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10. Bill 'Spaceman" Lee, early '70's Red Sox pitcher, who told a reporter, "If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, then that means left-handers are the only ones in their right minds." 9. Ty Cobb, one of the great baseball players, whose outbursts of violence and general irritability led many to conclude that he suffered from paranoid delusions. 8. Mahmood Abdul-Raof, basketball player, who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. 7. Jimmy Piersall, baseball player from the '50's who suffered what was then termed a "nervous breakdown" and was immortalized by actor Tony Perkins in the movie "Fear Strikes Out." 6. Mark 'the Bird" Fydrich, Tigers pitcher of the late '70s who talked to the ball while he was on the mound. 5. Joe Don Looney (you heard me right) psychopathic punter/ running back for four NFL football teams in the sixties, who once told his coach, "I know the plays, why should I have to practice?" 4. Dodger great Pete Reiser suffered headaches, dizziness, and weight loss after running into the center field wall at Ebbets Field one too many times. He was to sustain nine brain injuries over the course of his career. 3. Lyle Aftado. Raiders' end who ripped the helmet off New York Jets' Chris Ward in a 1982 playoff game, presumably in a steroid rage, caused by hon-nonal imbalance in the brain. Alzado died of brain cancer, possibly due to steroids, years later. 2. Roger "Zany' Zatkoff, unusually violent footballer of the 1950's. Teammates were so scared of him that they made him wear coAbeNs during practice so they could hear him coming. 1. Jim Eisenreich, center fielder for the Phillies who also suffered from Torette's Syndrome and learned to effectively manage the disorder.
© 2007 Center for Neurobehavioral Health Ltd.
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