attack, surviving to live several more years. He likely would not have enjoyed those "extra" years if not for the quick and efficient reactions of a right-hander/doctor named George "Doc" Medich.

After his pitching days, Medich became a successful orthopedic surgeon. He opened up an orthopedic clinic in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, his story did not end up happily ever after. The onetime hero eventually ran intro trouble with the law. In 2001, the 53-year-old Medich was found guilty of illegally possessing pain killers and sentenced to nine years probation. Pleading guilty to 12 counts of possession of a controlled substance, Medich had written a dozen false prescriptions in the names of his patients so that he could obtain painkillers for himself. Explaining that Medich had struggled with drug addiction for years, his lawyer called his crime a "cry for help."

Sadly, even our heroes have their blemishes.