The man police discovered sleeping behind a concourse at Key West Airport in June 2020 was no stranger to them. Andrew Toles had made a name for himself as a baseball pro, and that’s something in the US. Especially in 2016, when he had a “dream” season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as manager Dave Roberts said at the time.
From then on it went steeply downhill. The 29-year-old Toles suffered a cruciate ligament rupture, which was the end of the 2017 season. A year later it got even worse. Toles had mental problems, as it was officially said. In fact, he spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital. The professional then received a devastating diagnosis: he suffers from schizophrenia.
From then on, the once glamorous life of the talented athlete got completely out of hand. As of mid-2019, he shuttled back and forth between hospitals and homeless shelters. After the Key West police let him go, his father Alvin accidentally found him in West Palm Beach, Florida, in December 2020.
Alvin Toles, himself a former professional footballer with the New Orleans Saints, decided to bring his seriously ill son home to Georgia. In November, he received guardianship and takes care of Andrew around the clock. It was tough, he told USA Today quite frankly, and his son probably didn’t even understand that the Dodgers won the World Series in 2020.
The Dodgers, in turn, haven’t forgotten Andrew Toles. They kept him on their restricted list since March 2019. This not only means that he was always part of the club, but above all financial security. Now the Dodgers gave him a new contract – at the league minimum salary of $700,000. This also means that Andrew Toles is entitled to health insurance – and that is particularly important in the USA. His father can use it to pay the bills. sid
