R.I.P.:

Steve Howe, 1958-2006: Troubled ex-pitcher dies in car accident (BEN WALKER, 4/28/06, The Associated Press)

Steve Howe, the relief pitcher whose promising career was derailed by cocaine and alcohol abuse, died Friday when his pickup truck rolled over in Coachella, Calif. He was 48.

Mr. Howe was killed at 5:55 a.m. about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, said Dalyn Backes of the Riverside County coroner's office. He had been in Arizona on business and was driving back to the family home in Valencia, Calif., business partner Judy Welp said. Mr. Howe's vehicle drifted and hit a center divider, and police said he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

Toxicology tests had not yet been performed.

The hard-throwing lefty was the 1980 National League Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, closed out their 1981 World Series championship and was an All-Star the next year.

But for all of his success on the field, Mr. Howe was constantly troubled by addictions — he was suspended seven times and became a symbol of the rampant cocaine problem that plagued baseball in the 1980s.