Willie Mays Aikens once had a promising major
league baseball career that came to a premature end in 1985 because of his personal
demons. Although his problems robbed him of his career and led to serving a
14-year prison sentence, he pushed through and is finally back on track after a
detour that lasted more than two decades.
Aikens grew up in difficult circumstances
in South Carolina. He attended South Carolina State University, but when the
school dropped its baseball program after his freshman year, he wound up
playing semi-pro ball. His talent saw him through, and in 1975 the California
Angels made him the second overall selection in that year’s draft.
A left-handed hitting and right-handed
throwing first baseman, Aikens made his MLB debut in 1977 and went on to have
an eight-year major league career with the Angels, Kansas City Royals and
Toronto Blue Jays. He hit a combined .271 in 774 career games with 110 home
runs and 415 RBI. His best season
came in 1983, when he hit .302 with 23 home runs and 72 RBI for the Royals.
Aikens was also the star of the 1980 World
Series, hitting .400 with four home runs in a six-game loss to the Philadelphia
Phillies.
Despite the great numbers, 1983 ended
horribly for Aikens. Following the season, he and teammates Jerry Martin and
Willie Wilson pled guilty to attempting to buy cocaine, and were sentenced to
three months in prison.
Aikens never played for the Royals again.
Following his incarceration, he was traded to the Blue Jays and spent parts of
two seasons there before finishing his playing career with six excellent
seasons in the Mexican League.
In addition to his legal problems, Aikens
developed a self-confessed daily cocaine addiction and was an unrepentant
womanizer. By 1994, his life was out of control and he wound up being arrested
for selling 2.2 ounces of crack cocaine to an undercover police officer in his
home in Kansas City, Missouri.
Because of the tougher federal sentencing
guidelines for crack at the time, Aikens was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted on four charges related to
distribution. He received just over 15 years on the drug charges and had an
additional five years tacked on to his sentence because of having a loaded gun
in the room where the drugs were sold to the officer.
Many lesser men would have spiraled even
further down following such a blow, but Aikens saw a chance to change his life.
He got himself clean for the first time in years and was able to reflect on the
wrong turns that had landed him in a federal penitentiary.
In 2008, after serving 14 years of his
sentence, Aikens was released from prison. Hal McRae, a former teammate, helped
him find a construction job, but before long bigger and better opportunities
presented themselves.
In recent years, Aikens has become an
inspirational speaker, telling crowds of his travails. He was also hired as a minor league instructor by his former team, the Royals.
And of course, there is the book.
Last year, Gregory Jordan wrote Willie Mays Aikens: Safe at Home. It has
been described as a starkly honest account of Aikens’ life, including openly
discussing his most painful experiences.
Recently, Aikens and Jordan were guests of
Williams College to discuss their book and take
questions. Aikens’ journey is truly remarkable and one that any fan of baseball
or a comeback story should explore.
For more information on obtaining an
autographed copy of the book you can contact Aikens via Twitter or email him at aikenswillie24@yahoo.com.
Aikens stands out as a memorable figure in a
sport that is littered with captivating storylines. It’s great to see the
success he has achieved and hopefully his book will be a springboard to even
bigger and better things.
Willie
Aikens Interview:
As
you neared your release from incarceration, what plans did you have in place
about what you were going to do with your life on the outside?: My original release
date was May of 2012, so when I was released in June of 2008, it came as a
total shock to me. I had already started to communicate with Gregory Jordan,
who is the author of my book. I had plans to finish my book with Gregory and
hopefully find a publisher. I had made plans to marry Sara, who was the mother
of my second-oldest daughter. I truly wanted to get back into baseball in some
kind of way. I wanted a better relationship with my daughters. I wanted to
experience a spiritual life away from prison, where more temptations were at. I
wanted to do speaking engagements and share my testimony to help other. By the
grace of God, all these plans I had before I left prison are realities now.
Praise God.
How
difficult was it for you to have your whole life laid out in a book- warts and
all?: It
was very difficult at first. I had to be honest about things that happened in
my life. I had to be honest talking about my family. Some of the things I said
about my mother were truly painful. My daughters didn't want me to write about
them in my book. Neither one has read my book to date. They didn't want to read
about how they treated their father. I had to be honest about things I did, being
a dead-beat dad. Making bad decisions that made me lose years being separated
from my daughters. Going back over my baseball career and seeing how my
baseball career was cut short because of stupid choices I made. As time has
passed, things have gotten better.
What
has the response to your book been like so far?: Most people that have read my book have enjoyed it. I
get comments all the time from people that have read my book and have gone
through problems like mine. Some are still facing those problems and my book
has given them the confidence that they can overcome those problems. Hopefully
a movie will be made one day. The responses have been positive and uplifting.
What
do you miss the most from playing professional baseball?:
Being in the spotlight and having plenty
of money. I really don't miss all the female companions and all the drinking
and drugging I used to do. I know these are material things, but that is what I
enjoyed most about being a professional baseball player. Also, my relationship
with all my teammates, and just being with a great bunch of guys on a daily
basis. That lifestyle would have been better with a spiritual life, but it
didn't happen that way. I do miss those things, but as time goes by, we adjust
to getting older. Just being back in baseball now and coaching the young
players is a tremendous blessing for me. Being a part of baseball and doing
something I enjoy is the place where I want to be.
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