One Mistake
A temporary lapse of judgement can last forever.
I try not to be too judgmental of others. After all, I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my past and I don’t like having them constantly thrown back in my face. But most of the bad things I’ve done only really hurt myself. Actually, that’s not true. I know I’ve inflicted plenty of hurt on those closest to me, and I’ve done my best to make amends for that whenever possible, but I never actually put anyone’s life in danger.
Except for one time. This was back in high school. A friend of mine had a party at his house. His parents were the “cool parents” I absolutely dread now that I’m a parent myself, and they were fine with a bunch of teenagers drinking in their yard and basement. We were drinking bullfrogs, which, if you’re unfamiliar, have two basic ingredients: lemonade and 190 proof alcohol. For better or worse, they taste pretty much like lemonade, which means it’s real easy to drink way too much and get extremely blitzed.
And that’s exactly what I did, which, fine, no big deal. Maybe not the best life choice, but you’re only young once. The problem came at the end of the night when I decided to get into my trusty 1981 Buick Skylark and drive home.
I lived roughly five miles away, a straight shot on the highway, so I figured I could handle it. But the truth was, I had no business being behind the wheel of car. I made it about halfway and pulled over on a dirt road just to collect myself and wake up. I have no idea how fast I was driving. I might have puked, I’m not sure. And then, like a true moron, I got back in the car and decided to finish the trip.
Luckily, the highway was dead at that time of night and I made it home without anything terrible happening. It’s the only time in my life I knew I shouldn’t have been driving and yet I did it anyway, and when I sobered up in the morning, nursing a massive hangover, I felt awful about it. Not only had I put my life at risk, but I endangered the lives of any innocent person I met on the road. Now that I have a wife and kids out there on the highways, along with numerous other people I care about, the selfishness of drunk driving makes my blood boil.
I’m not saying anyone who’s ever driven drunk is a terrible person. People make mistakes, although this is the kind of mistake that can cause catastrophic damage, and it only takes one slip-up for thing to go disastrously wrong.
Jim Leyritz can attest to that. Leyritz was a journeyman backup catcher for most of his eleven-year MLB career, but he lived out a couple of moments most kids can only dream about in their backyards. The first came in the 1995 ALDS against the Mariners, when Leyritz hit a walk-off home run in the fifteenth inning of Game 2, giving the Yankees a commanding 2-0 series lead. Unfortunately for him and the Yankees, the Mariners came back to tie the series and walk it off themselves in Game 5 with Edgar Martinez’s iconic double. But an even bigger moment was coming for Leyritz.
The Yankees returned to the World Series the following season after a decade-and-a-half long drought, and promptly fell behind the defending champion Braves two games to one. In Game 4, they trailed 6-0, and all looked bleak for fans watching back in the Bronx, until the Yankees began to chisel away at the deficit.
New York trailed by three in the top of the eighth when Leyritz stepped into to face Braves reliever Mark Wohlers. Two runners were already on, and Leyritz caught hold of one and launched a massive dinger to left field, tying the game. The Yanks won, 8-6, in ten innings, and went on to win the title in six games.
This was the birth of the Evil Empire Yankees, and Leyritz’s iconic home run will forever be a part of their lore. The Yankees went on to win four of the next five World Series, and play in six of the next eight Fall Classics. Leyritz bounced around, first to the Angels, and then put together arguably his best season in 1998, splitting time between Boston and San Diego. Ironically, that Padres team matched up against the Yankees in the 1998 World Series. Unfortunately for Leyritz, no heroics were going to make a difference in that series. The 1998 Yankees might be the best team in baseball history, and they swept the Padres with ease.
Leyritz was back in the Bronx the next season, in time to win another ring, though he didn’t have any iconic moments in that run. He was traded to the Dodgers during the 2000 season before he could earn any more hardware. He retired after the season.
Six years later, the Yankee World Series hero made the decision to drink and drive. His car struck Frieda Veitch’s car, killing her, and he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular homicide. He had a blood alcohol level of .14 and was driving on a suspended license.
In one way, Leyritz was lucky. Veitch was also drunk and not wearing a seat belt, and several years later, he was acquitted on a DUI manslaughter charge because the jury found insufficient evidence he caused the accident. He was only convicted on a misdemeanor charge of DUI, which carried a $500 fine. If this seems insultingly light to you, you’re not the only one. Hell, I was charged with a felony for getting busted with ten Vicodin, and no one got killed.
Unfortunately, I believe we’re way too lax on drunk driving in our culture. When I was in court many years ago, going through my own ordeal, there was a guy being brought up on his eighth DUI charge. Eight! And you know what he got? A thirty-day suspended sentence. That’ll teach him.
I’m not saying he or Leyritz should have been thrown in the dungeon for life or sent to work on a chain gang, but how many lives had that guy put in danger the eight different times he got behind the wheel drunk? And those are just the times he got caught. Who knows how many times he got away with it? I don’t know what became of him, but it seemed inevitable that he was going to end up in Leyritz-type of situation, and the law was doing nothing to discourage him.
Look, I don’t think Jim Leyritz is a bad guy. I don’t know him, so he may be a fantastic dude. I actually kind of liked him and the ’96 Yankees, before they got so dominant that it became boring and I couldn’t help reverting to my natural Yankee-hating state. But he messed up. And sure, he avoided the worst of the consequences, but two wrongs don’t make a right. Leyritz didn’t end up in jail, but the incident certainly took a toll on him.
As the case played out, he was admitted to the hospital for stress. ESPN reported he was suicidal, but Leyritz denied this. Less than a month later, he was arrested for battery of his wife. The charges were later dropped, but the two eventually divorced. And he settled a civil lawsuit with Veitch’s family, paying them $350,000. So I think it’s safe to say he hardly got off scot-free.
To his credit, Leyritz broke out of his downward spiral, remarried, and has moved past the accident, turning his life in a positive direction. This is good. I’m not against anyone getting a second chance, and I’m glad to see he’s making the most of it. But at the same time, there’s no denying he tarnished his World Series hero image with one dumb decision.
No kid ever dreams of doing that in the backyard.
Thanks for reading Powder Blue Nostalgia. Do you remember Leyritz’s World Series dinger? Share your thoughts on Leyritz’s career and the piece you just read in the comments below.
I have a theory I like to trot out called the "Serious/Unserious" which I'll share another time but ultimately it boils down to: You can always tell when someone is Serious about something. And culturally, we just aren't serious about Drunk Driving. The evidence, as you discuss, is how frequently people get busted, and, just kinda move on. And even the feeling deep down that you had that night, and maybe I've had a couple times in my life, where "maybe this choice isn't great, but it's not THAT bad." And this isn't universal across cultures, so we know it can be different. Really glad to see you here talking about it.