Online Edition Monday, August 16, 2004
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'The fight of his life'By Paul Leighton Staff writer
When Jeff Allison pulled into the parking lot, the crowd moved in for a closer look. The Peabody High senior had just been picked in the first round of the 2003 draft by the Florida Marlins. He was Baseball America's high school player of the year, a 6-foot-2-inch pitcher who could throw harder than many major leaguers, a kid from a broken family who was about to sign a contract for almost $2 million. Dressed in the teenage uniform of T-shirt, basketball shorts and sneakers, Allison stepped out of the passenger side of his father's white Jeep. As he looked at the sea of faces that had assembled for his first press conference at Extra Innings in Middleton, he said to no one in particular, "What do I do now?" More than a year later, that question has taken on a much more ominous tone. Instead of firing 93-mph fastballs on his way to big league stardom, Allison, 19, is battling a drug addiction that nearly cost him his life. Last month, he overdosed on heroin in Lynn. He spent three days in the hospital, and is now living back home with his mother and sister in Peabody, and hanging out with his friends. Trying to explain how Allison's addiction came about is difficult. He won't talk. The Marlins won't talk. And many of those close to him won't put their names to their comments. But in some ways, the tragedy of Jeffrey Mathew Allison is not hard to understand. He was a cocky star athlete who some say was showered with special treatment by authority figures when he really needed discipline, in a region suffering an epidemic of OyxContin and heroin use. "I've been screaming about this kid for two years, to administrators, coaches, the athletic director, and been pretty much told to leave him alone," said Peabody High teacher Jennifer Agganis-Neville. "Do I think he got preferential treatment in high school? Absolutely." Major league talent The rise and fall of star athletes is an oft-told tale, but rarely has the descent come as fast and furious, and from such heights to such depths, as the one that has befallen Jeff Allison. Allison was a hotshot almost from the time he picked up a baseball. He mowed down Little League batters with the kind of ease that shouted stardom from the start. When he was 14, Peabody won the Babe Ruth World Series in New York. Allison was named MVP. The team was honored before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park and in a parade through downtown Peabody. By the time he was a high school senior, he was so much better than his peers that games became his personal showcase. One time against Somerville, he struck out 20 of 22 batters. Dave Caiazzo, a former scout for the Cleveland Indians and Anaheim Angels, said Allison was the best pitching prospect he had ever seen from this area. "He had the competitive nature on the mound that everybody liked," Caiazzo said. "He looked like the kind of kid you wanted in your organization. He had that aura about him that was rare." John Doldoorian, a scout for the Chicago White Sox, said simply: "He was a major league talent." Allison's mother, Noreen, was a constant presence at her son's games. Noreen Allison raised Jeff and his sister alone after separating from her husband, Bob, when Jeff was 3. Noreen Allison refused to comment for this story. But in a Salem News story in 1997, when Jeff was 12, she talked about the problems facing single mothers trying to raise sports-minded sons. "I try to tell him stuff (about sports) and he's like, 'Yeah Ma, yeah Ma,'" she said. "With moms, I think they're a little skeptical." Noreen Allison said then that her ex-husband visited every other weekend and attended as many of Jeff's games as possible. "He's remarried and has another family now. He does the best he can to come see him play," she said. Preferential treatment While Allison could do no wrong on the baseball field, his behavior in school and around town was not so exemplary. Agganis-Neville, who had Allison in math class when he was a senior, said Allison got off easily because he was a star baseball player. "Do I think other kids got harsher penalties consistently for the same things Jeff did? Yes. Am I surprised? No. Am I disappointed? Yes." Agganis-Neville, a former volleyball coach, said coaches and administrators thought they were helping Allison by keeping him eligible to play baseball. But she kept hoping somebody in authority would take a hard line before things got out of hand. "I know with a lot of athletes they say, 'Just wait until their season begins. They need the distraction.' But it just doesn't happen. The biggest word I always go by is accountability. I see it with a lot of young athletes, not just Jeff -- the lack of accountability." Agganis-Neville would not comment on what kinds of transgressions Allison committed. But there is record of one incident. In April of his junior year, police were called to the high school when a female student complained about harassment from three boys, including Allison. According to the police report, the girl said Allison threw her boyfriend against the wall and threatened to kill him if he got his friends in trouble. The girl told police she did not want to press charges. Two former Peabody High administrators offer a different portrait of Allison. Former Assistant Principal Eric Tracy said he didn't remember any incidents "of note" involving Allison. "I think that's probably what shocks everybody," Tracy said. "... He wasn't one of those guys who was always in the unit director's office, to the extent that would lead you to heavy drug use." Michael Hickey, who was Allison's unit director, said Allison was "pretty quiet" in his senior year. "He pretty much stayed out of trouble," Hickey said. "He was always very respectful. He worked hard to graduate. He never appeared to me to have any issues with drugs." Two of Allison's coaches, Ed Nizwantowski and Chris Mastrangelo, also said they saw no signs of drug use by Allison. "It's all news to me what's breaking here," said Nizwantowski, the Peabody baseball coach. "I didn't see any indication," said Mastrangelo, his high school basketball coach. "Maybe other people could, I don't know. I coached the kid for four years. I knew him since seventh grade. I love the kid. ... It kind of hits you in the heart, regardless of baseball ability or basketball ability. I just hope and pray that he can get through it." Drug problems surface Allison did not return repeated phone calls from The Salem News and would not come to the door at his home. At the house on Hourihan Street last week, Noreen Allison held up her hand to stop a reporter who approached as she sat in a beach chair in her driveway. "We need our time and our space," she said. In a TV interview earlier this year, Allison said his drug problems began in Florida, after he reported to the Marlins' rookie league team in July 2003. But according to one person close to Allison, he first took the painkiller OxyContin in Peabody when he was still in high school. A teammate gave him the pill when he complained of soreness after their final regular-season game, the source said. The date was May 31, 2003, three days before he was drafted by the Marlins. On July 4 of that year, police responded to a phone call from Allison's house on Hourihan Street. Allison told police he had been getting threatening phone calls from three people, including a "major OxyContin dealer at the high school" who claimed that Allison owed him $80. Allison told police he did not owe money to anyone. He said he was being harassed because the callers knew he was about to sign a big baseball contract. Two weeks later, on July 22, Allison finalized his contract with the Marlins in a deal that included a $1.85 million bonus. Bob Allison, who lives in Beverly, became much more visible after his son developed into one of the country's top baseball prospects. He was front-and-center for the TV cameras at the post-draft press conference and was involved in contract negotiations with the Marlins. Allison had been drafted 16th in the first round, lower than many expected for the high school player of the year. Speculation at the time was that Allison and his father were asking for too much money. But looking back now, some wonder whether teams stayed away because they knew Allison had a drug problem. Caiazzo, who scouted Allison for the Angels, said he never heard rumors of drug use. He said the Marlins would have looked closely at Allison's background before investing almost $2 million in him. "They want to know what time you go to bed at night, what time you get up in the morning. They want to know everything about the kid," Caiazzo said. Marlins officials could not be reached for comment. Death of a teammate A week after signing his contract, Allison reported to the Marlins' rookie team in Jupiter, Fla. He was now a professional baseball player. He started three games and pitched well, allowing only one run while striking out seven in nine innings. He developed tendinitis in his right shoulder and the Marlins, cautious with their star prospect, decided to end his season early. But in that short glimpse of what Allison had to offer on the pro level, the Marlins liked what they saw. "He's exactly what we were looking for," Jupiter Marlins manager Tim Cossins said at the time. "It's going to be a good ride for him and the Florida Marlins." Allison, however, never pitched another inning for the Marlins. Back in Peabody, his troubles grew. A source said a Peabody police officer caught Allison with OxyContin, but somebody intervened to prevent an arrest. Peabody Police Chief Robert Champagne said he knew nothing about it. "I don't stand for that sort of stuff," he said. "If people get in trouble, then they have to deal with it. That's sort of 1940s policing. We're not supposed to be doing that." In another incident in Peabody, Allison and a friend smashed the car window of a known OxyContin user and stole his pills, according to a source. The incident was not reported to police. Allison was due to report to spring training in Florida in February 2004, but showed up five weeks late. Rumors of drug use swirled. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Allison avoided questions about drugs. "People are saying whatever they want anyway, so do what you want," he told reporter Kevin Baxter. Allison did provide one explanation for his late arrival: He was upset over the death of one of his teammates on the Jupiter Marlins. Greg Bartlett, a 20-year-old pitcher from Phoenix, died on Oct. 1, 2003, of a methadone overdose. "He was one of my good friends," Allison told the Miami Herald. "... It was a real sad thing that happened. And I was kind of struck by that. But I didn't do anything stupid." 'Flat-lined' Allison spent only four weeks at spring training in Florida before leaving without permission in early May of this year. The team placed him on the suspended list, which means he's not being paid. After ducking the media for a month, Allison went on New England Cable News and acknowledged that he had a "problem" with OxyContin. He said he failed a drug test for marijuana and forfeited $200,000 of his signing bonus. The Marlins placed him in what he called an "intensive outpatient treatment program." He said he had been in a rehab program earlier, but that it didn't work for him. With his high school baseball coach, Nizwantowski, sitting by his side, Allison vowed to the television audience that he had kicked his problem and would return to baseball. "I'm going to prove a lot of people wrong," he said. Any pretense that Allison was on the right track was shattered on July 17, the night he overdosed in Lynn. Allison and Jimmy Leontakianakos split a bag of heroin and then both passed out in their car on Rockaway Street. When Leontakianakos woke up, Allison was having trouble breathing. Leontakianakos drove him to Union Hospital, where Allison was treated for a heroin overdose. According to one person close to Allison, he actually "flat-lined" before he was brought back to life. He was injected with Narcan, an opiate-blocking drug used to revive a person who overdoses on heroin. An epidemic Many who know Allison are worried that the near-death experience has not scared him straight. And everyone wonders how a young man with such a bright future, with the All-American dream of fame and fortune laid out before him, can throw it all away. Andrew Moskevich understands. Moskevich is another Peabody High graduate who got hooked on OxyContin. He was an honors student, class treasurer and student representative to the School Committee who ended up arrested for repeatedly stealing money from his father. He spent one month in a locked detox unit in Bridgewater and is now living on the South Shore, where he says he has been sober for seven months. Moskevich said OxyContin is so addictive that it makes no difference if it's a million dollars or one dollar waiting for you on the side of sobriety. All that matters, he said, is the next high. "I read the paper and I see so many of my friends dying," Moskevich said. "It's scary. What happens to Jeff Allison is just one example of what happens every day." Nizwantowski, the Peabody baseball coach and a teacher for 23 years, said OxyContin addiction is affecting many kids, not just star athletes. "This OxyContin is bigger than Jeff Allison," he said. "I've had more kids OD in the last two years. I just went to a wake for a 24-year-old girl I had in high school. She was the sweetest girl, articulate, good-looking. This stuff has no prejudices. It's ruining a whole generation." Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett called OxyContin and heroin addiction "the biggest threat facing our youth today." Hitting home The fact that Allison went from OxyContin to heroin is not unusual. Both are opiates with similar effects, but heroin is much cheaper -- $4 per bag as opposed to $80 per pill for OxyContin, according to Blodgett. Dealers have flooded the market with heroin in the Northeast to artificially deflate the price and hook a new generation of children, Blodgett said. The heroin is also purer than ever, allowing users to get high by snorting it rather than shooting it. Snorting heroin is more socially acceptable among middle-class teens than intravenous drug use, Blodgett said. But eventually dealers will reduce the purity of the heroin, forcing addicts to turn to needles to achieve the same high. "Once these drug dealers have decided that enough of the populace is hooked, they're going to raise the price," Blodgett said. "You'll see a rise in robberies and break-ins. The only way to stop this is to choke off the supply, and the only way to choke off the supply is to get more information to kids that this is not the way to go." The Allison story hits home with Blodgett because he lives in Peabody and coached Allison in Little League. "It shows that it cuts across the entire spectrum of our society, not only somebody who's hiding in the shadows, but somebody who has an unlimited future in front of him," Blodgett said. The story of Allison's demise has run in newspapers throughout the country as a tragic tale of yet another fallen sports star. Former addicts have called The Salem News offering to help. A Catholic nun who used to live on the North Shore said she is praying for Allison. People close to Allison are devastated by his plight, and some are upset that his problems are laid out for everyone to read in the newspaper. "I know you hear a lot of the negative, but he really is a nice kid," said Phil Mitchell, one of his former coaches. "From the bottom of my heart, I feel bad for what he's going through." Caiazzo, the former scout, said Allison is young enough that he could still succeed in baseball if he can straighten out. But right now, Allison is facing a real-life opponent tougher than any hitter. "Forget about any batter he would've faced or game he would've played," said Mastrangelo, his basketball coach. "He's in the fight of his life." Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at (978) 338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@ecnnews.com.
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