Willie Mays Aikens

[Bluenoser]

Quite the article - a star one day, fallen to the bottom and close to death a short time later. I can vividly remember the 80 series and cheering for Willie every AB.

ESPN - OTL: Gaps In The Road - E-ticket


Good to see that he's turned his life around, although he paid a steep price.

[kq76]

Thanks for posting about it. I saw it, but passed on it. Then I saw your post and decided to give it a read and I'm glad I did. I'm curious of what's behind the legal implication differences between the crack and powder now too.

The '80 series was a little too before my time so while I had heard his name before I knew nothing about him. It's good to see that he looks happy with his life turned around.

With his interest in computers and technology, I wonder if he's come across OOTP.

[The Professor]

Aikens's is a fascinating, and tragic, story.

The 1983 bust, when he was arrested along with teammates Willie Wilson, Jerry Martin and Vida Blue, was supposed to be just a blip. Aikens didn't know it then, that he'd soon be gone from Kansas City, then fade through two seasons in Toronto. He thought -- even during his time in the Mexican League -- that he would be back.

Going through Vida Blue's arbitration file following Bowie Kuhn's decision to forbid him from signing with any other team pending investigation of potential misdemeanors was just fascinating stuff.

Mark Liebl, the K.C. fan who supplied cocaine to those guys, recalls how Aikens really wanted the "rocks" of cocaine, and Liebl really liked him because Aikens was "so particular" about obtaining crack. Liebl also testified to the Commissioner how Blue would call him up from the Royals clubhouse just an hour before game time to have Liebl bring some crack or cocaine over for he and Aikens. Or the circumstances surrounding the time Blue supplied cocaine to Milwaukee's bat boy... (!!)

Yep. It "was the '80s" alright.

[Carlton_Willey]

What I will always remember about Willie Mays Aikens is his comments in the late 80's about his addiction, "I love drugs."

When that comment hit the media, he was the butt of jokes. Shortly afterwards his following remarks came out. He explained that was his problem, he truly loved the feeling drugs gave him, and that was the issue for him. People who had never taken drugs could never understand that people who take drugs do it because they 'love drugs,' and not because they think it makes them look cool. Knowing drugs are bad is not enough, because they are fun and make you feel better.

Anyway, I never understood addiction before he made me think about it. It is not a nice thing to think about, but his words did help me understand why all addicts need a lot of help and understanding and aren't street scum to be despised.

I wish him well, yet...

I also worry that he'll regress, despite all the upbeat words in the article. I still think of him as the young man who knows he 'loves drugs' and was not able to overcome that.