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SPECIAL PRAISE FOR RAGE
“Bill Denehy has an amazing story to tell. Stop what you’re doing, start reading, and get ready for a life-changing experience.”
Pat Williams
Senior Vice President, Orlando Magic Author of Coach Wooden’s Greatest Secrets
“Rage by Bill Denehy and Peter Golenbock is must reading for anyone concerned about issues of addiction, and it has a special application in the world of professional sports. Crisply written, Denehy’s life story is an important one for us to share. Bill has opened his heart, and anyone who reads it will see the pain, tragedy, and ultimate triumph of this great person.”
Richard Lapchick
Founder of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport
“I have been Bill’s sponsor for eighteen of his twenty-one years of continued sobriety. Through the loss of his parents and his pet dog Schmucko, times of anger and resentments, and concurrently, the loss of his eyesight, his commitment to sobriety has never wavered. His resolve to live life to the fullest is inspiring.”
Allan Webber
Retired Attorney, Orlando, Florida
“Bill Denehy is an interesting, complicated guy. His stories about his baseball days are utterly hysterical. His ability to treat and manage his drug abuse and alcoholism, as far as I’m concerned, puts him in the Hall of Fame. I really loved this book.”
Greg Boger, MD
Physician/Partner at Florida Otolaryngology Group
“Nobody could have built a college program the way Bill did at the University of Hartford. We could have been—should have been—perennial powers, if only he hadn’t been fired.”
Ted Lombardo
Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, we seek to contribute a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals and their families, and the general public.
For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.
© 2014 by Bill Denehy and Peter Golenbock
All rights reserved. Published 2014.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3321 N. Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-1-937612-56-6 (e-book)
Publisher’s Note: This is a memoir, a work based on facts recorded to the best of the author’s memory. Central Recovery Press books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date. To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people, places, and institutions in this book have been changed.
Central Recovery Press makes no representations or warranties in relation to the medical information in this book. This book is not an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.
Cover design by David Hardy
Interior design and layout by Sara Streifel, Think Creative Design
Photo of Bill Denehy by Patrick M. Kittell. Used with permission.
Photo of Peter Golenbock by Wendy Grassi. Used with permission.
I’d like to dedicate this book to all the men and women in and out of recovery who still haven’t found the right solution to stay abstinent from alcohol and other drugs.
And to my three girls, Heather, Kristin, and Marilyn.
Bill Denehy
Here’s to my brother and sister, Robert and Wendy.
And to the other Golenbocks, Aunt Hazel and cousins Jeffrey, Susan, and Douglas.
Peter Golenbock
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I My Years Before the Downward Spiral
ONE Childhood
TWO Lessons of Youth
THREE The Bumpy Road to the Pros
FIVE Gaining Experience
SIX The Big Time
SEVEN My Arm Is Killing Me
EIGHT DMSO Brings Me Back
NINE Billy Ball
TEN The Best Year of My Life
PART II My Crazy, Demonic Drinking and Drugging Years
ELEVEN Stupid and Reckless
TWELVE A (Short) Career in Radio
THIRTEEN Back on the Field
FOURTEEN I’ve Got a Dream
FIFTEEN