Miguel Cabrera and the 25 Hardest Partying Players in Baseball History

Stop me if you've heard this one: Miguel Cabrera walks into a bar, after he left the last one, and stays until he is so drunk....oh, you've heard that one.

Well then you probably also know that Miguel Cabrera isn't one of the founding fathers of the hard-partying baseball players club—just one of the latest.

Baseball players like the night life and they like to boogie. Here are 25 for whom the party is their reality, and their reality is the stuff of legend.

No. 25. Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is a responsible partier.

Oh, I don't know that he drinks responsibly, but he must not turn into a giant dick-wad when he parties, because no one ever seems to badmouth him.

There are no scandals, paternity suits or allegations of misconduct—pictures like the one on this slide are hard to come by.

When Jeter retires, he should hold a seminar on how to conduct yourself responsibly when cutting loose.

Topics could include:

1. The advantages and perks of staying single.

2. How to stay out of the tabloids.

3. How not to piss everyone off so they trash you whenever they can.

No. 24. Mike Cameron

I am willing to bet that Mike Cameron is far from the only player that has played games while drunk, but he is one of the few to admit it.

Especially while he was still playing.

“I went four for four with two jacks and eight ribbies. I’m not saying that’s the only day I played drunk, but that was the best one.” 

Cameron has served a 25-game suspension for illegal substances in his career. Not for steriods, but for stimulants.

Stimulants in baseball are not used not as a performance enhancer. They are a performance creator.

A little speed is often the only thing getting a guy with a raging hangover onto the field.

No. 23. Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton's troubles with drugs and alcohol are well documented. 

Partying for Hamilton is like eating Pringles to most people: once he pops, he can't stop.

And that is evident in the posted picture taken during a relapse.

This invariably leads to bad things—like being attacked by women with no eyeballs.

Hamilton's exploits consumed his life to such a degree that it prevented one of the game's best players from even being able to participate on the major league level.

The guy is so allergic to substances the Rangers threw a champagne-less champagne celebration after winning the ALCS, just for Hamilton.

While that leaves Hamilton with a far better career on the field, it really limits his ranking on our list.

No. 22. Jason Giambi

Jason Giambi likes to party like a rock star, and he is often partying with them.

Giambi has never been shy...about anything. That's why he has admitted to taking 'roids, titty-graphing while out on the town, wearing a gold tiger-striped thong to break out of a slump, and answering questions like the following.

Everything we need to know about Giambi's credentials for this list, he sums up himself.

When asked who the four people—living or deceased—he'd like to have dinner with, Giambi didn't waste an invite for Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi or the president—he went right for those who could rock.

"Definitely the Babe would be up there," Giambi answers. "He would make for a great party. Mickey Mantle. I'd like to see my grandfather again, too. And my brother. That would be a hell of a party. We wouldn't have enough alcohol."

Yeah, I am not sure Gandhi and his fasting could have hung with that crew.

No. 21. Pat Burrell

How does he drink through that mask?

This picture was apparently taken at Barry Zito's crib sometime after the Giants World Series victory.

I knew that the Giants crew could party, but I was not expecting this.

Offseasons like this can linger. I don't think I'll be placing any wagers on the Giants repeating.

Burrell rises above his teammates on this list, as he has a mountain of hearsay stories like these online.

Well that and the see-say pics like the one above.

No. 20. Lenny Dykstra

Lenny "Nails" Dykstra did everything at breakneck speeds.

He played the game with infectious reckless abandon, and he lived the same way off of the field.

Dykstra, Darren Daulton and John Kruk proved to be a high-octane mix.

It was after John Kruk's bachelor party that Dykstra drove himself, Daulton and his Mercedes into a tree. I don't think you'll be surprised to hear that alcohol was involved.

Dykstra's partying extended well beyond drinking.

He was a heavy gambler and it earned him a year of probation in baseball after he lost $80,000 in a poker game.

Dykstra was loose with money in all kinds of ways. He loved to spend big.

He is also in giant financial troubles now.

No. 19. Sir Sidney Ponson

Ponson's drunken exploits almost prohibited him from pitching against the Toronto Blue Jays as Canada did not deem him fit to enter their country.

He does have a history of misbehavior.

Ponson has twice been arrested for DUIs and once for assaulting a judge in his native Aruba—the same judge that was overseeing his case for a drunken jet-skiing incident.

This is not behavior befitting of a knight, which is exactly what Sir Sidney is.

Apparently they knighted every citizen of Aruba. Once he was knighted, Ponson received a handbook on knight-like behavior.

"I have to read it and see what I'm allowed to do and what I can't do."  Sir Sidney said. I think he may need to keep reading.

Does it come in a Cliff's Notes version? Or at least a talking book? Wait, he doesn't need anything else to distract him while he's driving.

No. 18. George Waddell

George Waddell was nicknamed by the Sporting News as the "Sousepaw."

Waddell was one of the game's best and highest paid players. His pay was not enough to fund his drinking, however.

In the offseason, Waddell would wrestle alligators for extra cash. He would also trade game balls for drinks at bars.

He once spent his entire signing bonus on one bender.

Waddell's manager, Connie Mack, tried to curb his drinking by putting a worm in his bottle of whiskey so the two could watch it die.

Mack asked Waddell if he was catching the meaning. Waddell got it all right: "Sure, it means I won't get worms."

No. 17. David Wells

He may have only been half-drunk, but he was all the way perfect.

David Wells admitted he was somewhere south of sober the day he pitched his perfect game for the New York Yankees.

The night before his unblemished start, Wells was on Saturday Night Live and hung out at the cast party afterward.

Anyone that can hang at an SNL after party earns a spot on any list regarding partying.

It's not surprising that Wells was able to excel after exploits like the SNL party. He was very clearly a finely-tuned athlete.

He was always looking for the right mix of fuel to put into his lethal machine others call a body.

"I drank beer, and I had a career year."

Apparently, limiting the hard stuff helped him.

No. 16. Ken Caminiti

Before there was Jose Canseco blowing the roof off of the steroid problems in baseball, there was Ken Caminiti.

Caminiti admitted to using steroids throughout his career and he estimated over half of the league was using them as well.

Caminiti also admitted to using other drugs during his playing career.

Caminiti played as he lived—like there was no tomorrow.

It made him one of the game's best and most entertaining players on the field and one of the hardest partiers off it.

It also led to him dying of a heart attack way too young.

No. 15. Bill Lee

Bill "The Spaceman" Lee worked hard for his nickname.

He is probably the quintessential athlete of the late 60s.

Bill liked to expand his mind and he didn't mind talking about it. 

Allow me to let the Spaceman put it in his own terms:

"The other day they asked me about mandatory drug testing. I said I believed in drug testing a long time ago. All through the sixties I tested everything."

Among other things, Lee told the press that he liked to sprinkle weed on his pancakes for breakfast.

In his autobiography he also admitted to pitching under the influence of various substances.

Far out, man.

No. 14. Lonnie Smith

Lonnie Smith partied his way to a third-place finish for NL Rookie of the Year and then a second-place finish for NL MVP.

He then almost partied himself out of baseball.

Royals GM John Schuerholz thought he was done. Lonnie carried a slight resentment for those beliefs.

When Smith was in the depths of a coke addiction, he admitted that he plotted to kill Schuerholz.

Luckily for Schuerholz and Smith, Lonnie was picked up by the Atlanta Braves, and he began to turn his life around.

No. 13. Miguel Cabrera

Spring Training may just be starting, but Miguel Cabrera is in midseason form.

He was just arrested for a DUI.

According to reports, this is where the midseason form comes in. He took a swig of whiskey in front of the officers and asked: “Do you know who I am? You don’t know anything about my problems.”

I am not sure why he assumed the officers didn't know about his problems.

Being Miguel Cabrera may be reason enough to be pulled over for drunk driving.

In 2009, while the Tigers were tanking away the AL Central, Cabrera's wife made this call to 9-1-1.

Later that night, Cabrera blew a remarkable .26 at the station hours after his last drink.

Relapse isn't just the name of an Eminem album.

No. 12. Rollie Hemsley

Rollie Hemsley was a true visionary.

Hemsley set fire to cars, got kicked off of trains and once won a bet by catching a ball dropped from the top of Cleveland's Terminal Tower.

His rock star-esque partying was way ahead of his time.

As you can see in the picture, Hemsley was such a drunk that his sobriety made headlines.

"Don't worry, folks. We are all a little more safe, now. Rollie Hemsley is sober!"

No. 11. Dock Ellis

If Dock Ellis hadn't been a prodigious partier, there is no way he could have handled grilling on acid well enough to throw a no-hitter.

How else was he going to throw a ball that kept changing sizes?

Little known fact: Dock Ellis is the only player to score a touchdown while playing baseball—at least he thought so. Check out his colorful explanation of the events.

No. 10. Jim Leyritz

When you hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning of a World Series in a moment that springboards your team to a World Series championship, and then go on to become known mostly for your partying—chances are you are going at it fairly hard. 

That is exactly what has happened to Jim Leyritz.

Witnesses have reported seeing Leyritz out the night before a World Series game downing a fifth of vodka by himself, and then guzzling champagne late into the night like the series was already over.

Leyritz's partying took a tragic turn when he was driving intoxicated and struck another car, killing the female driver.

No. 9. Steve Howe

This is your last chance.

And I'm not talking about one of those Major League Baseball Steve Howe kind of last chances—Leslie Neilson from Naked Gun 33 1/3.

Seven times Steve Howe was suspended from baseball for failing drug tests, and the final time it was for life.

Howe may have spent more time in rehab then he did on the mound.

He could just not stay away from those pesky uppers, and it turned out to be such a downer.

Tragically, but not surprisingly, Steve Howe died in a one-car accident. He was found with meth in his system.

No. 8. Whitey Ford

I'm not going to lie. I am feeling lazy. I think I'll let Mickey Mantle take over this slideshow for a while.

I will add the following before I concede the stage to Mr. Mantle.

Whitey Ford realized that his hard-charging lifestyle may be affecting his performance.

I don't think he cared much, but at least he realized it.

"Hell, if I didn't drink drink or smoke, I'd win twenty games every year," Ford told reporters. "It's easy when you don't drink or smoke or horse around."

No. 7. Billy Martin

If I can interject real quick, Mr. Mantle—Billy Martin was one intense dude. Everything he did, he did all out.

That certainly extended beyond the field, and It led to some unstable relationships. He was married four times.

He also coached every team in the majors, and coached the Yankees between every stop.

OK, not quite, but it was close.

Back to you, Mick.

No. 6. Mickey Mantle

If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself—Mickey Mantle.

Please continue, Mr. Mantle.

Wait, first let me offer another story.

Mantle's talent allowed him to dominate through his drinking.

He told David Letterman of a game in which he was so hungover, he was practically passed out on Whitey Ford's shoulder.

Mantle thought he was inactive for the game—until his manager Casey Stengel told him to go in and hit.

He hit a home run.

As he told Dave: "Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the hard part."

No. 5. The Scum Bunch

You don’t win a World Series drinking milk—Keith Hernandez.

Darryl Strawberry went into a little more detail: "Beer was the foundation of our alcoholic lifestyle. We hauled around more Bud than the Clydesdales. The beer was just to get the party started and maybe take the edge off the speed and coke."

Ahh, so the beer was like a performance enhancer.

It is always a sign of a serious partier when they use beer to sober up.

The '86 Mets knew how to party. I can't throw in the whole team here, because we have to save a couple of spots for two members in particular.

So, we'll give a special shout-out to the good time MCs of the Mets: the Scum Bunch.

They consisted of Danny Heep, Jesse Orosco and Doug Sisk.

Together the three made sure the clubhouse was loose, well-liquored and raunchy.

The '86 Mets exploits peaked not in their World Series victory, but on the plane ride back from their NLCS victory.

The Mets trashed their chartered 707 to the tune of $7,500 in damages.

They received the bill along with a note indicating their business was no longer welcome.

Dwight Gooden explained some of the sights in his autobiography, Heat. He mentioned at one point the bathroom door flew open while one of his teammates was a mile high in blow.

"I wasn't shocked that he was using," Gooden said. "I was shocked that he was so high, he didn't even realize the door was open."

The fans waiting to celebrate their arrival were greeted with the site of this debauched team. Now that would've been a good poster.

No. 4. Dwight Gooden

Dwight Gooden was a shy and quiet kid who all of sudden found himself to be a mega-star. 

He broke out of his bubble in a big way and in typical 80s style—with booze, cocaine and crack.

It is really all down hill for Doc from there. His career plummeted—although he still has really solid career numbers—and his life just went to hell.

He has been in and out of trouble since 1986.

His last incident was in 2007 when he was arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance at 8:30 am, and with his five-year-old son in the car, but not in a proper car seat.

Here's to hoping he finds some sort of peace.

No. 3. Darryl Strawberry

As we have seen, the '86 Mets were an amazingly hard-charging group.

While Strawberry may not have been part of the Scum Bunch, he may have been living the fastest of them all.

He was a man of extremes. He could be charming one second and abusive the next. He has been in and out of the court system for drugs and domestic violence.

The aforementioned damaged plane featured 16 broken seats, because Darryl was convinced one of them would recline.

Shockingly, they were all the same.

His skipper, Davey Johnson, gives us a hint about the results of Strawberry's exploits: "The Catholic orphanage in Queens loved Darryl," Johnson said. "All his fine money went there."

Strawberry apparently has the biggest mouth of the bunch as well.

Strawberry, in his autobiography, lets us know the different kinds of goals the Mets set for their road trips: "tear up your best bars and nightclubs and take your finest women."

He also details how he and some of his teammates would catch the attention of certain women in the stands, and then invite them to the romantic closets and the locker room for a VIP Tour.

No. 2. Babe Ruth

This is a picture of what used to be a hot dog.

Not just any hot dog—it was the last of 12-18 hot dogs Babe Ruth consumed in a binge before blacking out on a train (I assume there was more to the binge than hot dogs to contribute to the blackout).

A few days later Babe Ruth was in the hospital with what reporters called: "The bellyache heard 'round the world."

Turns out it was probably gonorrhea. Either way, for our purposes the point is made.

It also gives an indication of how writers were far more guarded with athletes than they are now. 

When Ruth passed, Gratland Rice wrote: "The truth of Babe’s life will never be written—the story of wrecked cars he left along the highway—the story of the night he came near dropping Miller Huggins off a train—the story of the $100,000 or more he lost in Cuba one racing winter."

We are left mostly with broad allusions to the Babe's thirst for life.

Like H.G. Salinger's comment: “He could eat more, drink more, smoke more, swear more, and enjoy himself more than any contemporary.”

Of course, you can't party like that without a good foundation. Breakfast of champions you say?

A typical breakfast for Mr. Ruth consisted of a porterhouse steak garnished with half-a-dozen fried eggs and potatoes on the side. All washed down with a a quart mixture of bourbon whiskey and ginger ale.

Is anyone sure Babe Ruth was really human?

Why don't we let the man take us out of his own slide.

"Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed."

The Babe lets us in on his altruism.

"Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."

No. 1: Wade Boggs

Wade Boggs likes beer...a lot.

Here is former teammate Jeff Nelson's account, from a radio show he co-hosted on 950 KJR in Seattle, of Wade Boggs beer consumption:

"Oh, I’d say, on a typical road trip, East Coast to West Coast—say a road game to Seattle. Wade would drink anywhere between 50 and 60 beers."

He says it so casually, too. Oh...you know just a typical trip, um maybe 50 or 60? Come on, Nelson! You have to be joking.

That is a discrepancy of 10 beers and the number is so large it doesn't even seem like that big of deal!

The other co-host was understandably dubious of the claims. So they took a break and got another former teammate, Paul Sorrento, on the phone. Nelson asked the Sorrento how much Boggs drank on cross-country trips.

"Oh jeez," Sorrento said and exhaled like he was asked to calculate the national debt, "I don't know. Like 70."

Nelson's estimate was conservative!

Nelson goes on to add details—check out the transcript here. 

These numbers were including travel to and from the plane—unlike the example in the posted video.

There Boggs denies a claim that he once drank 64 beers on a cross-country flight. Let's just say his denial is less than convincing. 

He added the wink-wink, nudge-nudge statement that going from Boston to LA is a long flight, and "you gotta do something to kill the time"...and your liver.

At least they were lite beers. Boggs was obviously concerned about keeping his girlish figure.

A little quick math tells us that 64 beers equals six gallons. That is almost half a keg! That's insane.

Apparently Wade Boggs liked to fill his time on cross country flights going to the bathroom.

Seriously, how is Wade Boggs even alive? I hope his pregame chicken meal wasn't often of the fried variety.

Throw in the fact that Wade Boggs is an admitted sex addict (although I have no idea how he remembers it) and you have the No. 1 partier in baseball history.

Honorable Mention: David Eckstein

I have to be honest—it does not appear Eckstein really deserves to be on this list. But look at that picture! That has to be here!

Upon closer inspection this picture tells us everything we need to know about Eckstein not qualifying.

Evidence Example A: All of the reporters and the fact that Eckstein is soaked leads me to believe this is after the Cardinals World Series victory. Almost every player is drinking at that moment.

Evidence Example B: Notice how Eckstein's mouth is not on the bottle. This is a dead give away that this bottle is not solely his, and it is being passed around. Also, no good drinker is worried about putting their mouth on a bottle of alcohol.

Evidence Example C: This is the key piece of evidence. Please note that there is air between the liquor and the top of the neck of the bottle. Eckstein's head gives the impression of chugging, but a slight tip of the bottle tells us better.

I need to see bubbles rising in that bottle if you are going to make this list David!

“What happened to tequila? These days it's all velvet ropes and posture."

Honorable Mention: Orlando Cepeda

I haven't found many stories of Cepeda's antics during his playing days, but his post-career criminal record would suggest that he has a few.

In 1975 he was sentenced to 10 months of incarceration after being convicted for smuggling marijuana. Then at the tender age of 69 Cepeda was pulled over for speeding.

The arresting officer smelled the sticky-icky and a search of the car ensued. The search was fruitful as officers found pot, a white substance that was either meth or coke, and a syringe.

At 69, you can't blame Cepeda for adding the pick-me-ups to his diet.

Honorable Mention: Ferguson Jenkins

There isn't a lot available on Ferguson Jenkin's party habits.

However, a drug bust at a Canadian airport sheds a little light onto the traveling necesities of Mr. Jenkins: 3.0 grams cocaine, 2.2 grams hashish, and 1.75 grams marijuana was the Yin-Yang mixture found on this Hall of Fame pitcher. It was enough to earn him an indefinite suspension from Major League Baseball.

His suspension and criminal record were soon wiped clean. By all accounts Jenkins was a positive influence on his community, the game of baseball and his drug dealers.

Honorable Mention: Ted Williams

Ah the good ol' days—you know the ones when athletes could party all night and then sleep off hangovers right through games and it was just reported that they had a nasty cold.

Ted Williams either had a shockingly bad immune system or he liked to party.

I'm just going to say it: the greatest hitter who ever lived (and all-around amazingly talented human being) liked to tie one on.

His placement on this list is unofficial as whispers of his all-night escapades are all you will find if you google Ted Williams and his prodigious partying.

Well, that and a bunch of alcohol-related stories of a homeless man with a golden voice.

It is a crazy world. Somewhere Ted Williams' head is nodding in agreement, and his son is getting ready to sue me.