A Survivor

Name: Dmitri Young

Card Company: Upper Deck

Year: 2004

Team: Detroit Tigers

Bats/Throws: S/R

Ht 6'2''

Dmitri Young is someone that not a lot of people remember, even though he’s only been retired for 9 years now. And to be honest I can’t really blame anybody for not remembering him, but I remember him and that’s all that matters. You see growing up in Kansas City my hero was Mike Sweeney who played for a pretty abysmal Royals team. Now what does Mike Sweeney have to do with Dmitri Young? Easy, in 2003 they were in a commercial where they showed kids how to rob a home run, and how to make a rally cap and I loved it. Now while it might sound silly to be a fan of someone because they were in a commercial with one of your childhood heroes, to me it makes all the sense in the world. So today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite baseball players of all-time Dmitri Young.

Dmitri Young was the 1st round selection of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1991 and made it to the MLB in 1996 and got to play a full season in 1997. But that’s about all that can be said about Dmitri Young’s Cardinal career, as he failed to ever hit his stride with the Redbirds. In-fact his minor-league career with the Cardinals was more interesting than his MLB tenure with them.

The year was 1995 the date July 31st, in a Double A game against the Wichita Wranglers he punched a fan who had been heckling him in the face, earning him a 30-day suspension. The altercation was said to be caused by racism, however there seem to be some mixed reports. While I don’t condone violence in anyway, it does serve as a reminder to fans that just because you payed your money doesn’t mean you get to say whatever you want. No matter what triggered the incident, this would be something that Dmitri would have to shake something his slow start in St. Louis did not help him do.

After the 97’ season, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Jeff Brantley. However, only eight days later, he was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the expansion draft. He would never play for the Rays as he was then traded again to the Reds for Mike Kelly. Which really makes you wonder if the Reds simply used Dmitri to unload players they didn’t want. As a member of the Reds he would turn himself into a productive player hitting .304 while averaging close to 17 home runs and 74 RBI’s a year. Dmitri in Cincinnati would develop himself into a 1B corner OF combo, something that would extend his career.

After the 2001 season he was traded to the Detroit tigers for Luis Pineda and Juan Encarnacion, as a way to improve Detroit’s struggling lineup. His start in Detroit didn’t get off to the best of starts only playing in 54 games in the 2002 season hitting .284 with 7 home runs and 27 RBI’s. While the production was there, the concern was whether or not Young could stay healthy enough to warrant the trade. He would bounce back in 2003 with authority, mashing a career high 29 home runs while knocking in 85 RBI’s all while batting .297. Making his first All-Star team in the process. He was the lone bright spot for the Tigers in 2003, as they finished with the 3rd most losses of all-time by an MLB franchise with 119. In many ways, Dmitri Young was a flash a fun while the Tigers were going through a long rebuilding process, the same way Mike Sweeney was that flash for Royals fans.

However, the year the Tigers finally put it all together is when it all fell apart for Dmitri Young. In 2006, Young went through an ugly divorce, which drove him down the dark path of alcoholism, depression, and substance abuse. He then got involved in a domestic violence lawsuit, he would go through rehab, but a failure to appear led to a warrant for his arrest and 10 days later he pleaded no contest. The main cause of his problems was his addiction to alcohol, affecting his physical fitness and resulted in him missing most of the 2006 season. This would lead to his eventual release from the Tigers, and a little over a month later he was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with diabetes. Sometimes in life we all need a wake-up call, and his came in the form of him having to deal with his alcoholism and being diagnosed with diabetes. Some wake-up calls are harsher than others but in the end, it would all work out for Dmitri Young.

In 2007, he would have a bounce back year for the Washington Nationals, hitting .340 at the all-star break finishing the year at .320. This year would be his 2nd and final all-star selection, this was also proof to many that you can overcome your addictions. Young would only play one more year in the MLB, with his diabetes forcing him to retire from baseball. In his 13-year career Dmitri Young would post a career stat-line of (.292 BA) (.351 OBP) (171 HR) (683 RBI), giving him season averages of (.292 BA) (.351 OBP) (20 HR) (81 RBI).

Fun Fact: Dmitri Young after his retirement started to collect baseball cards like myself, and he along with memorabilia collector Dave Bailey amassed one of the greatest rookie card collections ever. He then sold his card collection for an estimated 2.4 million. A link to the story will be posted down below I would strongly recommend that you check it out.

Dmitri Young should be a beacon of hope for anybody out there dealing with addiction, and living proof that you don’t have to let your addictions define you. And for that reason, right there is why Dmitri Young is one of my favorite baseball players of all-time.

(Baseball Card Story) http://www.cardboardconnection.com/baseball/dmitri-young-collection-sell

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