It's a start:

 

Posted on Fri, May. 06, 2005

 

 

 

R E L A T E D C O N T E N T

 

AP PHOTO

BACK IN ACTION: After battling drug addiction, Jeff Allison pitched five innings Thursday.

 

 

 

 

BASEBALL

 

 

Allison makes an 'emotional' return to action

 

Marlins prospect Jeff Allison, who has struggled with drug problems and had not pitched in nearly two years, started on the comeback trail with a five-inning minor-league outing.

 

BY KEVIN BAXTER

 

kbaxter@herald.com

 

 

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Twenty-one months after throwing his last pitch and 10 months after nearly dying in a Lynn, Mass., emergency room, Jeff Allison returned to the mound Thursday, taking a big step toward rebuilding a career -- and a life -- even he figured was over.

 

''It was just an exciting feeling to be back out. Pretty emotional,'' Allison said after pitching five innings for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Marlins' Single A affiliate. ``I'm part of a team again. Playing with the guys.''

 

The Marlins' first-round selection in the 2003 amateur draft and the team's most heralded draft choice since a kid named Josh Beckett came out of Texas six years ago, Allison gave up three runs on seven hits and struck out three.

 

The 20-year-old right-hander, who was held to 69 pitches, did not walk a batter nor did he get a decision as the Grasshoppers rallied for a 7-6 victory against the visiting Delmarva Shorebirds. He will start again Tuesday.

 

Allison's fastball, which reached the high 90s in high school, topped out at 92 Thursday, but he also showed a knee-buckling curveball -- as well as some opening-night jitters, dropping the ball on the mound in the first inning and getting called for a balk.

 

Three members of the Marlins' player development staff plus Hall of Famer Tony Perez, a front office special assistant, and Dr. Jeffrey Fishbein, the organization's psychologist who has been visiting regularly with Allison, were on hand Thursday. But no one from Allison's family attended.

 

''They can come whenever they want to come,'' the pitcher said. ``It's up to them. I didn't ask them to come.''

 

DOMINANT PROSPECT

 

Allison was Baseball America's prep player of the year two years ago, after a senior season at Peabody (Mass.) High in which he went 9-0 and did not allow an earned run in 64 innings, striking out 142.

 

He was projected as a top 10 pick in that June's amateur draft. But because of questions about his signability -- he had a scholarship to the University of Arizona and his father reportedly wanted a $2.5 million bonus to pass that up -- and his character -- he was suspended from school for fighting -- he still was available when the Marlins' turn came up midway through the first round. They took him with the 16th pick, signing him for a $1.85 million bonus.

 

What the Marlins didn't know -- indeed, few scouts say they even suspected -- was that, according to friends, Allison already was well on his way to an addiction to OxyContin, a prescription opiate five times stronger than Vicodin.

 

Allison spent part of that first summer with the Marlins' rookie-league team in Jupiter but pitched just nine innings before being sidelined with what the team said was shoulder tendinitis.

 

That winter his substance abuse problem became obvious when Allison failed a drug test and wound up at halfway house in Lynn, Mass. As a result, he arrived five weeks late to spring training, denied he had a drug problem then left after less than a month.

 

Allison hit bottom in July, when he nearly died in an emergency room after a heroin overdose. It was another five months before he got back on a mound again, throwing a bullpen session back home in Massachusetts.

 

A NEW BEGINNING

 

That, he says, was a turning point.

 

''A lot was lifted off my shoulders when I threw my first bullpen,'' he said. 'Because I didn't think I would be back playing. But my start in my new life was when I first got here. I felt when I got here, it was like `OK, I'm part of a team again.' It was a great feeling.''

 

Allison, off limits to the media until after Thursday's game, did not address his drug problem directly, referring to it only as ''my situation.'' And when the questions became pointed, Greensboro manager Brandon Hyde cut them off, insisting the conversation focus on baseball.

 

In Greensboro, Allison lives in a two-room apartment with pitching coach Steve Foster, who says he keeps Allison ''under supervision'' around the clock.

 

''It's been a day-to-day thing,'' Foster said. ``It's definitely not just like any other player right now.''

 

Hyde said he watched two close friends deal with serious substance abuse problems, although he's never discussed that with Allison.

 

''I don't even want to talk about it with him. I want him to play baseball,'' Hyde said. ``I've kept it strictly baseball.''

 

Which, he added, is the way the Marlins want it.

 

''The Marlins really wanted to treat him like he's a regular player,'' he said. ``He's here to prove himself again. He's obviously a real talented kid, and you hope everything works out for the best.''

 

And not just in baseball.

 

''Life,'' Hyde said, ``is much more important.''

 

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/11576797.htm

 

 

Here's his line for the game:

 

Greensboro

Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

Allison 5.0 7 3 3 0 3 0 5.40

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/mil...cid=477&t=g_box

I think it may be more appropriate to say that he began his road back last night...

 

That said, I'm happy for him that he's come this far fighting his demons.

 

:thumbup

Now I just want the press to leave him alone! Give him some space and don't put alot of pressure on him.

The press got on Rick Ankiel about his father and the poor kid has never been the same. It's just too bad the press doesn't know when to quit.

it'll always be an issue that follows him around. Sounds like his coaches are doing a good job keeping the media at bay a little bit though. Hopefully if he keeps his mind on baseball he can keep on the road to recovery.

Allison, off limits to the media until after Thursday's game, did not address his drug problem directly, referring to it only as ''my situation.'' And when the questions became pointed, Greensboro manager Brandon Hyde cut them off, insisting the conversation focus on baseball.

 

That's the kind of support structure that will get him back on track. :thumbup

It was awesome to see him back. It's good to see that all of his teamates and coaches support him so much too. That is a key. When he went out of the game after the 5th yesterday everyone was high-fiving him and hugs were all around. He really just seemed relieved to be back on the mound. Hopefully he will stay out of trouble and maybe we will see him in a Marlin's uniform in 2-3 years.