By the end of the 1982 baseball season, Neil Allen was arguably one of the best pitchers in New York. Yes, the Yankees had Ron Guidry, Dave Righetti, and Tommy John and yes, the Mets had Craig Swan but consider what Allen had achieved in his career by that point. By the end of 1982, Allen had become a very successful closer for the team (22 saves in 1980 and 18 saves in the strike-shortened 1981 season). In 1982, Allen had pitched in 50 games, finished 42 of those, saved 19 games and compiled a 3.06 ERA.
Then, between the end of the 1982 season and the beginning of the 1983 season something happened.
The Long Island Mets Boosters held their annual Hot Stove League dinner on January 28, 1983 at the Crest Hollow Country Club and some Met players attended. The following players were at that dinner in Woodbury, New York that night: Jeff Bittiger, Tom Veryzer, Mookie Wilson, John Stearns, Ed Lynch, Rusty Staub, and Neil Allen. Greetings were made by Fred Wilpon, management expectations were presented by Frank Cashen, post-season and pre-season summaries were presented by Lou Gorman. Each of the Met players present had something to say to the audience. During all this, dinner was served and then some off-season awards and certificates were presented to business supporters, players, and staff.
The players and executives mingled with the crowd as the event began to wind down. Then, my friend, John Fitzpatrick and I ran into Neil Allen in the lobby. Allen, had experienced mixed results in 1982. He opened the season superbly, and by June 8th, was tied for the National League lead (with Bruce Sutter) with 14 saves. But then in mid-June, he experienced a bacterial infection which sidelined him for a couple of weeks. In early August, he was sidelined with an elbow strain. The Mets eventually shut him down for the season on September 18th. To get back to the story, Fitzpatrick walked up to Allen in the lobby and began talking to him. Fitzpatrick was heavily into motivational books at this time and said, “Neil, you got to remember that you are not responsible for the results. You are only responsible for the efforts.” Allen stopped and gave strong consideration to this statement and said, “You know you’re right! You’re absolutely right! I’m not responsible for the results. I’m going to follow your advice.” They shook hands, Allen left, and we went in search for more players.
The problem with this was that major league baseball is a results-driven business and his performance continued to deteriorate as the 1983 season unfolded. On April 13, 1983; Neil Allen was called into close out a game for the Mets against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the bases loaded and the Mets ahead by three runs, Allen threw a 2-1 fastball to Bo Diaz who promptly drilled it over the fence for a game winning grand slam home run. Things went from bad to worse. Finally, Allen approached club management and reported that he considered himself an alcoholic. The Mets sent him to a detox hospital in Manhattan but the chief doctor there sent him back to the Mets saying that he wasn’t. Manager, George Bamberger, put him right back into action by inserting him into the team’s starting rotation and he beat the Dodgers, 4-0 on May 20th. Then Allen lost three in a row (twice to the Giants and once to the Dodgers). After this loss to the Dodgers on June 4th, Allen’s record stood at 2-7 with two saves in 21 games.
Then, on June 15th, Cashen sent Allen and Rick Ownbey to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Keith Hernandez.
Next week, there will be a recap on the career-altering advise Fitz gave Jeff Bittiger that night.
Battling alcoholism is extremely tough, often with regressions. If Allen truly was an alcoholic, it doesn’t surprise me that a doctor in 1982 would said it wasn’t a problem. Maybe the advice didn’t help, but it’s sad to see someone asking for assistance dealing with a major life hurdle and not getting it.