Strike Out the Stigma

One of the greatest pitchers in franchise history, Cole Hamels spent 10 of his 15 professional seasons in Philadelphia, leading the team to its second World Series Championship in 2008. For his efforts as the ace of the championship team, Hamels was named the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP.

A three-time NL All-Star (2007, 2011 and 2012), "Hollywood" Hamels can be found throughout the ranks of the club’s all-time leaders, ranking third in Phillies history in strikeouts (1,844), fourth in starts (294), sixth in both innings (1,930.) and wins (114) and eighth in winning percentage (.559). Hamels’ 40.5 fWAR is the fourth-highest all-time among Phillies pitchers, only behind Hall of Famers Steve Carlton (75.0), Robin Roberts (62.6) and Grover Alexander (50.8).

Drew is entering his fourth full year under the baseball operations side of the San Francisco Giants organization assisting Dr. Shana Alexander and Dr. Emily Cheatum in the mental health & wellness department. He is in charge of creating a Peer Support Program throughout the organization to help players & staff start their own conversations regarding their mental and emotional wellbeing.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, Drew signed his first professional player contract with the Texas Rangers out of high school and went on to play parts of 12 seasons with Rangers, Cardinals and Giants while spending parts of 3 seasons at the major league level. In February of 2020, he and ESPN released an E60 documentary on his survived suicide attempt and eventual comeback to professional baseball after losing his right eye in his incident, in hopes to create awareness and end the stigma surrounding mental health. He hopes his story will help people share his passion to be vulnerable with different self-care techniques to avoid getting to the headspace he experienced that lead to his attempt.

Dr. Shana Alexander Director Mental Health & Wellness, & EAP Dr. Shana Alexander enters her sixth year with the San Francisco Giants as the Director of Mental Health & Wellness & EAP, where she is responsible for both on and off the field mental health needs and performance enhancement of players and staff.

Alexander earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and her master’s and Doctorate at Argosy University in the Bay Area, CA. She was trained as a generalist but specializes in sport and health psychology. Alexander has also worked internationally in Sydney, Australia and in many other diverse settings. She was born in Lawrence, KS but calls Northern California home.

Dr. Deanna Nobleza is Director of Mental Health for the Philadelphia Phillies. In this role, she oversees the implementation of mental health services and programming for players, coaches, and staff. Dr. Nobleza completed her medical degree and combined residency in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She was the first staff psychiatrist at Princeton University where she worked with Division I athletes. Prior to joining the Phillies, Dr. Nobleza served as assistant provost and student counseling director at Thomas Jefferson University and helped develop the COVID-19 behavioral health response for the Jefferson Enterprise.