A former major leaguer once told me, "If you can't play drunk, you can't play in the big leagues."
Whenever we watch a professional baseball game, most of us understandably assume that we're watching elite athletes taking great care of themselves and their bodies. And that's true, because apparently nothing gets a baseball player ready for a game like drinking a seemingly impossible amount of alcohol at 5am that morning.
Major league baseball and partying go hand in hand, and here are 20 of its most prolific two-way players.
1
Bill Lee
Nicknamed “Space Man,” Lee was once quoted as saying, “I believed in drug testing a long time ago. All through the sixties I tested everything."
2
Lenny Dykstra
Dykstra once drove himself into a tree after a teammate’s bachelor party, and was also suspended for heavy gambling.
3
George Waddell
Nicknamed "Sousepaw," Waddell once spent his entire signing bonus on one night, routinely living up to his reputation.
4
David Wells
Wells admitted to partying until 5:30am the day before he pitched his perfect game, and claims he was likely still drunk while pitching.
5
Doc Ellis
Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. infamously pitched a no-hitter while taking LSD.
6
C.J. Abrams
The Washington Nationals suspended Abrams last year when he was photographed at a casino at 8am the day before a game, having been there all night.
7
Jason Giambi
Jason admits to enjoying parties during his playing days.
8
Sidney Ponson
Sporting multiple DUIs, Canada once deemed him unfit to enter the country, making it hard for him to pitch against the Blue Jays.
9
Jeremy Giambi
Jason’s little brother also enjoyed some fun, as was displayed in the movie Moneyball.
10
Rollie Hemsley
Here’s a newspaper article about Hemsley going a year sober. If that’s news, then you don’t want to know what things were like before.
11
Mike Cameron
Mike Cameron admitted to regularly playing drunk, and was suspended for taking stimulants to cure hangovers.
12
Ken Caminiti
Caminiti admitted to his steroid use and his hard partying. Unfortunately he passed away from a heart attack at the age of 41, after facing drug possession charges.
13
Miguel Cabrera
Despite being one of the greatest players of his generation, Cabrera wasn’t one to shy away from a drink. He’s been booked for multiple DUIs, and his wife even called the cops on him in 2009.
14
Jim Leyritz
Despite owning some iconic post season moments, Leyritz was spotted drinking heavily the night before a World Series game and once tragically killed a woman in a drunk driving accident.
15
Mickey Mantle
Known for having a good tie, Mantle once remarked, “If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.”
16
Wade Boggs
Boggs infamously drank 73 beers during a team cross country flight, and claims to have drunk up to 107 beers in a single day.
17
Pete Rose
thanks to gambling and other off the field incidents.
18
The ‘86 Mets
As one of history’s most improbable teams of destiny, the ‘86 Mets won the World Series with plenty of help from substances.
19
The ‘86 Mets Continued
Take this quote from Darryl Strawberry. "Beer was the foundation of our alcoholic lifestyle. We hauled around more Bud than the Clydesdales. The beer was just to get the party started and maybe take the edge off the speed and coke."
Other than Strawberry, the team’s notable partiers included Dwight Gooden and Keith Hernandez.
20
Babe Ruth
The one that started it all, nobody knows exactly what Ruth got up to off the field, but everyone knows he had his fun. From eating to drinking to smoking to home runs, binge is the word that comes to mind when thinking of the Babe.
