Jeff Reardon admits to suicide try in ESPN interview

Necro

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BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) -- Former major leaguer Jeff Reardon told ESPN he was so depressed over his son's death that he tried to run in front of a truck in an attempt to kill himself.

On Monday, Reardon was found not guilty by reason of insanity of robbing a jewelry store in his hometown of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida of $170 in December. A pair of court-appointed psychiatrists and two defense psychiatrists testified that Reardon was under the influence of a dozen prescription medications.

Reardon's revelations will air Sunday at 9:30 a.m. EDT on ESPN's Outside the Lines. In the interview conducted Tuesday at his home, the four-time All-Star said he became depressed following the 2004 overdose death of his 20-year-old son, Shane.

"I didn't care about anything," Reardon said in the interview. "I spent months in my bedroom with the doors closed and the shutters closed and just living in darkness."

Reardon, 50, began taking prescription antidepressants and mood stabilizers after his son's death. He turned suicidal and tried to kill himself, only to be saved by an alert driver.

"I went out on a highway once and pulled over and started to run across the street and the truck actually dodged and missed me," he said.

Reardon also revealed he considered other methods of suicide.

"I don't own a gun, but thank God I don't, because I probably would've used it," he said.

Reardon, who pitched in two World Series, admitted he could not cope with the loss of his son, which many experts in the psychiatric field categorize as emotionally devastating.

"People don't understand unless they're going through it," Reardon said. "Everybody says, 'You've got to get over it, you've got to get over it.'

"Well, it's kind of hard when you spend 20 years with your son, and you love him and still love him, and all of a sudden he's not here for you to get a hug or a phone call or anything like that."

Addled by depression and drug use, Reardon maintained that he does not recall the details of his attempted robbery, in which he handed a salesperson a note saying he had a gun and was robbing the store.

"My intention was to go to the mall to get the coffeemaker," he said. "From that step on, when I entered the mall, I don't remember anything until I came out and said something to the security guard that I think I'd robbed the store and was on medication and didn't know why I did it."

Reardon ranks sixth all-time with 367 saves. He had a 3.16 ERA in 16 seasons with the New York Mets, Montreal, Minnesota, Boston, Atlanta, Cincinnati and the New York Yankees.

He pitched in two World Series, notching a save and winning a ring with Minnesota in 1987 but surrendering a ninth-inning game-winning homer to Toronto's Ed Sprague with Atlanta in 1992.

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Weird guy always looked depressed as hell back in the day