Herald article on Jeff Allison

JUPITER -- Jeff Allison isn't sure if he'll ever be able to reclaim the velocity that evaporated from his fastball, and he's dead certain he'll never get back the five years that disappeared from his life.

But Allison is alive and pitching, and for that he considers himself fortunate.

''Every day I come to the field I have a smile on my face,'' he said. ``I'm definitely grateful to be alive, and definitely grateful to be on a baseball field.''

It has been five years since the Marlins selected Allison in the first round of the 2003 draft. With an undefeated record, a high-90s fastball and recognition as the national high school player of the year, the 18-year-old right-hander out of Peabody, Mass., was a can't-miss pitcher for the Marlins, another Josh Beckett.

One glance at his stat sheet reveals a story that took a different turn, though.

Inside the Marlins' media guide, alongside three of the years where one should find data for such things as wins and losses, strikeouts and walks, wild pitches and hit batters, and shutouts and complete games, there are instead these four words:

DID NOT PLAY -- INACTIVE.

Baseball did not exist for Allison in 2004, 2006 and 2007. His life and once-promising career was being eaten away by self-acknowledged addictions to painkillers and heroin and by run-ins with the law.

''I lost five years,'' Allison said.

FACING ADDICTION

They were five turbulent years for Allison, who nearly died of a heroin overdose and all but squandered his baseball future. He spent more time wondering how he would find his next drug fix than how he would work an opposing batter. His life was in ruins.

Until he finally confronted his problem and decided it couldn't continue.

''It was just terrible,'' he said. ``I was sick and tired of dragging my family and loved ones through the mud with me. I just wanted to live. I just wanted to live a normal life. I wanted to be an old person.''

These days, Allison, 23, is in the minors trying to salvage what remains, trying to make a comeback on and off the field. The Marlins, who have given him second and third chances, said there are no more after this.

''This is it, which anyone could understand considering how many times they've brought me back and I've screwed it up,'' Allison said. ``The opportunity that [owner] Jeffrey Loria and the Marlins have given me -- I know I'm lucky to be here.''

Allison has spent the season pitching in the low minors for the Jupiter Hammerheads, one of the Marlins' two Single A clubs. He is trying to play catch-up on a once-promising career. He tries not to think about the players the Marlins drafted in later years, pitchers like Chris Volstad and Taylor Tankersley, who beat him to the majors, while he sits and dreams.

''If I dwell on that, then what?'' Allison said. ``I'd feel bad for myself, and I'm not going to do that. I look at my past and try to better myself from it.''

But Allison does dream. How could anyone in the minors not?

Ask him to identify his goals, and he lists things that have to do with life.

''My goal is to be a man, have a family, be happy, and not be on the street doing bad things,'' he said. ``But baseball is definitely in there, obviously. I want to be in the big leagues, of course, or I wouldn't be here. The big leagues are the light at the end of the tunnel, and I can see it. I'm getting there, little by little and day by day.''

SUPPORT GROUP

Allison said he is getting there through the help of friends, from his girlfriend to his manager, Brandon Hyde.

Hyde was Allison's manager at Single A Greensboro (N.C.) in 2005, the only year before this one in which Allison pitched most of a full season. When Hyde found out Allison was back and had a chance to play under him in Jupiter, he welcomed the opportunity.

''I wanted Jeff to be on the team I was managing, and I wanted to see him pitch,'' Hyde said. ``I've been around him more than most people in the baseball world and we've gone through a lot of stuff in two years as a manager and a player.''

One of the first things Hyde noticed about Allison when he showed up at spring training was a change in personality.

''He's more mature,'' Hyde said. ``He's a man now. He's been through a lot, gone through a lot, and now he's just outstanding in every way. He's a great teammate. Players love him. And everyone wants to see him succeed.''

LOSS OF VELOCITY

Allison's fastball isn't what it was when the Marlins drafted him. He doesn't hit the high 90s anymore, instead accepting one that tips the radar gun a shade over 90.

''That's just because I haven't pitched in three years,'' Allison said. ``I've accepted the fact that I don't throw that hard right now. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it won't. I hope it does. But it's not about throwing hard, and I'm a better thinker now than a thrower.''

Allison is 7-7 with a 4.74 ERA. He was chosen to the Florida State League All-Star team. More importantly, perhaps, he has thrown 98 innings -- the most he has ever totaled in a minor-league season.

''Making the All-Star team was a big deal for me and it meant a great deal for him,'' Hyde said. ``But I could really care less what his numbers are. I care about him, and I just want to see him out there [pitching] every fifth day.''

Allison hasn't missed a start this season.

''I'm not 30 years old, so I definitely have a chance to reach the big leagues,'' Allison said. ``I've got the opportunity here, and I'm just trying to make the most of it. It's another chance at life. It's another chance at baseball. And I'm taking full advantage of it every single day.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/589/story/629490.html

Very nice story indeed. It's always a great thing when a person can turn around their life like this. Whether or not he makes it to the big leagues, he's still succeeded.