Bob Asmussen | World Series hero Spiezio taking on his biggest challenge

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We all have a turning point.

A day when our lives changed forever. Maybe a marriage, the birth of a child or starting a new job.

For Scott Spiezio, that day was April 6, 2018: the beginning of his sobriety.

Years of alcohol and drug abuse had put his future in peril. The change needed to happen immediately and drastically. The 51-year-old former Illini baseball standout and World Series hero will tell his story during Saturday's Hot Stove Banquet at the I Hotel in Champaign.

His story is a work in progress.

The "Why?" of his sobriety is easy: survival.

On April 5, 2018, Spiezio's close friend, Tonia Boyer, convinced him to go to the hospital to get liver checked. Doctors told him his liver was badly damaged.

A transplant seemed to be part of his future. But on a return visit months later, doctors said his liver had rebounded.

"They had no idea how to explain it," Spiezio said. "Me as a Christian, I think it's a miracle.

"I felt like God had me on a mission to go out and talk to kids and churches."

The crowd reactions to his story are positive and poignant.

"Most people have somebody in their lives that has been affected by alcohol or drugs," Spiezio said. "I get so many people who say, 'Thank you. I really needed to hear that.'"

Spiezio wants to help. He knows he hurt his family, community and teammates. Now is his chance to make amends.

"The empathy I've gained and ability to possibly be a contributor in saving someone's life," he said, "makes it worth it for me."

Long road

The "How? of his sobriety is trickier. Spiezio tried rehab many times. Eleven attempts in 10 years.

It didn't take.

"I had bouts of sobriety. A year or nine months here and there. I just couldn't get past that one-year thing," he said. "I never gave up."

He wanted to beat the disease his way.

"I'd go to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings and they'd say, 'You've got to admit you are powerless over alcohol,'" Spiezio said. "I'm like, 'I'm not powerless over anything.' That's the attitude I had.

"I kept running into that brick wall."

The 12-year MLB veteran had lost his way.

"I didn't know who I was anymore," he said. "My self-confidence had diminished. I felt like I had wasted my platform.

"I realized I needed to return to my roots and reach out to those old friends. They knew me better than I knew myself."

Earlier in life, Spiezio rarely drank.

"I never saw a drug until I was 33 1/2 years old.,"" Spiezio said. "It's crazy that it would happen to me because nobody in my family ever had issues with alcoholism or addiction.

"It was one of those things where I got hurt, started feeling sorry for myself, got to the point where I wanted to kind of fit in with the new team with Seattle. Then I started drinking and I kind of got used to it."

He tried cocaine, too.

"I was in something," Spiezio said, "and I didn't know how to get out of it."

Support system

Spiezio has many people to thank for his ongoing recovery. Starting with his parents, Ed and Verna.

Former Illini Ed won two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 and 1967 during a nine-year MLB career.

Scott turned over his financial instruments to his dad. He sold his cars, didn't have access to money or credit cards.

"I'm in my 40s, but I've got to act like a teenager now because when your brain chemistry is messed up, you don't think correctly," Spiezio said.

Lifetime friend Dave Wohlwend has been in his corner. They first met at age 4. Wohlwend walked on at Illinois and became a regular.

The pastors at his church have played a prominent role.

Boyer has been another person Spiezio can lean on.

"She helped me get off alcohol," Spiezio said.

His former teammates with the Cardinals have been there for him.

"If I started listing all the people who helped me, it would be a long, long list," Spiezio said. "Every step of the way.

"I do know how lucky I am."

Familiar surroundingsSpiezio is back living in his hometown of Morris, a two-hour drive north of Champaign.

"I'm about three minutes from my parents," he said.

He has been to the Hot Stove Banquet in the past, but never as the featured speaker.

"It will be really cool to get back down there," he said.

He returned for games in recent seasons, getting reacquainted with Illini coach Dan Hartleb and getting to know the staff.

"It's been neat," Spiezio said. "Dan's had me speak to the team a few times after games."

On the field, Spiezio has been where the players hope to go. He has the two big rings, winning the World Series with the Anaheim Angels in 2002 and the Cardinals in 2006.

The current Illini aren't old enough to remember Spiezio as a player. But their parents are.

Back in the day

Spiezio starred at Morris High School.

He was signed by then-Illini coach Augie Garrido, but never played for him.

When Garrido left to return to coach at Cal State Fullerton, Southern Illinois legend Itch Jones took over the Illini. Jones had a young assistant coach on his staff in Hartleb, who is now the school's career wins leader.

"It was really tough for those guys," Spiezio said. "They had a lot of guys Augie had signed. Really good players. They were conditioned to one style of baseball and Itch had a different style of baseball."

No transfer portal at the time. The players were in it for the long haul.

"Dan was awesome," Spiezio said. "He was not that much older than me."

Spiezio has also maintained a close relationship with Jones through the years, and they've exchanged texts this week.

Two years ago, the coach and his former player sat together during an Illini game, talking about old times.

"It was really cool to let him know some of the things that he said that really helped me with my career," Spiezio said.

One great lesson Jones taught Spiezio was how to approach an at-bat.

Jones emphasized fouling pitches to get to the one the switch-hitting Spiezio could smash.

"Because of that, I didn't strike out very much," Spiezio said.

During 11 full seasons in the majors, he never struck out more than 75 times. Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber struck out 215 times in 2023 for comparison's sake.

"Usually, I was very patient," Spiezio said.

On his dramatic home run in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series when he was with the Angels, he fouled off four pitches. All fastballs in the high 90s from San Francisco's Felix Rodriguez. He worked the count to 3-2.

"I finally got that pitch down and in to hit it out," Spiezio said.

Thanks Itch.

Jones preached the idea of pressure being a good thing, "what you crave."

"For me, to be in that opportunity was a gift," said Spiezio, who had 25 RBI in 26 career postseason games, including a whopping 19 RBI just in the 2002 playoffs. "That's why I loved and thrived in the playoffs."