Quite some time back; I wrote an article titled DRUGS IN SPORTS: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY (if you have not read this, please check it out) DRUGS IN SPORTS: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY. – WE LIKE SPORTZ SHOW
This article was near and dear to me as I’m a struggling addict still to this day, I have issues with relapses. I am definitely not proud of this, but I am aware that my addiction, which is a mental health concern can and does happen to many people.

Athletes are definitely no strangers to addiction as I wrote about, but I’ve been thinking of all the other mental health illnesses there are and this article is definitely a familiar one to me as well; on top of addiction I struggle daily with anxiety, depression, PTSD and even terrible bouts of loneliness to the point I did attempt to take my own life this past October.

Unlike the three part article DRUGS IN SPORTS I wrote in part 3 “The Ugly” where deaths occurred due to drugs, I’ll start this one out quick with a serious case of Mental Illness.

Marty Bergen way back in 1896 played for the Boston Beaneaters. On the field his teammates considered Bergen a gritty player and great defender. In the clubhouse he was a disaster, fought with teammates and even threated to kill some by season’s end one teammate reported. In 1899 the last year of his career, one of Bergen’s children died, this set Bergen into a downward spiral of all sorts…
Schizophrenia and manic depression is what Bergen suffered with, and at the end of a very brief career in 1900 at just 28 years old Marty Bergen murdered his remaining two children and wife with an axe and then took his own life by slashing this throat with a razor.

There have been 90 “reported” cases of suicide in baseball since 1889-2022. Six of these cases were murder-suicide.

Jimmy Piersall, “Baseball’s Psychopath”
Piersall debuted in the big leagues with Boston in 1950, it was during his first full season as a rookie in 1952 that Piersall would have fight with Yankees shortstop Billy Martin, then later that same game fought with his own teammate Mickey McDermott. its even been reported that Jimmy even spanked a teammate’s 4 year old son, this incident led to a demotion to the minor leagues.
In the minors he received a 3 game suspension, after this he entered Westborough State Hospital, Piersall spent 7 weeks in the institution receiving electroshock therapy, and was prescribed lithium to control his our of control bipolar disorder.
He was able to return to the game of baseball the following season in 1953 where some very unusual acts would still happen, Piersal once jumped over the fence in centerfield in Yankee Stadium where he had a “conversation” with Babe Ruth’s statue in Monument Park. Two other occasions of odd behavior on the field would include going up to bat with a Beatles wig on playing the “air guitar” and lastly upon hitting his 100th homerun he would then proceed to run the bases backwards. I’d say the dude was “very odd” to say the least…

Retired MLB player Drew Robison of the survives suicide attempt. Drew Robinson suffers from intense depression, Robison did actually pull the trigger literally in 2020, he took a gun to his temple and miraculously survived. Drew, however; did lose his right eye but gained a new lease on life, he’s partnered with his psychiatrist to form a foundation called ‘Better Universe’ it is designed to give everyone better access to mental health care.
Drew Robinson is still with the San Francisco Giants and is a Mental Health Advocate.

There’s just one more baseball player I’d like to talk about , those of you know me know I’m a Yankees fan, so ‘shh’ even though he’s a Red Sox player he’s one of my favorite players. Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox struggled mightily with depression and has attempted suicide. Duran was sitting on his bed one night with his rifle he said This is a story of luck and God being on his side i believe, well actually his own words from a video he stated “God didn’t let me take my own life.”
By opening up about his depression and suicide attempt he’s letting others know they’re not alone.
Finally, Duran says; “On [the tape on] my left wrist, I write, ‘[F—] ’em,’ because it’s me telling my demons, ‘You’re not going to faze me’,” “And on my right wrist, I write, ‘Still alive’ because I’m still here and I’m still fighting.”

Mainly I discussed suicide/suicide attempts due to anxiety and depression but there are several other mental health conditions that baseball players suffer from. ADHD, OCD and Body dysmorphic disorder, this condition is when someone doesn’t like their own appearance and doesn’t like themselves. Players that use steroids are people who probably have BDD – Body dysmorphic disorder.

*Tips for better mental health, practice self care, this is as simple as getting the right amount of sleep or just making sure you are taking care of your physical health like showering and eating properly. practice mindfulness, deep breathing and meditation. Seek help, therapists, counsellors, sponsors, or your pastor/priest.

Colorado Rockies clinical psychologist asked players to raise their hands if they have ever been injured physically, you know it; almost everyone would raise their hand… he then proceeded to ask a similar question “has anyone here ever dealt with mental health ‘injury’?” There was so much tension in the air, they either were being “men” and were ashamed to talk about it or literally didn’t know what would classify as a mental health related injury.
I personally can vouch for this; do not be afraid to reach out to someone even if its not a professional, I literally reached out to a stranger earlier on Facebook while writing this to take a break to talk to him about what i called the 3 ‘s’ sobriety, sponsorship and suicide. He himself wasn’t far enough along in recovery himself to offer me the sponsorship but was MORE THAN WILLING to offer me some solid advice and words of encouragement to keep going and not give up on. I was so moved by the care & compassion I received from a stranger I was crying, I’m tearing up again just knowing there are people out there who care, you just gotta reach out.

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