"I really thought I was gone," Young says. "I was throwing up every 45 minutes. Before the ambulance came, I felt like I was in a wind tunnel. It was like I was free-falling, and everything was whizzing by me. Everything was flashing before me. My heart was racing. I was going in and out.
"But I'm still here, and my story's not done."
Young's story is full of dramatic twists. He started 2006 as the designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers and now is the Washington Nationals' first baseman with the third-highest average (.333) in the National League entering Monday.
In between, his career fell apart. Young says the diabetes caused mood swings and weight gain. He went through a divorce, a two-month absence to be treated for alcohol addiction, a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence and a career-low .250 average that led to his September release from the Tigers.
He couldn't watch the Tigers play in the World Series, even though a judge ordered that he stay in Detroit. While fans celebrated their first World Series appearance since 1984, Young went into hiding.
"The hard part was I was stuck in Detroit," Young says, "and I didn't get to see my kids."
The Tigers gave him an American League championship ring, but he gave it to his dad, Larry, an airline pilot, to store.
"He was hurt, so he couldn't play," Tigers shortstop Carlos Guillen says. "But everyone in baseball has problems. We have to learn how to separate them from the field. It's easy to say, not so easy to do. Experience helps, and we learn from our mistakes.
"I'm glad he's doing well."
The Nationals opened a three-game series against the visiting Tigers on Monday, and Young has vowed to show his former team he is a new man.
"They are going to see the player they let go," he says.
Staying focused is key
After leaving the hospital last winter, the 33-year-old thought his baseball career was finished. No teams were interested, so he planned to spend time watching his brother, Delmon, play for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and tour the country in an RV.
"I was going to start in California, go up the coast and watch my sister (Deann, who plays first base) play softball at Oregon State," he says. "Then I was going to Washington, cut across to Idaho and Montana and see the buffalo roam."
But in February the Nationals called with an opportunity. General manager Jim Bowden, who had Young as a player from 1998 to 2001 with the Cincinnati Reds, made no guarantees Young would make the club.
At spring training in Viera, Fla., Young worked out with the Nationals' minor leaguers and was buried on the depth chart behind first baseman Nick Johnson, who was expected to miss the first two months of the season with a broken leg. Travis Lee retired, prospect Larry Broadway didn't emerge, and Young was named the opening-day first baseman.
Since dropping to a season-low .225 batting average on May 5, Young is hitting .432 (48-for-111). He's hitting .380 with runners on base and tied Andre Dawson's club record with hits in eight consecutive plate appearances from May 31 to June 1.
"Can this guy hit or what?" Bowden says. "He hit at least .300 in every year he was with the Reds. He knows he made mistakes. I know his heart, his character, and he deserves a second chance."
Young says the best thing that happened to him was working out with the Nationals' minor leaguers during spring training because their work ethic inspired him. After practice, he answered their questions and spoke openly about his troubles. "There's no shame. They can learn," he says.
He told them to stay away from alcohol, and "Do whatever it takes to get to the big leagues. Keep your eye on the prize. You have to know how to handle yourself professionally."
Young says he didn't do that in 2005 as his troubles started mounting. He drank beer and vodka.
"My problems were stacking up, and I didn't know how to handle them," he says. "I thought the alcohol would alleviate the hurt, but it didn't. All it did was make you have a headache the next morning.
"I don't know how many drinks I would have. It depended on the night. It was always a lot, but there was no number. I didn't count. I would go home and drink after a game. I'd drink until I'd fall asleep."
Now a different man, player
Young says he wasn't meant to play baseball last season.
He says the problems taught him about himself.
He learned from the divorce to always put his kids first. He didn't get to see his three kids - Owen, 10, Damon, 8, and Layla, 5 - last season, and when he arrived in spring training he talked to them on the telephone but didn't invite them to camp.
"I didn't want them to see me in spring training because I wanted them to wait and see the finished product," Young says. "I wanted them to see me at my best."
Now they are. Young is the leading candidate to represent the Nationals at the All-Star Game on July 10 in San Francisco. After that, Young could be a nice addition for a contender looking to improve its offense before the July 31 trade deadline.
"We're always looking at the future of our club," Bowden says, "but we like Dmitri's work ethic, passion and what he teaches our young players."
Young doesn't worry. He's feeling good and has joint custody of his kids, so he sees them regularly. That's all he thought about in the hospital intensive-care unit.
"If that wasn't going to be a wake-up call, there would never be a wake-up call," Young says. "I changed, and not just half-way. I did a full turnaround. I'm not going to miss a second chance."
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