The Rise and Fall of Scott Spiezio

35-year-old journeyman utility man Scott Spiezio was cut by the St. Louis Cardinals on February 27th after police issued a six-count warrant for his arrest following a December car crash.

Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak and the rest of the St. Louis organization wished him the best, releasing a statement saying, "We hope Scott will continue to seek appropriate help and wish him the best in baseball, but more importantly in life."

With so much talk of World Series favorites, spring training, and Opening Day less than three weeks away, Spiezio's plight has been relegated to blurbs in baseball sidebar columns and hidden like an easter egg on MLB.com.

He will probably be remembered for the hard rock lifestyle that led to a physical breakdown during an August 2007 game against the Padres last season, the car crash last December that led to the warrant for his arrest, and his tumultuous battle with substance abuse.

But a look into Spiezio's professional career reveals more than a drug-addicted, marginal player. It tells the story of a gifted athlete who was one of the most talented and well-rounded players in the game today.

Scott Spiezio went to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he made the All-Big 10 Team in baseball in 1992 and 1993. By three years into his major league career, Spiezio, a switch-hitter, had played every position in baseball except for catcher, shortstop, and center field. He'd even taken the mound as a relief pitcher, pitching one inning in a regular season contest in against the Athletics giving up one walk, no hits, and no runs. His fastball was clocked as fast as 87 mph.

In Game 6 of the 2002 World Series, as a member of the Anaheim Angels and with Anaheim trailing 5-0 in the seventh inning of the game, and facing a Series loss, Spiezio hit a three-run homer off of Giants pitcher Felix Rodriguez to pull his team to within two runs and catapult the Angels to a Game 6 win. The Angels ended up winning Game 7 and the 2002 World Series.

In the same year with the Angels, he tied Sandy Alomar, Jr.'s postseason RBI record set in 1997 with 19 RBIs.

He would spark yet another team's postseason fortunes just four years later as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. With the Cardinals trailing 6-4 in the seventh inning of Game Two of the 2006 National League Championship Series, Spiezio hit a two-run triple to tie the score. The Cardinals went on to win the game and then the series in seven games. They then proceeded to win the 2006 World Series, earning Spiezio his second championship ring.

And yet, when the name "Scott Spiezio" is mentioned years from now, people won't remember his postseason play with the Angels and Cardinals. They won't remember that he's one of only a handful of players who can play seven different professional baseball players.

They'll think of a vaguely-detailed police report that said how on December 30th, officers found a 2004 BMW registered to Spiezio had crashed into a curb and fence. They'll think of how decades of a delicate balancing act between Spiezio's off-the-field struggles and on-the-field potential came crashing down around him.