Dmitri Young drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning, for the Nationals first win in 2007. I was optimistic about a guy who made 2006-Soriano-level money last year now working for under $1 million for us. It has to be humbling, but his connection to Bowden and the Reds brought him here:
Young restless for fresh start with Nats (
edited)
Feb. 20, 2007
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
VIERA, Fla. -- "...after the most traumatic year of his life, veteran Dmitri Young is still adjusting to his new surroundings. "Let me put it to you this way: I'm surprised to be here in 2007," says Young, seated at a picnic table, eyes shaded by designer sunglasses. Here in exile as a non-roster player, dressing at the Washington Nationals' minor league complex? "Alive." He pauses, allowing the words to soak into the still air that once was filled by cheering fans and a soaring career.
It was in November, he says, when he became so ill that his ex-wife called 911. He spent four days in a Fort Lauderdale hospital, three in the intensive care unit. The diagnosis: Diabetes. The result? "I've found out who I am as a person," he says. "You realize you've got a second chance on life. I was supposed to be dead, with where my blood sugar was at. That's what the doctors and everybody who knows about diabetes told me, with where my numbers were at. "They can't believe that I'm standing here talking about it."
...There was the strained right quadriceps that shelved him early last season. There was the domestic violence charge over a May incident with a now-former girlfriend to which he pleaded no contest. There was the leave of absence from the Detroit Tigers so he could enter an alcohol rehabilitation center in Malibu, Calif., for a month beginning in late May. There were the warm emotions when he rejoined the Tigers following that, only to watch them turn to ashes when he was released in early September. And there was the absolute agony as the team that was his life for the past five years stormed through the playoffs and advanced to the World Series while Young not only was forced to watch from the sidelines, but. ...
Well, the timing of this part of the story is almost unbelievable. As the Tigers charged into their first postseason since 1987 and the city of Detroit roared in October, Young essentially was a prisoner in his rented house in Farmington Hills as part of his punishment from the domestic abuse charge. "In October, I had to do a breathalyzer for 30 straight days before I could leave the state," Young says. "And I had clinical depression because the Tigers were in the playoffs and I wasn't realizing my dream. "I couldn't really go anywhere because people recognized me all over and would throw me a pity party. I couldn't go get milk from the store. It was a drag. It sucked. "Especially for as many things as I'd done for the city in previous years. To go out like that, especially when I'm not that kind of person ... it kind of wears on you."
Regarding the assault charge, Young, who also is going through a divorce, says he held the woman down during an argument "to keep her from hitting me. Naturally, she bruised up." For that, he eventually received 12 months' probation. That isn't up until September. Once a month, he must check in with his probation officer in Michigan. Regarding the alcohol rehab, he says, "it definitely was a positive to get away, to listen to other people's problems. You can apply those to yourself, listen to how people want to change. It helps change you." Change isn't always something most people figured Young needed. The most perplexing thing about this tangled web is that, through the years, Young mostly has been viewed as one of baseball's good guys.
Austin Kearns, an outfielder with the Nationals, was a minor league prospect in Cincinnati during the later part of Young's 1998-2001 stint with the Reds and still talks about his first major league spring training. "He told us, 'Anything you need -- bats, batting gloves, shoes -- anything you see with my number on it, feel free to take,'" Kearns says. "And he told us we didn't even need to ask."...Nationals GM Jim Bowden -- who was Cincinnati's GM when the one-time slugger was there -- is Young's sponsor. "I wasn't planning on playing baseball this year," Young says. "My agent was talking with (Bowden) about getting me here, and I basically said, 'OK, I'll do it because of Jim Bowden.'" In Detroit, where they're still not fully sure how Young's downward spiral accelerated so quickly, many are pulling for him from afar. "I think if Dmitri wants to finish his career on a high note, I respect that," Tigers hitting coach Andy Van Slyke says. "The way things worked out for him last year was not something any athlete wants to go through. The reality is, very few athletes go out on their own terms. "Speaking as a former player, when you don't go out on your terms, it takes you a long time to get over it. When you're a passionate guy, there's almost a mourning period."
...His new state? He says the kids surrounding him in Washington's minor league complex have helped bring him back to his roots and rekindled his passion for the game. He will repay them, he says, by dispensing whatever advice and wisdom he can. How to act like a big leaguer. What playing in Fenway Park is really like. "Who knows," he says. "There might be two future Hall of Famers in here." Meanwhile, he injects himself with insulin four times a day, and grabs a soft drink or -- get this -- a roll of Life Savers when his blood sugar is down. Honest to gosh, that's what he says.
Life Savers.
Source:
http://www.sportsline.com/print/mlb/story/10010336
