ONCE-TROUBLED PHENOM ALLISON SEES DREAM STILL WITHIN SIGHT

Jeff Allison knows what's behind him, and he knows what could be
ahead. He prefers to look ahead.

Allison was Baseball America's High School Player of the Year for
2003, the first and only player from Massachusetts to win the honor
since it was established in 1992. He was untouchable on the mound for
Peabody Veterans Memorial High, posting a 9-0 record with a 0.00
earned-run average as a senior. The Florida Marlins made him their No.
1 draft pick (16th overall) that year.

Seven years later, Allison says the demons of drugs - OxyContin and
heroin abuse that began in high school and derailed his career - have
been banished. The Marlins have stood by him, and he is now in his
first full season with the National League team's Double-A affiliate
in Jacksonville, Fla.

"I'm very confident," said Allison, who twice overdosed on heroin and
spent several stints in drug rehab. "It's not an everyday struggle,"
he said, but "it's something I will deal with every day because I am
recovering. At the same time, to some people that don't understand,
that may sound like, 'What do you mean recoveringUKP' Well, it's just
that I do have tools in my tool belt to help me through a day if I am
having a hard time," he said. "But I believe that the hard part is
past, and I hope for my future that there's a lot of good to come."

Allison, who turns 26 in November, had been a starting pitcher
throughout his career, but began this season in the Jacksonville Suns'
bullpen.

"I had a decent spring training. It wasn't great. It was average at
best," he said. "I'm guessing the Marlins were thinking, 'Well, what
should we do with himUKP' My relationship with the Marlins is still
really good. I trust them to do the right thing with me."

It has been a hard-won trust for both sides over the years since
Allison signed for a reported $1.85 million out of high school.

While Allison prefers not to focus on his past struggles, he does not
shy away from addressing them.

"I'm just going to keep continuing to work harder and harder till I
reach my goals," he said. "It's been three years and nine months now
that I've been sober. I've done a lot, a lot, a lot of work to get to
this point. I can thank so many different people in my life for
helping me get to this point, and the Marlins are definitely a part of
that.

"They helped me out a lot, and trusted me, and loved me. I owe them
everything. I'm just so glad to be here every day."

Allison missed three full seasons of baseball - 2004, 2006, and 2007 -
because of drugs and arrests.

"I wouldn't be the human being I am today," Allison said, without his
past experiences. "But at the same time, I may be in a completely
different baseball park right now if I didn't go through it. Who
knows? I just know that I'm a more humble human being today and I
don't put myself first anymore. It's just a completely different day
for me now."

The Marlins also are confident that Allison has changed.

"He's a great kid, and he's overcome, and we've just got to look
forward," said Jim Fleming, the organization's vice president of
player development and scouting.

When Jacksonville teammates were injured or promoted this summer,
Allison resumed his familiar role in the starting rotation. He was the
winning pitcher in the game that secured the Suns' first-half Southern
League South Division championship on June 20, throwing a season-high
6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Birmingham Barons.

"That was just a great outing. You can't be happier for the guy," Suns
manager Tim Leiper told MLB.com after the game. "He knew we were
facing elimination. He knew for three days it may come down to this.
To pitch the way he did, with poise and confidence, he pitched a
marvelous game.

"He's the best teammate we've got. It's really special."

As of last week, Allison was 6-7 with a 4.83 ERA, after 17 starts and
eight relief appearances.

Whether his future is in the starting rotation or the bullpen is of
little concern to Allison.

"It doesn't really matter to me," he said. "It's all about just making
it, really. Whatever role the Marlins want me to be in, I'm going to
be in and do my best in that role."

The Marlins say that while Allison no longer overpowers hitters, he
has learned how to be a more complete pitcher.

"His stuff is not quite the same as when he signed, but his ability to
pitch has really gone way up . . . he's learning to locate, use both
sides of the plate, use all his pitches, and just trying to be smart,"
said Fleming. "Some guys, if they lose their stuff, that's it. But
he's doing a good job and he hasn't lost all his stuff, and he's doing
a good job adapting."

Despite the time that he's missed, Allison is close to where he should
be. He's not the youngest player on the Suns roster, but neither is he
the oldest.

"I think he's where he should be according to the amount of playing
time and innings that he has," Fleming said. "If you go with his draft
class," he said, those players "would be in Triple A or in the big
leagues right now, and he's in Double A. So he's a little bit behind,
but not much. Once you get to Double A and Triple A, it really doesn't
make that much difference. You're within striking distance of the big
leagues. Now you've just got to get over that last big hurdle."

Allison, who lives in North Andover in the offseason, was a free agent
after last season and faces the same uncertainty this year.

"I feel like I found a home here," he said. "I may get to the big
leagues, and I'd absolutely love to make it with this organization.
This is the team I came in with, the team that I screwed up with, the
team that has saved my life and helped me out to the point where I am
now.

"And here I am on the other side of all of that and still with this
organization. So that means something."