Josh Peter of USA Today profiles former Yankee, Diamondbacks, and A’s southpaw Brad Halsey, whose corpse was found at the base of a Texas cliff some six weeks ago. He was 33 years old. Although the local police department has yet not ruled on a cause of death, it appears likely that suicide was the culprit.
It’s hardly an uplifting story but still worth reading all the way through:
Public records and interviews with former coaches, teammates and friends show Halsey was quiet, private, quirky, smart and witty. But his behavior changed as he tried to hang on to a fading baseball career and fell victim to prescription and recreational drug abuse.
Less than four months ago, police found Halsey walking chest-deep in the nearby Comal River and identifying himself as Lucifer. Officers had responded to a call about a man who fit Halsey’s description throwing rocks at people floating by on inner tubes and talking to people no one else could see.
Halsey said he was prepared to fight “Mitch,” but witnesses said they saw no other man. After Halsey exited the river and turned unruly, police put him in shackles and drove him to an area hospital for evaluation. The police report noted Halsey had mental problems due to drug use.
A few months earlier, according to two men who spent time with the former pitcher in the last months of his life, Halsey told them he had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The men also said Halsey made an outrageous statement, claiming he was on cocaine and other drugs when he gave up Bonds’ historic home run and had spent much of the $1 million he made during his baseball career on drugs.
“He always seemed like he was running from something,” said James Pankey, an instructional coach in the San Antonio area who along with an acquaintance, Tripp Deason, detailed Halsey’s alleged disclosures.
Halsey’s mother said the psychiatric diagnoses were “not accurate” but offered no further comment. Former teammates, including Jason Kendall, the A’s catcher when Bonds hit the home run, said they saw no evidence Halsey used drugs.
More here.