Alan Wiggins

Alan Anthony Wiggins (February 17, 1958 - January 6, 1991) was a Major League Baseball second baseman and left fielder. He was the first baseball player known to die of AIDS.

Early career

Wiggins was born in 1958 in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from Hialeah High School in Hialeah, Florida, he went back to California, and spent one year at Pasadena Community College before being selected by the California Angels as the eighth overall pick of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.

Wiggins failed to live up to his early promise, and after a season and a half in the Angels' organization, in which he batted .241 with two home runs, he was released. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers shortly afterwards, and picked up an incredible 120 stolen bases for the Lodi Dodgers in . He caught the eye of San Diego Padres General Manager Jack McKeon, who drafted him in the 1980 rule 5 draft.

San Diego Padres

After having spent most of his minor league career as an infielder, he was converted into an outfielder with the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League in . After batting .302 with 33 runs batted in, he received a September call-up. In his first season, he only got 14 at bats, but made the most of them, picking up five hits.

Wiggins split between the Islanders and Padres. He was busted for possession of cocaine just after the All-Star break, and underwent drug treatment. By the end of April , he earned the lead-off spot in the Padres' batting order without earning...
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