New Hall of Famers Talk About Addiction Struggles January 12, 2004
News Summary
Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor, elected last week to the Baseball Hall of Fame, talked freely about how they dealt with their alcohol and other drug addictions, the New York Times reported Jan. 8.During the 1980s, Eckersley was battling alcoholism, while Molitor had begun using cocaine. Eckersely entered alcohol rehabilitation following the 1986 baseball season.
"That off-season of '86, it was like, 'Thank God.' You've got to be desperate before you do anything about it anyway. I can't get around that. I hate to talk about it, but guess what? That's part of my story. It's who I am," said Eckersley.
The following season, he joined the Oakland Athletics and became one of the most dominant closers of his time.
Molitor said he began experimenting with cocaine and marijuana a few years after being signed by the Milwaukee Brewers at age 21. He said he stopped using the drugs before they became a serious problem.
"Everyone's got their own things that they battle at some point along the line," Molitor said. "Some are bigger than others, some are more public than others. But we all have a choice in how we deal with those things. I've learned a lot of lessons."
Both Molitor and Eckersley dismissed comments made by Pete Rose in which he compared his gambling addiction with the addiction problems they faced. In his recently released book, Rose wrote that, "Baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts."
"Why didn't he get help?" Eckersley questioned. "There's help for that stuff, isn't there?"
Molitor added, "Baseball's concern is integrity. There are some differences there in terms of those things. It's very clear what the penalties are for gambling on baseball. The penalties for the other things aren't as clear."
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