Dave Peterson - Worcester Bravehearts General Manager

Dave Peterson is known to many baseball fans throughout Central Massachusetts simply as "Peterman." What many don't know is that the General Manager of the Worcester Bravehearts was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2008 at the age of 29.

Dave received the Worcester Business Journal's "40 Under Forty" award in 2011 and was twice named the Futures Collegiate Baseball League Executive of the Year.  His Bravehearts teams won league championships in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.

For six years, he co-chaired the American Diabetes Association's Central Massachusetts Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes when it was held at UMass Chan Medical School before the ADA merged the event with Boston.  He helped with the committee’s public relations, advocacy and fundraising efforts.

In the following video from a corporate breakfast in Worcester, Dave describes the symptoms that led to his diagnosis during the summer of 2008 when he was working as the on-field announcer for Worcester Tornadoes baseball games.  He was finally admitted to the hospital with a blood sugar of 760!

During his stay at UMass Memorial, Peterman received a crash course in his "new normal."  While he admits diabetes requires lots of daily effort to keep blood glucose within a healthy range, he also refuses to allow it to get in the way of his personal and professional success.  In the video he compares managing diabetes to balancing on a basketball.  

"Peterman" has been using an insulin pump for ten years, which has effectively lowered his A1C.  He incorporates diabetes management into his busy life and sometimes stressful work of running the baseball team.    

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