#140 Ron LeFlore
When most people think of Ron LeFlore, they think of a feel good story. He was discovered while playing baseball in prison, and became an All-Star outfielder known for his speed. It was such a good story, that a movie was made of his rags to riches career in 1978, called One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story.
The feel good story kept going, and from his debut on August 1, 1974 on through the 1981 season, he stole 427 bases—more bases than any other player during that span. The 1980 Sports Illustrated article “A Leg Up On The League Lead” said “LeFlore usually makes the whole team go”.
He started the 1982 season hot; Through May 18, he was hitting .338/.373/.486, with 14 steals, helping the team to a 23-12 start. The White Sox were just a 1/2 game out of first. He’d scored 28 runs in 33 games played.
Then something changed, and his feel good story starts crashing down hard and fast. From May 18-July 17, he’s only got a .295 OBP, and his BAbip fell from .446 earlier in the year to .327. If their igniter can’t get on base, the team can’t score. This affected the team’s offense terribly, as the team went 22-29 during the two month span. Interestingly, they went 7-7 when Ron wasn’t in the lineup.
The next day, Ron got suspended for 3 games, for missing a special team practice and showing up for the July 18th game just minutes before it started. That didn’t seem to teach him much though, as he was late for the team flight to Detroit later on.
This is a behavior pattern that got fined a lot by Sparky Anderson in Detroit, and annoyed the Expos too. So it’s not really surprising it would get on the nerves of a young Tony LaRussa in Chicago too. He was trouble in the ChiSox clubhouse from midseason onward, and played in his last major league game on September 3, as a pinch runner.
Things only got worse from there as Ron was arrested on September 30, 1982 on drug & gun related charges. By December, the White Sox were trying to unload him, but nobody else wanted him. The White Sox were even willing to pay Ron LeFlore to not play.
Two days before another court date in January ’83, Ron’s infant son dies. His legal issues kept on being drawn out with more and more court dates, as well as the White Sox deciding to just release him and not have to pay him a cent. Of course, the players association helped Ron with that issue.
Eventually, in June, he was acquitted of all the charges. Despite that, the White Sox still didn’t want him. They’d cut him in spring training, which was probably a formality considering they didn’t want him before that anyway. Then they claimed that he’d breached his contract by not being in shape to play and by bad behavior, both of which his contract covered.
Insanely, Ron had more legal troubles a few months later when a man sued him for money the man thought he was owed for discovering Ron LeFlore in prison a decade earlier. Don’t know how that one turned out.
Ron LeFlore doesn’t give up easy though. After the ’83 season, with no teams willing to give him a shot to play, he bolted for the Puerto Rican winter league to show he can still be worth something to a team. He even dropped 23 lbs and made sure he was in better shape.
I remember reading somewhere that he tried out for the Expos in the spring of ’84, but I can’t find that anywhere now. The trail grows cold until 2009, when we find Ron and his wife “living check to check, trying to squeeze every nickel and dime out of Ron’s monthly MLB pension payments”. He can’t even afford the hip replacement he needs.
Sad end to a player who was so exciting and thrilling. A man who’d opened the door when opportunity knocked and got to play with & against some of the greatest baseball players in history.
