Lary Sorensen’s Dirty Two Dozen

On The Daily Fungo recently, I wrote about former big-league pitcher and Detroit-area native Lary Sorensen’s most recent dance with the bottle.

When Roseville, Mich., police found Sorensen asleep on the side of I-696 two weeks ago, his blood-alcohol level was .48.

The Detroit News‘ Neal Rubin takes a closer look at how that’s even possible. According to an expert:

[T]he alcohol in Sorensen’s system represented 24 drinks.

That’s two dozen beers, shots, 5-ounce glasses of wine, or some combination thereof. And we also know this: That’s only what was left in his system when he was treated at St. John Macomb Hospital for alcohol poisoning.

He had actually guzzled even more.

On the list of times to say “Don’t try this at home,” this is near the top. Many people would be unconscious by the time they hit .35. About half the population would be dead by .48.

Keep in mind, Rubin writes, “the legal standard for drunk driving convictions is .08.”

I always liked Sorensen, mainly for hometown reasons. He played baseball in the same high school conference I did — granted, 10 years before me — and he was the first player I remember making it to the big leagues from our general part of the Detroit area.

I liked him, too, when he was a Tigers radio voice.

Few people will hear his voice over the next 22 months as he settles back in the clink. With six DUIs on his record, who knows what will become of Lary Sorensen when he gets out.