Pirates' president Coonelly offers use his alcohol problem to help Jung Ho Kang



… went through treatment himself 

The president of the Pittsburgh Pirates recalled a very embarrassing part of his past this week while offering to use it to help one of his current players.

A few days before Christmas in 2011, Frank Coonelly was stopped by police in Ross Township on the Parkway North in suburban Pittsburgh. According to an AP story in Feb. 2012 about his charges, Connelly faced "four drunk driving-related charges" as a result of the arrest.

One was driving under the influence, another was driving the wrong way, the third was careless driving, and that last was driving with a blood-alcohol level that was at least twice the state's limit.

Coonelly issued a statement and the Pirates' management issued one too. Coonelly said in part, "My actions that evening were irresponsible and wrong. I take full and sole responsibility for them. There is no excuse for ever driving under the influence of alcohol. My conduct that night was uncharacteristic to my personally held values."

Forced to enter treatment facility

Because of the extent of his blood-alcohol level, he was ordered to undergo alcohol-abuse treatment, according to published reports.

This was a very dark period in the life of a very accomplished man, but the Pirates did not remove him from his job.

Offers to help Kang

When discussing the case of Jung Ho Kang, the Bucs player from South Korea who has been convicted of three DUIs, Coonelly said that he would like to help his player with his alcohol problem if he is able to reach the United States.

That is a big "If" because he has not been able to secure a work visa because of the conviction for DUI and related offenses for a violation in December. This was his third DUI, though Coonelly said on Thursday that the Pirates did not know about the previous two.

According to the Tribune-Review, "Coonelly, who was ordered to enter a program for first-time DUI offenders after his arrest for an incident in December 2011, said he is 'well-positioned' to provide support for Kang when he arrives in the U.S."

Coonelly said, “Maybe I wish I wasn't as well-positioned to provide personal input and personal counsel to Jung Ho as I am. But I am. And I'm going to use whatever experience I have had to help this young man change behaviors.”

An actual offer of help

I have been critical on this blog of the Pirates being more interested in wanting Kang because of his baseball prowess while not being willing to help him with his alcohol problem. I still believe that their major concern is financial, but Coonelly's willingness to help him with his problem is encouraging.

However, Coonelly could help others who have similar problems if he discusses his problem more publicly than he did in 2011 and 2012. How was he able to overcome his problem? Making this personal could help many people and would certainly make others realize that people at every level can suffer from problems like this.

Kang's status

As for when Kang might be allowed to enter the U.S., if at all, Coonelly said this, "“We are continuing to work with him and his representative to try to provide the information necessary to the U.S. government to secure the visa. We believe that the information we provided should establish that Jung Ho should be able to secure a work visa. We haven't been able to accomplish that as of now.”

Coonelly should be commended for bringing up his own problem in relation to that of his player. However, Kang has been ordered by Major League Baseball to undergo treatment for his problem.

In somewhat of a double-standard, MLB did not require Coonelly to undergo treatment for his problem. The court system did.

Management employees are held to a different standard than are the players in MLB, which is hypocritical.

Nevertheless, I hope that Coonelly is able to help Yang with his problem, though I am not optimistic that it will happen this year.

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