Drugs and alcohol nearly cost World Series hero Scott Spiezio everything, including his life

Scott Spiezio underwent an MRI for back pain in 2018. The results of which would seem inconsequential.

When Spiezio exited the MRI, he was yellow. He had jaundice; his liver was failing after years of battling alcoholism .

The World Series champion, who was 47 at the time, was given a 20% chance to surviving.

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Spiezio was told by doctors he had to stop drinking for six months before he could receive a liver transplant to save his life. He wasn’t sure he would be able to.

"I didn't think that I'd be able to do it. I went from a guy that never drank alcohol to thinking I don't know if I can go six months without drinking to save my own life," Spiezio said.

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Scott Spiezio’s father, Ed, was a two-time World Series champion and played Major League Baseball for nine seasons.

Scott remembered his dad telling him at a young age, "You’re going to be better than me."

"As soon as he was born I knew he was going to be a ballplayer," Scott’s mother, Verna Spiezio, said in the upcoming documentary, "Spiezio."

"I was praying for a son," Ed said.

Ed said Scott was born to be a baseball player, and he made sure that would happen.

Scott was switch-hitting at age three.

The two spent days working together, trying to achieve the goal of making it to the big leagues

Their basement was set up for Scott to do drills. Throughout his youth, every practice ended with the same situation: a 3-2 count, two outs, bases loaded, down one run, bottom of the ninth inning, Game 7 of the World Series.

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In high school, they would arrive at the gym at 6 a.m. to hit in the batting cage, work out, and then Scott would go to school.

Everything was done with the intention of making it to the big leagues.

"I think for a long time that's what my dad thought, and, I did too. That (baseball) was my purpose in life. (It) was to be a better baseball player than him and to win championships," Scott said.

And Scott did just that. Not only did he win a World Series, but he hit one of the biggest home runs in Angels’ franchise history.

In Game 6 of the 2002 World Series, the Angels were down 3-2 in the series to the San Francisco Giants. Spiezio was up in the bottom of the seventh inning with two runners on base and the Angels down 5-0, with their season hanging in the balance.

Spiezio had been practicing for a situation like this life his entire life.

Giants manager Dusty Baker brought in reliever Felix Rodriguez to retire Spiezio and neutralize the Angels’ threat. It looked like Rodriguez was going to do it, too.

He got ahead 1-2 in the count and had Spiezio on the ropes. But Scott didn’t quit. Foul ball, ball, foul ball, ball, and he worked the count full at 3-2, a count he was quite familiar with. Spiezio then turned on a fastball and deposited it into the right-field seats.

"Everything was in slow motion. I was running to first, I was watching the ball, I was literally praying, like, God, please push this out, like let this go," Spiezio said. "And then I heard the loudest noise in my life."

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Spiezio’s blast cut the lead to 5-3 and sparked an Angels comeback, as they went on to win Game 6, 6-5, and eventually won Game 7 of the World Series, bringing the Angels their first World Series title in franchise history.

The home run also made Spiezio in demand. It’s when he said his ego started to kick in.

However, "ego," to Spiezio, meant something different. For him, ego is an acronym: "edging God out."

After the World Series win in 2002, Spiezio said he began edging God out, and things took a turn for the worse.

"People tell you how great you are and you start believing. And for me, ego stood for edging God out, and I started edging him out and started believing the hype and started drifting a little bit as a person," Spiezio said.

After the World Series win, David Letterman wanted him on the Top 10 List. Jay Leno and Carson Daly wanted Spiezio on their shows. Spiezio had a band, and they were playing concerts in front of 1,500 people.

Back in his hometown of Morris, Illinois, billboards went up calling Spiezio a hometown hero. The mayor gave him a key to the city, he was honored at his high school, the town named a street after him: Scott Spiezio Drive.

Scott Spiezio was at the top of the world.

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Spiezio left the Angels after the 2003 season and signed with the Seattle Mariners on a three-year, $9 million contract.

In spring training, Spiezio was playing third base for the Mariners. As he tried to catch a popup over the pitcher’s mound, he tripped on the mound at full speed and hurt his back. Spiezio blew out his thoracic T6 and T7 discs.

Another collision for him would risk paralyzing him. It was the first serious injury Spiezio had suffered in his life, and it sent him down a troubling path.

"When I got hurt, kind of started feeling sorry for myself and drifted from God. More like, ‘Why I've done everything you wanted me to do? Why am I being punished?’ And instead of turning to him, I turned to alcohol," Spiezio said.

"They told me I might be paralyzed. I might not play again, and I got depressed, anxious and all these things that I thought people made up."

In Seattle, an unfamiliar city, and without an established friend group, and now with a serious injury, Spiezio was out of his element.

"I'm with a new team. I went out to try to fit in and I ended up drinking too much, and before you know it, that first night out turned into an everyday thing and I was on a roller coaster ride of becoming physically addicted to alcohol."

Spiezio went from someone who was hesitant to take Advil or Tylenol, to drinking every day.

Spiezio went from winning the Oakland Athletics’ Dave Stewart Community Award in 1997, to being the Angels’ Roberto Clemente nominee in 2003, to being someone wh...

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