R.I.P Bob Sebra

Former Expos pitcher dies after being in ICU 362 days

July 22, 2020

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

So sad to report that former Expos pitcher Bob Sebra died today, July 22, after spending almost a full year in ICU at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

A brave, courageous Sebra had been cooped up in hospital since July 24, 2019, suffering from various organ problems. He pitched for the Expos in 1986-87.

Sebra, 58, underwent two multi-visceral transplants in 2019 and both failed.

"He's a fighter,'' Sebra's son Ryan said in an interview earlier this week. "He's not doing good at the moment. He's on very high ventilator settings and needs a kidney transplant now.

"The first multi-visceral transplant did not go good and the pancreas failed. So he had to have another multi-visceral transplant. He's been fighting infections and has had dozens and dozens of surgeries since then.''

It sounds very ugly but a multi-visceral transplant involves the liver, pancreas, spleen, stomach and the small and large intestines.

As he prepared to go under the knife for his first of two multi-visceral transplants, Sebra said in an interview that the operation would be a 16-hour procedure.

"It's the most complicated surgery known to man,'' Sebra said.

Sebra had a liver transplant in 2012 when he contracted Hepatitis C, which he blamed on sharing razors with teammates and anti-inflammatory medications which destroyed his liver. Shortly before he had the liver transplant, he had to be revived twice by medical officials.

Although Sebra was never an alcoholic and hasn't drank for many years, a doctor told him when the pitcher was 26 that his liver looked like he was an alcoholic.

Sebra's hospital bill would have been sky-high, although his son says his mother's insurance covered part of the expenses. Ryan Sebra, who calls himself his father's "proxy'', said he asked the the Bat Assistance Team (B.A.T.) "many months ago'' for assistance but he was turned down. B.A.T. said there would be no help rendered "until he is more stable.''

B.A.T. was formed in 1986 by a group of former MLB players to help members of the "baseball family who were in need of assistance with nowhere else to turn.''

Even though he was 6-15 with the Expos in 1987 when they almost won the NL East title, it was actually a satisfying season for him because it was the only full campaign he enjoyed in the majors. He threw 177 1/3 innings and struck out 156, many of them with a spellbinding curveball. He lost a 1-0 game to a young Greg Maddux, who hurled his first shutout.

"He threw a yellow hammer,'' 1986-87 teammate Bryn Smith said a few days ago about Sebra. "That's what we called a wicked curveball. Not sure where the term yellow hammer originated.

"I remember throwing bullpens side by side in spring training. He had all these different pitches and I had to stop and ask, 'How many pitches do you have?' He said seven. I said the catcher doesn't have enough fingers to call all seven. You need to find three that you can throw for strikes.''

Sebra also threw the yellow hammer for the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

Sebra was born in Ridgewood, N.J. but lived for many years in Ormond Beach, Fla.