While Major League Baseball (MLB) has long been a den of substance abuse- subject of the documentary ‘Screwball’- a lesser looked at menace is that of drunk (and drugged) driving. DUI offences are so widespread among baseball players in the United States that one can perhaps document an ethnographic study on their prevalence. Atlanta Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna was the latest to face arrest under DUI charges. Caught by Norcross Police at 4.39 a.m on Friday, the 31-year-old finds himself in Gwinnett County Jail, 15 months after facing arrest for domestic abuse charges. 

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Ozuna, of course, continues a long legacy of DUI in the MLB, three of which we document below: 

#1. Steve Howe

Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1979, the promising University of Michigan pitcher began well, snapping his way to a Rookie of the Year award in 1980. However, he battled addiction throughout his life. Injured in a motorcycle crash in 1997, Howe faced arrest for drunk driving. By then, his career had taken a tailspin due to a recurring cocaine habit. He died in 2006 while driving his pickup truck. Toxicology results revealed methamphetamine in his system. 

#2. Dwight Gooden

Pitcher Dwight Gooden’s 16 seasons in the MLB- from 1984-1994 and 1996-2000- were blighted by cocaine and the occasional bust-up with the police. But post-retirement, he racked up two DUI offences, excluding the one occasion he was found driving with a suspended license. First charged for driving intoxicated in 2002, he would repeat the incident in 2010, but with a child on board. Cut to 2019, and he was at it again. Arrested twice within a six-week period, the ol’ Goodenfella was in a bit of a funk. The first of his arrests (in Holmdel, New Jersey) came after police found cocaine in his possession. It followed a period of erratic driving. The next incident occurred in Newark. Police found him driving along the wrong way on a one-way street. He was ‘impaired’ at the time.

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#3. Danny Duffy

In 2018, Kansas City Royals’ Danny Duffy fell asleep on the wheel while in the city’s Overland Park Burger King outlet drive-thru. On being woken from his slumber, he attempted to zoom off but dropped his credit card, helping police to identify and charge him for DUI. Fined $1,220, he also had to keep away from alcohol and drugs for a year.