Jeff Allison claims he's kicked his addiction to Oxycontin and has discussed his return to professional baseball next spring with the Marlins. According to the Herald they're ammenable to giving the kid a shot.

 

If it's true I'm very happy to hear the kid has faced his demons and won the battle. Let's hope his personal success can translate into a meaningful professional career.

 

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Amen!

I hope this bastard has his stuff together so he can contribute to this team in the future.

I hope he's not BSing us just to get the money.

 

But if it's true, then good for him; although it won't be easy staying off the s*** with all the rampant substance use -- and half-assed efforts to stop it --- afflicting the MLB right now.

Here's the article from the (Massachusetts) Salem News:

 

After struggle with drugs, Jeff Allison says he's ready to pitch again

By Bill Kipouras

Staff writer

 

 

PEABODY ? Jeff Allison says he is ready to pitch again.

 

In his first interview since nearly dying from a heroin overdose in July, the 20-year-old Florida Marlins' prospect from Peabody said yesterday he expects to report for spring training in Jupiter, Fla. in late February.

 

"I talked with the club a month ago and they said I'm welcome (back). I definitely intend to be there," Allison said in a 15-minute phone interview from his home that he shares with his mother and his sister.

 

Allison, Florida's No. 1 choice in 2003 baseball draft and the former national high school player of the year, has not pitched since unexpectedly leaving spring training in March. He now says he feels mentally and physically ready to make his pro baseball comeback.

 

He said he has been running two miles daily around his Hourihan Street neighborhood in Peabody, and has been throwing for a couple of weeks at Extra Innings, a batting and pitching facility in Middleton.

 

"I'm feeling good, I really am," he said. "I've been in contact with the team, the scouting director and the GM.

 

"My velocity is good. My strength and speed haven't changed at all. I look the same, I feel the same, and throw the same. I'm about 205 (pounds) now."

 

The 6-foot-2 right-hander said he's scheduled to be evaluated by Marlins' team physician Jeff Fishbein in the near future, either in Massachusetts or Florida. Allison said Fishbein will have to give his approval for him to return to the Marlins.

 

The former Peabody High All-American left the Marlins' 2004 spring training camp without permission two months after it started. He was then placed on the team's restricted list without pay. He had signed with the Marlins for a $1.85 million bonus but only received one-third of that after his problems surfaced.

 

Club officials have repeatedly declined to comment on Allison's status with the club or to acknowledge he had a self-admitted problem with the pain-killing drug OxyContin, an opiate similar to heroin.

 

A Marlins spokesman said again yesterday that the club would have no comment on Allison.

 

Allison admitted during a television interview in May that he had a "problem" with OxyContin. He also said he had failed a drug test for marijuana and was fined $200,000 by the Marlins, prompting his departure from camp in May. He said he was trying to kick his habit and was going to "prove a lot of people wrong."

 

But two months later, on July 17, he nearly died of a heroin overdose in Lynn and spent the weekend in Union Hospital in that city.

 

Since that time, Allison has remained out of the public eye while staying in Peabody.

 

"I was giving myself the right amount of time to get past things," he said. "I still haven't forgotten what happened over the past year with all that stuff, and I'm kind of motivated to move on and go forward. I feel this was the right time to do it. I'm doing well right now.

 

"The only thing to do is move on and look ahead," Allison said.

 

But Allison would not comment on his drug use or whether he has undergone treatment.

 

"It was kind of a bad dream, something I don't want to talk about or even think about," he said.

 

"I do know this: I didn't want to look back some day and regret anything, like it could have been that or could have been this. I just want to return and work hard."

 

The staff at Extra Innings said they're rooting for Allison to conquer his addictions.

 

"We're thrilled to see he's going in the right direction," said Joe Luis, one of the owners at Extra Innings.

 

Co-owner Rob Nash said that physically, Allison looks fantastic.

 

"I just hope he sticks with what he's doing now and he can beat this demon," Nash said. "They said it's one day at a time, and we're here to support him.

 

"I'm sure he's nervous about coming back after all he's gone through. He might feel he's disappointed a lot of people and wants to make amends. Perhaps he's feeling he's taken on the burden of the whole community, that he feels he's let down a lot of people, most importantly himself."

 

Peter Feeley, the manager at Extra Innings, said Allison is showing a commitment.

 

"It's nice to see him so upbeat with his old personality," Feeley said. "He still has that good velocity. He's definitely on the right track."

 

Kevin Baxter, the baseball writer for the Miami Herald, which covers the Marlins, speculated that if Allison had stayed in the team's minor league system that he would have pitched for the major league club during the September pennant race.

 

The Marlins were forced to play 30 games in 27 days in September after several games were postponed due to major hurricanes. Florida called up Logan Kensing, who was drafted as their second pick behind Allison, from Class A ball to pitch during that time.

 

"There's no question Jeffrey would have been called up to pitch a game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field while the wild card race was still on," Baxter said.

I think that the most telling thing about that article is that he was willing to admit all he did to his home-town paper. I know it's not a huge deal, but talking like that to the Sun-Sentinel or The Herald doesn't mean as much personally as it does talking to the hometown paper.

 

I'm really guardedly optomistic that he may be able to put himself together.

 

Could you imagine Beckett, Burnett, Willis, Olsen and Allison as our 2006 rotation?

 

 

 

And, BTW, I think the fact that he may have found himself makes our need for Leiter much greater...no reason to try to lock up a young guy if we can get the veteran for cheaper and less time.

It's a win-win situation for us if he is ready to go to Spring Training.

"There's no question Jeffrey would have been called up to pitch a game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field while the wild card race was still on," Baxter said.

I don't agree with that.

"There's no question Jeffrey would have been called up to pitch a game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field while the wild card race was still on," Baxter said.

I don't agree with that.

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I think he means in the context of had Allison not had to leave twice, and Messenger still had dead arm; not if Allsion simply had stayed through this year. Remember, he was pitching in our system almost immediately after we signed him, and he did put up solid numbers when he started out...it's only natural to assume that under "normal progression" (which is hardly what Jeff went through) he'd have been ready to at least be thought of as a September call-up, and he certainly would be more appealing than Logan Kensing in the same situation.

 

I mean, wouldn't it make more sense that when dealing with two pitchers from the same draft, you'd predict that the one drafted higher would be further along at the same point of development?

Its good to hear that this kid is turning his life around. I wish him well with his baseball career, hopefully with our Marls.

"There's no question Jeffrey would have been called up to pitch a game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field while the wild card race was still on," Baxter said.

I don't agree with that.

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I think he means in the context of had Allison not had to leave twice, and Messenger still had dead arm; not if Allsion simply had stayed through this year. Remember, he was pitching in our system almost immediately after we signed him, and he did put up solid numbers when he started out...it's only natural to assume that under "normal progression" (which is hardly what Jeff went through) he'd have been ready to at least be thought of as a September call-up, and he certainly would be more appealing than Logan Kensing in the same situation.

 

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First of all, Allison has pitched a grand total of 9 innings in our system.

 

I mean, wouldn't it make more sense that when dealing with two pitchers from the same draft, you'd predict that the one drafted higher would be further along at the same point of development?

 

 

Kensing went to college. He's way more advanced than Allison is or would have been. Allison would've been playing at Greensboro last year, had all this s*** not happened. No doubt Allison has much more talent than Kensing, but he's very raw. If he ever does make it to the big leagues, it won't be for at least another 3 or 4 years.

"There's no question Jeffrey would have been called up to pitch a game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field while the wild card race was still on," Baxter said.

I don't agree with that.

617138[/snapback]

 

I think he means in the context of had Allison not had to leave twice, and Messenger still had dead arm; not if Allsion simply had stayed through this year. Remember, he was pitching in our system almost immediately after we signed him, and he did put up solid numbers when he started out...it's only natural to assume that under "normal progression" (which is hardly what Jeff went through) he'd have been ready to at least be thought of as a September call-up, and he certainly would be more appealing than Logan Kensing in the same situation.

 

617148[/snapback]

First of all, Allison has pitched a grand total of 9 innings in our system.

 

I mean, wouldn't it make more sense that when dealing with two pitchers from the same draft, you'd predict that the one drafted higher would be further along at the same point of development?

 

 

Kensing went to college. He's way more advanced than Allison is or would have been. Allison would've been playing at Greensboro last year, had all this s*** not happened. No doubt Allison has much more talent than Kensing, but he's very raw. If he ever does make it to the big leagues, it won't be for at least another 3 or 4 years.

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We're splitting hairs over something inane, but I think that Allison would have been better than Kensing with a full minor league season under his belt. Sure, you could make the argument that Kensing is more prepared because he went to Texas A&M, while Allison just came out of high-school, but calling Allison "raw" isn't exactly fair if you're juxtaposing him with Kensing...neither are exactly "ready."

 

Besides, I don't think anyone said that Allison was going to do well when he was called up, just that he was going to be the one to be called up. No one was predicting no hitters or 8 innings, just being the one to get the ball to start the game.

Very good news for Jeff.

 

I wish him all the best, and believe the Marlins are doing the right thing to stand behind him and give him another chance.

it's going to take a lot more work from the kid, hopefully he can stay with it & has a good support system around him.

 

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