EXTRA A Life Lesson from

The used the sixteenth pick in the 1965 amateur draft to select Bernie Carbo, a seventeen- year-old slugger. They were so high on this multi-talented kid that they went for him ahead of future stars such as , , and (they later got Bench with the thirty-sixth pick). Young Carbo’s immense potential and talent concealed some baggage from his upbringing. His father was a brutal, abusive alcoholic, and his mother twice tried to kill herself. Angry with his father who never affirmed or supported him, Carbo started drinking and using drugs. He worked his way through the Reds’ farm system, then turned in an excellent rookie year in 1970 with Cincinnati, hitting .310 with twenty-one home runs and 113 base hits. However, his continued use of illegal substances—marijuana, crystal meth, cocaine, and a cocktail of other drugs—coupled with some bizarre behavior resulted in a trade to the St. Louis Cardinals, then to the . Carbo’s career highlight came in a game in 1975 between the Red Sox and his former team, the Cincinnati Reds. In game six, the Reds were leading 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth , about to eliminate the Red Sox. With two men on base, Carbo was called on to pinch-. Foggy from that day’s regimen of drugs, pain pills, and beer, he swung wildly at the first two pitches (Reds’ , Johnny Bench called them the worst swings in history), but then connected to a for a three- homer to knot the score at 6-6. That prolonged the “game for the ages”, as it was called, into the twelfth inning when hit a for the Red Sox victory. Carbo’s heroic feat should have left him exhilarated, but he went home feeling empty and despondent. More drugs and alcohol left him totally wasted. Carbo’s inconsistent play and erratic behavior got him traded several more times. Later, he said he could only remember one game in his twelve years in the majors when he wasn’t high on something. His baseball career was over by 1980, but the downward spiral of his personal life was accelerating. This onetime World Series hero hit rock bottom in 1989 when his father died, his mother committed suicide, and his wife divorced him. Guilt-ridden and depressed, he blew through his $125,000 of inheritance money on drugs in three months. During one Christmas he decided to end his life. His phone rang just as he was having one last beer. Bill Lee, a former teammate, was calling. He heard the despair in Carbo’s voice, talked him out of suicide and convinced him to get help. In rehab, Carbo had an anxiety attack which landed him in the hospital. The other patient in his room turned out to be a pastor who gave him a Bible and patiently explained its message. Carbo, an avowed atheist, was broken and desperate, so he listened. And read. Transferred back to rehab, he was assigned to a counselor who offered to study that new Bible with him. It wasn’t long until Bernie Carbo turned his messed- up life over to God. Today Carbo is a changed man. He has told his story of redemption to thousands of kids, teens, and young adults in schools, churches, and prisons. He and his wife Tammy formed Diamond Club Ministry, based in Alabama. Carbo lives to pass on to kids the lessons from his life—the fundamentals of baseball, the destructive danger of drugs, and the value of a life of faith. Pete Aman