The morning after his fifth suicide attempt, Rick Fisher stumbled to a church and pounded on the doors. Deep in the throes of drug addiction at the time, the former MSU Denver pitcher made a plan to end his life the night before. Instead, he blacked out and ended up back at his house, passed out in his car. He woke up and made his way to Lakewood New Life Center. “I walked over there, and I was still really messed up,” Fisher recalled. “I felt like somebody was trying to pull me into the traffic. Every time I started going that way, I felt somebody else pull me back. It was like a tug-of-war all the way to the church.” When he got there, he met Pastor Refugio Cancino, who prayed with Fisher over the course of several hours. Fisher found a new path in faith and sobriety that 2001 morning — and it’s only grown stronger since, thanks in part to a lifelong connection to baseball. As another season arrives on the Front Range, the 73-year-old remains tethered to the sport in ways both simple and profound. Without baseball, Fisher insists, he wouldn’t be here today. “My faith in Jesus Christ saved me that day, but baseball always kept me grounded,” he said. “Baseball’s been my life — if it wasn’t for the game, I probably would’ve been dead. Because up until that point, the only time I felt in control of my life is when I was pitching.” Into a spiral Fisher showed promise from a young age. At 6, he was able to throw a baseball from home plate about 230 feet over the center field fence at a youth park. By the time he played at Adams City High School, he emerged as an ace. But when he was deployed to Vietnam at 18, everything changed. During his five months in the Army there, like many American soldiers in the conflict, he developed a heroin addiction. His drug habits continued and expanded during his career at MSU Denver. Even amid abusing heroin, cocaine, alcohol and other drugs, Fisher got the attention of the Royals at a tryout in 1975. With a fastball hovering around 90 mph, a buckling curveball and slider, and pinpoint command, Kansas City was interested in the right-hander after the first day of tryouts and wanted him to come back for another look. “But I got high, and I didn’t go,” Fisher lamented. “And they went looking for me, but I was in (no shape to pitch).” Pitching coach Rick Fisher, left, watches the pitcher and catcher from near the dugout as the team’s game against Columbine gets underway at Easton Fields in Littleton on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) Those years were only the beginning of a three-decade struggle with addiction. Along the way, Fisher burned through five marriages, endured dysfunctional relationships with his immediate family, specifically his dad, and even dealt drugs himself. Related Articles Weather for Rockies’ Coors Field openers is always a gamble. And this year is no different. Rockies lose in Philadelphia, wasting another strong starting pitching performance, to start season 1-5 Rockies waste Kyle Freeland’s strong start, strike out 14 times in loss to Phillies Rockies Mailbag: Is Kris Bryant done and what does Colorado do with him? Phillies rip Rockies bullpen to negate German Marquez’s dazzling season debut Fisher remains estranged from two of his three adult children — a fact that eats at him. “He was alone a lot of the times because of the choices that he made for himself, and the choices that he made with his women,” explained his oldest daughter, Tami Lomax, a 52-year-old Oklahoma resident. “Because obviously he had poor choices in them, and he did seem to choose those things over his family — his women, his drugs and his alcohol. Those always took a precedence over his kids and his family for a long time.” Lomax is the only one of Fisher’s children he has contact with. She says she’s forgiven him for his absence in her life when she was growing up. Her father’s growth and maturation as a person has been on a learning curve, she says, and Fisher agrees. “I learned that you’ve got to be yourself all the time,” he said. “I thought I was, but apparently I had a demon that was chasing (my true self) away. “I make mistakes still, but it’s how I deal with them: I don’t run and hide anymore. I face my problems as they come.” Finding himself again Since that fateful morning on June 30, 2001, Fisher says he’s remained sober. Amid the clean chapter of his life, baseball has been his constant as he’s focused on being a better friend and father, and making up for past misdeeds. He rekindled his relationship with his late father. He also got married for a sixth time, to a woman he met through church, and they are approaching their fourth anniversary. Over the past 24 years of of sobriety, the National Adult Baseball Association Hall of Famer continued to play for the Denver Grizzlies, the Sunday-league team he founded in 1992. He also beat esophageal cancer in 2007. Even after that health scare, friend and former teammate Bill Rogan, who manages the Bakersfield Train Robbers in the Pecos League, says Fisher could bring the heat well into his senior years. Rogan estimates Fisher threw in the low 80s well into his 50s and in the mid-70s well into his 60s. Dakota Ridge’s eighth grade feeder team pitching coach, Rick Fisher, works with players between innings during a game against Columbine at Easton Fields in Littleton, Colorado, on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) “He is a guy who always hit his spots really well,” said another longtime Grizzlies teammate Dan Clemens. “He’s crafty, he knows how to pitch, change speeds, he knows how to outthink the hitter most of the time. Even when he was 15, 20 years older than his opponents, he would still sneak fastballs by you because he still had a little bit of zip on it.” Neck issues that required two surgeries have kept Fisher from being a full-time player in recent years and from pitching. But he’s determined to get back on the mound, maybe even at some point this summer. “I want to get back out there to finish on my own terms,” Fisher said. “Even if it’s just one more batter, and one more out, I think I’ve got it in me.” “The Fish” as pitching coach Fisher’s journey inspired a book about him, written by Rogan and released in 2014, as well as a movie of the same name. “Still Pitching” is an independent movie from Faith Full Films. It was completed about five years ago, but still hasn’t been distributed, something Fisher says will hopefully happen this year. As Fisher’s redemption found its way into the movies, he’s also emerged as a mentor at his church and elsewhere. Pastor Cancino says Fisher provides guidance to members of New Life Center who have dealt with addiction. He also speaks to different congregations around the metro area about his struggles. He’s taken his story to the diamond, too. “Shortly after the book came out, we went up to Fort Collins for (a college summer league game) and they gathered the teams off to the side before it started for Rick to talk to the players,” Rogan said. “Like most kids, they’re like ‘Ah geez, another pep talk from an old guy.’ Then Rick started into his story, and all of a sudden these guys were paying attention. Rick Fisher, the pitching coach with Dakota Ridge’s eighth grade feeder team, center, talks with the team in between innings during their game against Columbine at Easton Fields in Littleton, Colorado, on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) “It was no longer just some old guy with a pep talk. And right then, Rick knew the impact of talking about what he went through.” Fisher has taken up coaching to keep scratching his baseball itch. He just started his second season as the pitching coach for Dakota Ridge’s eighth grade feeder team, and Eagles varsity assistant coach Shane Fugita says Fisher’s already made a significant impact. “I consider that team one of our most significant programs in our Dakota Ridge system, because that’s our future,” explained Fugita, who got to know Fisher as the president and CEO of the National Adult Baseball Association. “I picked Rick because he’s old school, and he understands the mechanics and fundamentals of baseball and how to convey them to young pitchers. “… Plus, there have been plenty of times in practice when kids are struggling, and I’ve seen Rick pull kids off to the side, and not only help them with what they’re struggling with baseball-wise, but ask them what’s going on and how they’re feeling off the field. That’s exactly what I’m looking for in a coach.” As Rogan explains, the version of the person that the Dakota Ridge eighth graders are getting is what he believes to be the true, enduring side of Fisher, brought to light since that fateful day in 2001. “Rick’s had a tough life, but he’s turned it around,” Rogan said. “It’s like Rick was the expansion Mets for many years, and then he turned into the ’69 Miracle Mets. Rick was down for as long as you could be. But he ended up winning the fight.” Pitching coach Rick Fisher has a lighthearted moment with catcher Ryan Morris, right, as he reads the small comic inside a bubble gum wrapper during a break in their game against Columbine at Easton Fields in Littleton, Colorado, on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams. ...read more read less