No One Is Immune – Not Even An All-Star

And society continues to misperceive…

Lary Sorensen, no longer anonymous, cannot hide from the aftermath of another alcoholic episode. One which ought to, but might not, prove beyond any doubt that he is powerless over alcohol.

“It was 3:12 on a Saturday morning, Feb. 2, when Roseville police officer Brian Dobrzycki approached a gray 1998 Ford parked on the shoulder of I-696, near I-94, a man slumped unmoving over the steering wheel.

Dobrzycki hammered on the windows and the windshield to no avail, and called emergency medical services. Moments after they arrived the man stirred, and eventually was able to unlock his door.

Dobrzycki identified him: former All-Star pitcher and Tigers announcer Lary Sorensen. He was dead drunk — nearly literally so.”

Way beyond “stewed to the gills” or “drunk as a skunk” or even “sh**-faced.”

“Tests determined his blood alcohol level to be .48 — six times higher than the .08 threshold for drunk-driving convictions in Michigan.”

So, some ask “How the heck do you rack up a .48?” They simply don’t understand, do they? This is only my opinion, based on personal experience – Lary lost the ability to say no to the next drink of alcohol and simply didn’t pass out. This is accomplished through a lot of practice!

Lary Sorensen was a major league baseball player, a pitcher and an All-Star in 1978. “In an 11-season career, Sorensen posted a 93-103 record with 569 strikeouts, 10 shutouts, and a 4.15 ERA in 346 games pitched (235 as a starter).”

“Saturday’s arrest was Sorensen’s seventh drunk-driving incident, and he still is on parole from his sixth offense.

He was sentenced to 23 months to five years in prison after driving his car, littered with empty beer cans and one still-cold, half-full one, into a ditch off a Chesterfield Township road just after midnight on Oct. 30, 2004, according to police records. His blood alcohol content that time registered .31.”

Practice… (yes, sarcasm). By using a bit of “alcoholic math,” Lary reduced his stay in prison by attending a boot camp and was released early.

“All he had to do then was report weekly to his parole officer, and keep off the booze.

Sorensen couldn’t do it — although he tried, performing community service, baring his soul in talks to East Detroit High students and at Salvation Army meetings.”

He sure isn’t alone, is he?

“According to Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan, however, a parole officer walked into Sorensen’s apartment unannounced last May, and found him drinking. A tether was placed on his leg again for another six months.

In November, records show, Sorensen admitted that he had been drinking on weekends. He was sent to an urgent, all-day relapse program, reenrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous and his parole was extended for six months.”

Which is where (at least for the writer of this piece) society shows its misunderstanding of AA. Re-enrolled?

“Now Sorensen is awaiting transport back to Jackson Prison, where the parole board will rule on his case within 45 days. The board could keep him in prison for as little as another three months, or until his original maximum sentence ends Dec. 12, 2009.

Sorensen is ‘a person who had many opportunities in life,’ said the judge who originally sentenced him to prison, Richard L. Caretti of Macomb Circuit Court. ‘He’s now thrown all those opportunities away.’”

I’d pray he’s found his bottom – he isn’t unique – right? Oh, btw judge, there is another opportunity, one called Providence.