First Kirby Puckett, now Jim Leyritz (pictured). Very sad for Leyritz--even sadder for the woman he crashed into while driving drunk.

Addiction expert Doug Thorburn has an interesting analysis below, taken from his monthly Thorburn Addiction Report.
Jim Leyritz, Baseball Hero, Alcoholism Enabled--and an Innocent Person Dies

Jim Leyritz, best known for hitting a key three-run homer in the 1996 World Series, drove off in his 2006 Ford Expedition at 3 a.m. after celebrating his 44th birthday in a Fort Lauderdale bar. Fredia Ann Veitch, who had just left her late-night shift at a steak house, didn't stand a chance when Leyritz ran a red light and broadsided her 2000 Mitsubishi Montero, causing it to flip. The 30-year-old single mother of two was ejected and died shortly after.

Leyritz reportedly had "red, watery eyes, a flushed face and an odor of an alcoholic beverage" and refused a Breathalyzer at the crash scene after failing several field-sobriety tests. He was tested at the station (the results for which are pending), jailed and released on $11,000 bail just hours later.

The trouble with this tragedy, like almost every other, is there were the proverbial dozens if not hundreds of incidents for which close persons or the law could have intervened, but didn't. He was known to party hard and had been divorced twice. Court papers from the latest divorce show more than $10 million in earnings over 11 years shrinking to about $600,000, and that he burned through thousands of dollars on high-priced booze, expensive nightclubs and ritzy hotels.

Of course, like any good alcoholic he blamed everyone else on the loss of wealth, including "exorbitant taxes and a shady financial advisor." If his wife and friends ever attempted to intervene, their efforts were overwhelmed by the strength of his addiction and enablers.

As have so many other alcoholic ballplayers before him, he often partied even before games. One game day, he was hung over and fell asleep by his locker. When a fellow ballplayer told him he was in the line-up, he wondered aloud how he was going to function out on the field. He ran into a teammate who gave him two little "helpers," a code word for amphetamines, and he batted 3-for-4 with two home runs. His fellow ballplayers and management could have intervened, but didn't want to--or didn't want to try too hard. He was too good.

Like many alcoholics he hung out at bars, the clientele of which included many off-duty cops. He was escorted out on countless occasions. Police tell stories about how he often "haughtily" asked them, "Don't you know who I am?" when they pulled him over for traffic violations. This simple question is an almost-certain indication of alcoholism-fueled egomania and the traffic violations are an excellent clue to a DUI, particularly at the times he was presumably cited. These cops could have intervened and popped him for a DUI, but incredibly, prior to this tragedy, there is no record of Leyritz ever having been subjected to even one sobriety check.

Some friends claimed that Leyritz chose to drive while under the influence even though he knew this was wrong. Others said he "just didn't give a damn," or that "it didn't have to happen"--all he had to do was think. Unfortunately, Leyritz has the disease of alcoholism. He can choose not to drink--but once he's under the influence, damage to the neo-cortex impairs judgment and removes the restraints on the lower brain centers, which scream at him, "You are invincible!"

He probably did "give a damn"--but only in moments of clarity while not under the influence. He could think--but while drinking, alcoholism-induced euphoric recall and egomania made him think he is god-like. Like almost every alcoholic, his family, friends, co-workers, employers and the law were given countless opportunities to draw a line in the sand regarding him ever drinking again--which is the cardinal point of Drunks, Drugs & Debits. Because they either didn't or failed, Fredia Ann Veitch's two small children lost their mother--and Jim Leyritz, former hero, will lose his freedom and stand forever as another tragic example of the results of unchecked alcoholism.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 2:12 am and is filed under Baseball/Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.