THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST-READ.

Don't even read the comments here...just read the piece.

Just fantastic.

I don't know what awards can be given for such articles, but this should receive one. Just amazing.

RTFA!!!!

When I get some free time (yeah, right,) I've thought about writing a piece called "Winning Isn’t Everything." The 1986 Mets may have been a great team, but look what happened to them. Doc and Straw had drug and legal problems. Wally Backman had some troubles. Davey Johnson lost his daughter. Dykstra is in jail and Gary Carter died young. But the saddest story may be Bobby Ojeda. He was the sole survivor of the boat crash that killed Olin and Crews. That’s gotta suck. IIRC, like many folks, he probably felt guilty about surviving.

That really was an extraordinary thing to read.

the saddest story may be Bobby Ojeda. He was the sole survivor of the boat crash that killed Olin and Crews. That’s gotta suck. IIRC, like many folks, he probably felt guilty about surviving.

Yes. At one point, Ojeda disappeared and even his family didn't know where he was or how to locate him. When he reemerged, he said he'd been in Amsterdam, and that he spent a lot of the time looking out his hotel room window considering whether or not to jump.

Fantastic piece.

That was a great read.

IIRC, during his comeback with the 1993 Indians there was a lot of public concern about his mental and emotional state, even as he returned to the mound. That's when you know it's bad - you almost never hear people in and around ballclubs speak about their teammates' mental health issues. Even less so 20 years ago.

When I get some free time (yeah, right,) I've thought about writing a piece called "Winning Isn’t Everything." The 1986 Mets may have been a great team, but look what happened to them. Doc and Straw had drug and legal problems. Wally Backman had some troubles. Davey Johnson lost his daughter. Dykstra is in jail and Gary Carter died young. But the saddest story may be Bobby Ojeda. He was the sole survivor of the boat crash that killed Olin and Crews. That’s gotta suck. IIRC, like many folks, he probably felt guilty about surviving.

Worst of all, Roger McDowell became a Brave.

Awesome.

Kudos to Ojeda for his honesty. It's firsthand stuff like this that helps us understand a player's era.

Tremendous. Not much else to say. If you haven't read all 6 pages of the article yet, what the hell are you doing reading my comment ?

I will throw one stat thing out there....His comment about the wins stopped coming in 1988 struck me. That season always stood out to me as incredibly unlucky. It was really his best regular season. He lead the league in SO/BB ratio, just 33 walks and 133 K's,and gave up only 6 HR in 190 innings. He also had a career low H/9. Those were career bests for all of K/9, HR/9, SO/BB and H/9. He also tossed 5 shutouts.

But 17 times the team scored 2 runs or less for him and his run support was 3.04. So he finished 10-13 before slicing off his finger.

By the way, look at the picture in the article, check out how long he is hiding the ball.

If you've gotten this far in the comments you're dumber than Tommy Lasorda, read this piece.

I read the excerpt and then I read the thread. I just got thrown out of another bar, so I'm bookmarking this for when I can read it right.

channeling the 86 Mets I see

Yeah. Read the essay. It's 6 pages, but absolutely, completely worth it. - Brock Hanke

I just got thrown out of another bar, so I'm bookmarking this for when I can read it right.

Don't end up in a roadside ditch.

After reading this, I'm left marveling at how little faith there must have been in any treatment options. The only thing he ever considered were palliatives, including the beer and cigarettes he chose instead of a simple x-ray. Ojeda in particular seems to have held on to this kind of machismo mindset, and it seems to have been an important part of his mental makeup as an athlete.

My guess is that this is mostly a thing of the past.

There's a story in there about Ojeda's rookie year, when the Red Sox sent him back to Pawtucket. He found out when the traveling secretary called him and told him when his flight out was. The manager hadn't said a word about it to Ojeda, which disgusts the traveling secretary.

Ojeda doesn't name him, but that manager was Don Zimmer.

Maybe Zimmer was busy preparing for hibernation

Spectacular article, without flaming any of his fellow players.

Tremendous, tremendous piece. I seem to recall that the SI piece about the boating accident he was involved in was an amazing piece of journalism as well (obviously not written by him).

I seem to recall that the SI piece about the boating accident he was involved in was an amazing piece of journalism as well (obviously not written by him).

Chilling stuff.