Author and Anti-pedophile activist Leeronnie Ogletree talks about his forthcoming book 'Major League Addiction' available for purchase on Amazon.com.

The book takes an inside look at baseball and exposes a side of the "National Pastime" that few have seen and even fewer really know about.

At the age of 10 Leeronnie Ogletree met Donald James Fitzpatrick in Winter Haven, Florida. Fitzpatrick was the clubhouse manager for the Boston Red Sox. Winter Haven was the Red Sox spring training home at the time. Fitzpatrick invited Ogletree to work in the Red Sox clubhouse. Soon after, he molested Ogletree.

The molestation went on for years, only ending when Ogletree became "too old" for Fitzpatrick's interests.

Ogletree became a greenskeeper for the Red Sox in Boston. Then he became involved with the team keep the players happy. Among his responsibilities was acquiring drugs for players. While engaging in the drug acquisitions Ogletree developed a "Major League Addiction" of his own.

Years later he gave up drugs, returning to Winter Haven and a life of seeming normalcy. Having built a life as a contractor with his children and their mother, disaster struck. He began having nightmares. Being free of the drugs allowed the memory of the abuse he had experienced to return into his consciousness with full force.

Returning to drug abuse resulted in several incarcerations. Eventually, it was a stint in drug treatment which led to the realization Ogletree had been suppressing Fitzpatrick's abuse. A 2003 trial resulted in Fitzpatrick being arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced. The sentence was exceptionally lenient. Fitzpatrick received a suspended sentence and probation. He died two years later.

Having confronted the reality of childhood sexual abuse he had survived became comforting. The more he told his story the more he gained peace with his past.

Ogletree began a one man protest to inform the public about the pedophiles which were hiding in plain sight. This began in September 2011. When the Penn State sex abuse scandal broke it put Ogletree in the spotlight. An article published on thepostgame.com highlighted similarities between what Ogletree experienced and the charges against former Penn State Assistant Football Coach Jerry Sandusky.

Since the article's posting, numerous others have revealed the abuse they were subjected to by Fitzpatrick, affectionately known in the Red Sox clubhouse as "Fitzy."

Being liberated from a shame which was not his own. Ogletree is on a mission to reveal what happened to him. Can the public stand this much truth?

Hold MLB accountable

The story of Leeronnie Ogletree is one that needs to be told.  It is time the events which took place in his life cease being ignored and people need to make themselves accountable.

There is  reality in baseball which is being ignored.  People are being portrayed as something other than what they really are.  It is time to let the truth be told.  Everything needs to be on the table.  There is a side to Major league baseball that it must be my destiny to tell about.  I lived it and saw it and now have to tell it to everyone I can.  Humans are flawed.  They have defects.  We must be able to see people as who they are.  We must be able to accept our defects and not attempt to conceal them.  I spent years hiding my shame with drugs.  Now I want to let others know that the most important thing they can do is tell the truth.  I was around someone who took advantage of the way major league baseball operates.  If it has done nothing to correct those flaws, then there are people who still can exploit those flaws today.  I have to make sure that does not happen.  Major League Baseball needs to be responsible for the children it attracts.

http://www.afro.com/sections/news/national/story.htm?storyid=73140

From Another Era And Another Sport, A Sex Abuse Scandal Still Inflicting Pain Today

This is the article which drove us to publish the book MAJOR LEAGUE ADDICTION.  Only short articles were written about Mr. Ogletree and the abuse he suffered while working with the Boston Red Sox at the hands of James Donald Fitzpatrick.

This article is very well researched, detailed and fair.  Give it a read.