Kelly Paris Springs to the Occasion : Ex-Woodland Hills Star Stops Drinking, Starts Over in Majors

Less than two years after a brush with death, Kelly Paris is finding life is good, both in baseball and in his day-to-day existence.

Paris, who hit his first major league home run Sunday to help the Chicago White Sox to a 6-3 victory at Anaheim Stadium, nearly lost his life Dec. 26, 1986, when he lost control of his sports car, driving it over the side of the road and into a ravine near his home in Gastonia, N.C.

Paris, 30, a former standout at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, admits he’d been drinking beer before the accident, and said, in retrospect, he’s glad that it happened.

“I thank God for it, really,” said Paris, who was called up from the Sox’ triple-A affiliate at Vancouver last Sunday. “It was a valuable lesson to learn.

“I’ve made a lot of changes in my life. I realized for one I’m an alcoholic and that I had to cut that out of my life.”

Sunday’s homer--a solo shot to left with one out in the sixth--was the reward of a long road back for Paris. His home run, which gave the White Sox a 4-1 lead, directly followed another solo homer by teammate Carlton Fisk.

“My first at-bat, he (Angel starter Chuck Finley) started me with a fastball,” Paris said. “It was the same with the second (at-bat). He came back with another on my third and I was waiting for it.”

Paris, who was born in Encino, played at Taft alongside Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers.

In June, 1975, Paris was drafted by the White Sox. He played in the minor leagues for seven years before being named to the American Assn. All-Star team in 1982. The same year he was called up by the St. Louis Cardinals.

He appeared in 12 games with the Cardinals in 1982. In 1983, he played for the Cincinnati Reds, batting .250 in 56 games. He also had two five-game stints with the Baltimore Orioles in 1985 and ’86.

It was during his season with the Reds that Paris acknowledged he had a drinking problem. He checked into a alcohol rehabilitation center in St. Louis. But he only stayed sober for a few months.

His drinking increased. And then came the accident. Paris was making the 45-minute drive home from Charlotte after playing pool and drinking beer when, just “20 seconds from my driveway,” he missed a turn, drove his car down a ravine and smashed into an oak tree.

“My back was killing me and I couldn’t move, so the first thing I did was wiggle my toes,” Paris told The Times’ Gary Klein last month. “When I could do that, I breathed a sigh of relief. I told myself, ‘Just hang on and don’t die.’ ”

Pinned in against the driver’s side door, blood streamed down his face and over his 1982 World Series championship ring.

He sustained a broken back, broken sternum and broken ribs. Lacerations around his left eye took 4 1/2 hours worth of plastic surgery to repair. Only his spirit remained intact.

He spent the 1987 baseball season making dentures for a dental lab, earning $4.25 an hour.

Looking back, Paris said it took an accident like to bring him back to reality.

“Baseball is not my entire life anymore,” he said. “After the accident, I quit drinking. I was sober yesterday, I’m sober today and I plan to be sober tomorrow. Your priorities change immensely when you’re that close to death.”