WASHINGTON (AP) -After a year of professional, legal, medical and substance abuse problems, Dmitri Young was on the bottom rung of baseball when he arrived at spring training with the Washington Nationals in February.
All he had was a non-guaranteed minor league contract, a warning there would be “zero tolerance” if he caused any trouble and a generous dose of self-doubt. He practiced on an auxiliary field with prospects, well separated from the players on the major league roster.
On Tuesday, Young was chosen as Major League Baseball’s NL comeback player of the year, feted by his team as an inspirational clubhouse leader who flirted with the league’s batting title and earned a nice new contract.
“This puts the stamp on everything I’ve been through, and what I accomplished this year from an individual standpoint,” Young said. “And I shed some tears, I looked back, thought about my kids immediately, my parents, my brother and my sisters, all the friends who stuck with me when I was at my absolute lowest, and then the people I met along the way on my way back up.”
Young, who made the Nationals’ roster as the starting first baseman when Nick Johnson was unable to play because of an injury, finished tied for eighth in the NL in batting with a career-high .320 average. He had 13 home runs and 74 RBIs.
It was Young’s best season at the plate since hitting .302 with 21 homers and 69 RBIs for the Cincinnati Reds in 2001.
Young batted .250 with seven homers and 23 RBIs in 48 games with the Detroit Tigers in 2006 and was released with less than a month remaining in the regular season after a troublesome year that included an assault charge, treatment for alcoholism and a divorce.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Young learned he was diabetic and spent three days in intensive care in a Florida hospital.
After joining the Nationals, Young practiced with players many years younger, but they kept him motivated by peppering him with questions about the big leagues.
“I started getting that love back for the game, every single day,” said Young, who turns 34 this month. “There were days I didn’t want to get up, but those kids were depending on me – MY kids were depending on me. … I had fun again. Baseball became fun. I didn’t have fun last year.”
Once he joined the big club, Young became the type of vocal leader the rebuilding Nationals needed. As the trade deadline approached, the team opted to keep him rather than deal him, signing him to a two-year, $10 million contract extension.
“He’s certainly an inspiration for a lot of people who have made mistakes,” general manager Jim Bowden said. “He had to understand there was zero tolerance. He couldn’t make a mistake off the field. He didn’t make a mistake off the field or on the field.”
Young said he will spend the offseason working himself into shape for playing the outfield, in case Johnson returns healthy. Young also will start paying better attention to the lifestyle changes he needs to make to control his diabetes.
“I didn’t really change anything, but that’s going to change when I get home,” Young said. “When you’re diabetic you have to follow things precisely, and with our baseball schedule I didn’t follow it precisely at all.”
Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was the AL winner. The winners were selected by reporters for MLB.com.
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