I just now stumbled across George Vecsey’s recent NYT column about Don Hooton and his son Taylor, who played high-school baseball around these parts. Here’s the heart-wrenching part:
The son gained 30 pounds in a few months before the family noticed his mood swings, known as roid rage. A psychiatrist urged him to stop taking the drug, but it can take a year for the body to produce testosterone again. Going through withdrawal, Taylor Hooton began experiencing depression.
“June 10 was his birthday,” Don Hooton said. “We rented a suite at the Rangers game.” The father did not remember how Alex Rodriguez, then in his third year of using a steroid, performed that night. He does know that his son committed suicide on July 15, 2003.
Information on the foundation Don started can be found here.
3 comments
A-Rod’s line for the game…
ab r h rbi
Rodriguez ss 5 0 1 0
The more pub Don Hooton’s story gets, the better off we all are. Good for him.
You guys are Johnny-come-lately to the Hooton story….
I hope Don enjoyed meeting A-Rod. Because A-Rod seems like the type of guy to use Hooten as a prop at a press conference and then never follow through in helping the foundation. They don’t call him A-Fraud for nothing…