Twitter Pleas for Dodgers to Help Out Former Player Arrested for Sleeping Behind Key West Airport

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5 years ago

It was only two seasons ago when Andrew Toles last played in the MLB for the Dodgers. Toles had some good moments over three seasons for the Dodgers including a nice stint as a rookie in 2016 when he was called up from AAA, batting .314 in 48 games for the Dodgers and .364 in 22 at-bats in the playoffs that season.

However, it appears Toles has fallen on some extremely hard times. The former outfielder was jailed and arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges after being found sleeping behind Key West International Airport in Florida and refusing to leave the area. His address was listed as “the streets of Key West.”

This story circulated on Twitter and led to baseball personalities and fans making pleas to the Dodgers to help out their former player.

I know there’s a lot of Dodger fans that are worried. This definitely hurts and know that people that can help Tolesy have been made aware and will do their best to help. #Dodgers #MLB https://t.co/bSPHjerYwo

— Jerry Hairston, Jr. (@TheRealJHair) June 27, 2020

For those #Dodgers fans wondering what’s going on with Andrew Toles, he was arrested earlier this week for sleeping behind a building at the Key West Airport. He’s an extremely talented player who needs help. https://t.co/auAgtVqY10

— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) June 26, 2020

Massively depressing reading this about my favorite Dodger, sweet #AndyToles. Jailed for sleeping behind the airport in Key West, Fla. Two seasons ago I was sitting behind him in left field, cheering him on with my friends, to this. 😰 Why? #HelpAndyToles https://t.co/2jrNj9Mgd4 pic.twitter.com/Y2rvTYUsdl

— Daniel Hernandez ✍🏽🌞 (@longdrivesouth) June 27, 2020

Toles was an inspiring story when he arrived in the big leagues. A Georgia native, Toles was drafted in the fourth round out of high school by the Marlins but didn’t sign. He then embarked on a tumultuous college career in which he was dismissed from the University of Tennessee baseball team for breaking team rules in 2011 and then suspended by Chipola College in 2012 for breaking team rules once again.

Despite this, Toles was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and tore up the minors, but he ran into trouble again for not hustling on multiple occasions and he then left his Class A minor league team citing “personal reasons.” Upon his return to baseball, Toles was dismissed from Rays spring training for disciplinary reasons and he did not play professional baseball in 2015.

Toles was bagging groceries at a Kroger grocery store in Georgia when the Dodgers gave him a chance and signed him to a minor league contract after the 2015 season. Within a year, Toles went from bagging groceries at Kroger to starting playoff games for the Dodgers in 2016. It was truly a remarkable story.

After his successful rookie campaign, Toles was slated as the leadoff man for the 2017, but tore his ACL in May and missed the entire season. After struggling during his 2018 return and being sent down to the minors, Toles failed to report to spring training in 2019 for “personal reasons” and then left the club to be with his family a month after his return on April 30 for extended spring training.

Only 28 years old, Toles still has time to make a return to baseball whenever it returns, but he’s going to need some help once again. More importantly, he needs some help just to get his life on track as it’s apparent that the mental health struggles have reached a point to where his well-being is in imminent danger.

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