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Marlins prospect reportedly ODs on heroin

2003 first-round draft pick Allison nearly died same way two years ago

Image: Jeff Allison
Lynn Hey / AP
Jeff Allison is pictured in this 2005 file photo while pitching for the Greensboro Grasshoppers. The Marlins' first-round draft pick was hospitalized after a friend found him unconscious on a bathroom floor, surrounded by what police said was heroin paraphernalia.
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updated 6:07 p.m. ET Aug. 10, 2006

MEDFORD, Mass. - Former Florida Marlins first-round draft pick Jeff Allison was hospitalized after a friend found him unconscious on a bathroom floor, surrounded by what police said was heroin paraphernalia.

A police report obtained by The Boston Globe cited heroin injection as the cause for the 21-year-old right-hander’s condition. Allison was found Monday with a bag with heroin paraphernalia on the floor of the bathroom, the paper reported Thursday.

Medford police spokesman Paul Cavino did not return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. Officer Joe Gagliotti said the case was still being investigated and he could not comment, referring calls to Cavino.

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Marlins spokesman Matt Roebuck said the team had no information on Allison, who was suspended indefinitely in March.

The Globe reported that Allison was treated and released at Winchester Hospital.

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Allison was taken with the 16th overall pick in the 2003 amateur draft and signed for $1.85 million after going 9-0 with a perfect ERA in his senior year at Peabody High School.

He pitched in three games for the Marlins’ Gulf Coast League rookie team in August 2003. But he left spring training without permission the next year and missed all the ’04 season because of an addiction to OxyContin, a failed drug test for marijuana and a heroin overdose.

He attempted a comeback in 2005, pitching 17 games for Single-A Greensboro, but was suspended this March for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

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