The Dark Side of the Diamond

From the Mound to the Shadows — Esteban Loaiza

I never paid much attention to Esteban Loaiza when he was playing. He had a long enough career. Fourteen years in the big leagues. He wore a bunch of uniforms, Pirates, Rangers, White Sox, Yankees, Nationals, A’s, Dodgers. And yeah, he even had one standout year in 2003 when he won 21 games and finished second in the Cy Young voting. I probably saw some of those games, but if I did, they didn’t leave a mark.

He just wasn’t on my radar. Not then. Not after. Even when he was arrested in 2018 for trafficking over 40 pounds of cocaine, it barely registered…

I remember seeing the headline, maybe pausing for a second. Esteban Loaiza? Really? And then I moved on. He had never meant much to me as a player. I didn’t feel betrayed or shocked, just indifferent. He was a footnote.

It wasn’t until I started researching players for this series, taking a harder look at the men behind the stats, and how the game intertwines with real-life character that I circled back to Loaiza. And when I did, the stor…