The Comeback of Dmitri "Da Meat Hook" Young, Washington Nationals' First Basemen

A year ago at this time, Dmitri Young was in the midst of just trying to get back to playing the game he loves. A divorce, alcohol abuse and depression were amongst the things that the former Rio Mesa High School (Oxnard, CA) star dealt with the first five months of the 2006 calendar year. Also known as "Da Meat Hook," Young played very well after his mid-July return to the Detroit Tigers, hitting .292 while clubbing seven homers and driving in 19 runs in only 113 at bats. Nonetheless, he would be released by the Tigers less than a month before season's end. It just added more insult to injury for him when the Tigers would wind up making it all the way to the World Series, where they would lose to the eventual World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Following the season, Young would end up in a hospital where he would be diagnosed with diabetes.

With seemingly everything going against him, it would have been easy for the 33-year-old Young to pack it in and call it a career. Young decided to give it another shot though, and was a non-roster invitee to the Washington Nationals this spring. Starting Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson was slow to recover from a broken leg and Young took advantage, winning the starting job at first base. Young got off to a slow start this season, and by early May was losing at bats. On May 16th, his batting average stood at .227 with only three home runs and 14 RBI's. it appeared that this latest comeback was also going to end badly, but he persevered and began to come out of his slump the next day with a pinch hit RBI single. A 2-for-3 performance with a homer and an RBI followed that. Over the next ten games, he would go 16-for-29, raising his batting average 75 points to .302. Incredibly, the best was yet to come though. Back-to-back 4-for-4 performances followed on May 31 and June 1st . Young suddenly was in the midst of the race for the National League batting title, and consequently became the Nationals leading candidate for the All-Star Game. He would wind up hitting .377 in June with three homers and 13 RBI's. Two Sundays ago, the All Star Game reserves were announced and Young had made it as the Nationals lone representative! For someone that has gone through so much this past year, it was certainly nice to see this happen. At the break, Young had put up a .339 batting average - good for 3rd in the senior circuit, to go along with eight home runs, 43 RBI's and 41 runs scored in only 283 at bats.

In the actual game this past Tuesday night, Young played spectator for all of eight innings. He really was just happy to be there as one could see by the constant smile he displayed in the National League dugout. He finally got his chance to show his stuff with two outs in the 9th, coming up as a pinch-hitter, and he promptly delivered an infield single! Young would score just minutes later on a two-run homer hit (ironically) by ex-National and current Chicago Cub Alfonso Soriano. For Young, it marked yet another milestone in his remarkable return. One can only hope that Young can continue on this path and lead the Nationals to some better times in the second half of the season.