The Sober LIFE of Briley : After Overcoming His Battle With Drugs, Electrician’s Dream of Free Baseball Camps Is Becoming a Reality

At one point in his life, Mickey Briley could not survive a day without using drugs or alcohol.

He would wake up for work at dawn and snort cocaine or take a hit of crack. After work, he would start drinking. By the early morning, he was usually passed out, his unconsciousness allowing him a few hours of sleep before he repeated the destructive routine.

“It was kind of like a roller coaster,” Briley said. “I would take the coke to get up in the morning. When I was too high, I would come down with alcohol. I hated the sun. It was the worst time of the day.”

Today, there are few things Briley enjoys more than standing on a sun-drenched field and fulfilling his boyhood dream of teaching children how to play baseball.

“I used to think to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do sometime in my life,’ ” he said. “I want to give kids a chance to learn baseball.”

The dream has become reality for Briley, who has set up a free baseball camp for children in the South Bay.

Not all that long ago, though, Briley was the one in need of help.

In 1989, he tried drug rehabilitation four times but failed because “I thought I was cured.” By this time, Briley’s wife of 12 years and son had left. He also lost his job and home.

“Everything that I saved, I eventually lost,” he said. “I was spending $1,000 a week on cocaine, my eyes were sunken in the back of my head and my weight was down to 105 pounds (compared to his present weight of 160).

“Then I started borrowing money from all of the neighbors, $20 to $40, and buying more cocaine.”

Briley, who started experimenting with drugs and alcohol when he was 12, eventually found help at the South Bay Alano Club in Hermosa Beach, a program for recovering alcoholics.

On Feb. 2, 1990, Briley decided to live a life of sobriety.

“Through the program, every incident that I’ve been through, everything that I stole and did, I realized I have a conscience,” Briley said. “I had to find a way to come to terms with myself.”

Unemployed for about two years--he was fired as an electrician and team leader at McDonnell Douglas for missing work--and living out of his car, Briley decided to use baseball as a way to direct his energies and redeem himself in the eyes of his family.

The idea for a baseball camp came in December, 1990, after he was unable to afford a Christmas present for his son.

“I was broke and I wanted to give him something,” he said. “So I thought, ‘Maybe I can give him his own baseball camp.’ I wanted to help my son and maybe help a couple of other kids whose parents couldn’t afford anything.”

On the day after Christmas, 1990, Briley started his two-day free camp for youths ages 9 to 14. It was simply called “Mickey’s Baseball Camp.”

A camp last weekend was such a tremendous success that Briley was able to put on another camp this weekend at Clark Field in Hermosa Beach.

“Why should a kid have to pay $150 for a baseball camp to learn baseball,” he said. “I think it’s ridiculous for parents to pay that much money.”

Christopher Briley was a little puzzled by his father’s Christmas gift, but he loved the idea.

“I was sort of shocked,” said the 11-year-old shortstop. “He surprised me. (The camp) is a good thing to do because it helps kids learn. I’m proud of my dad because he quit drugs, and he’s helping these people and getting his life together.”

To secure the necessary funds to begin the camp, the 32-year-old Briley walked around the South Bay, using a pay phone outside the Alano Club as his office, asking for donations from local restaurants and shops.

Briley said he had plenty of doors slammed in his face, but his determination won out. In four weeks, Briley managed to open a bank account and acquire liability insurance, T-shirts for the kids, a field to hold the camp, about 20 volunteer coaches, baseball equipment and food for the kids.

He even got the Dodgers’ organization to help out. Andy Wasmund, a lawyer, donated legal advice.

“I’ve known (Briley) for two years and have watched him progress through his recovery process,” Wasmund said. “I decided to help him because it’s worthy public service. A free youth baseball camp--it’s unheard of.

“I mean, here’s a guy--he’s basically homeless and doesn’t know where his next meal is going to come from--and to come up with this idea and actually executing it is something. I have a lot of admiration for him.”

Last year, Dodger great Maury Wills came out to teach kids base stealing, playing infield and batting.

“(This camp) has become a great part of Mickey’s drive in life,” said Wills, a Redondo Beach resident. “I thought it was going to be a one-shot deal, but it was so successful he decided to continue it.”

This time around, the Dodgers sent Jim Campanis, a former Dodger catcher.

“The whole concept is just great,” Campanis said. “I love being out here with the kids. There are so many kids with athletic ability whose parents might not have the time or the financial ability to get their kids to other camps.

“This is something that needs to be done all over, any place where kids don’t have a chance. Mickey does a lot of stuff here that no one in their right mind would do. We need more guys like Mickey around.”

Wasmund agrees.

“He’s motivated to do it,” he said. “When he helps the kids, he helps himself, and he’s giving back to the community. He’s not seeking fame or profit from it. What he’s doing is totally altruistic.”

Don Roe, an alumnus of Mira Costa High and El Camino College and a former pitcher at Sacramento State, volunteers as a coach for the camp. He says he gets personal satisfaction out of helping.

“This is a way for me to help out Mickey and give back something to these kids,” Roe said. “It’s fun to get out and help the kids. When you see somebody like Mickey and what he’s doing, it’s nice to be a part of it.”

For about three hours a day, the kids break down into groups, learning exercises and the basics of baseball: fielding, hitting, throwing and catching.

“He’s doing a very good job with teaching these kids,” said Oscar Covarrubias, whose 10-year-old twins, Jessie and Carlos, participate in the camp. “I really think they are getting something out of this.”

Another feature of the camp is a time set aside to

talk with the campers about child abuse and substance abuse. The volunteer coaches, some of whom are recovering addicts or alcoholics, address the subjects with the youngsters.

“We try to pass along to the kids that if you do (drugs) for the rosebud glow (or high), the substance has you,” said Don Swope, a 48-year-old volunteer coach and ex-minor leaguer who has been sober for 10 years.

“When (drugs and alcohol) take you, it has you, and that’s what we try to get across.”

Two events in Briley’s life helped him kick his habits. The first was when his son jumped into Briley’s car after school, looked at his father and asked, “Can I help?”

“That was the first time in my life that anybody had ever asked if they could help me,” Briley said. “I knew then that I had to be a father to this boy.”

The second life-changing event came when someone took a shot at Briley’s car while he was driving in Inglewood. The bullet entered the window on the driver’s side, hit inside the car and ricocheted to Briley’s hip.

Fortunately for Briley, the bullet did not go through his pants.

“Right then I realized that something better change,” he said. “I think it was God letting me know I’d better stop taking things for granted or it’s going to get worse.”

That’s when Briley turned to the Alano Club.

“He was a beaten man, no doubt,” said Larry Larkin, manager of the Alano Club. “He went through some rough living. He looked 20 or 30 years older than he really was (when he first came here).

“I think he hit a bottom that jarred his senses.”

Briley says a troubled upbringing led to drinking and doing drugs.

“My stepfather gave me a hat to wear,” Briley said. “And in that hat was no self-esteem. So I thought, ‘Hey, I might as well smoke this and drink this.’ ”

Briley, who recently found a full-time job at Continental Airlines as an electrician, said changing his ways has led to a more rewarding life.

“Stopping the drugs and the drinking was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” he said. “This is what I live for now. I believe I was spared by the wrath of God.

“I feel kids shouldn’t have to pay for a place to feel safe. I lived with the shame and guilt of my childhood for so many years. That kind of pain, it was lifted after the first camp.”

After that first camp, Briley was able to find a place to live, rent-free. A Hermosa Beach resident took Briley into her home after seeing a story about the camp in a local newspaper.

Briley still considers himself homeless because, “I don’t pay rent. But I’m forever grateful to her.”

Briley said his next baseball camp will likely be in early August. After that, he hopes to establish free camps for soccer, basketball and street hockey, incorporating all under the auspices of “Mickey’s Kamps For Kids.”

“I hope in a couple years I can have some camps throughout Los Angeles County for these kids who are left on the street and have it rough growing up,” he said. “Hey, I had one foot in hell, and it would have been really easy to slip in.

“I’m completely grateful for what I’ve been given. I’m a very fortunate person.”