Most of his money is gone. He had to make a deal with the bank to buy time before it forecloses on his Cockeysville home. The cars weren't moving too quickly at Bud Schmidt Buick, where he worked in sales.
"I don't want to be a replacement player, but I had no other choice," said former Orioles left-hander Kevin Hickey. "Anybody else would do the same thing if their house was close to being foreclosed on and they had five daughters and a wife to support."
Hickey is in Port St. Lucie, Fla., working out at the New York Mets' replacement player camp.
"I just hope people don't look upon me as a strikebreaker or the other ugly names they use," he said. "I have feelings and a lot of pride. But there are some times in life that you have to swallow all that pride and do what is best for the survival of your family. There are five good reasons [daughters aged 4 to 18] why I'm doing this."
The man who mystified some of the top left-handed hitters in baseball in 1989 -- Wade Boggs and George Brett were 0-for-5, Harold Baines was 0-for-3 and Don Mattingly 1-for-4 against Hickey -- said he would not be in Mets camp if they had given him a scouting job a few
months ago.
"That's how this whole thing started," he said. "It was between me and Lee May Jr. for a scouting position, and they chose him."
Hickey said he agonized over the decision to be a replacement player.
"If they [union officials] don't want me to cross the line, why is nobody calling me?" he said. "They've helped me out before and I'm thankful for that. It's like a friend who never calls."
He points out that he went on strike for 2 1/2 months in 1981 while with the Chicago White Sox to make the "game better for a Frank Thomas and a Ken Griffey Jr., who are now making millions of dollars.
"They aren't putting bread on my table now, and I'm not putting it on their table," he said. "I'm not on either side. I wish I had time to explain to 800-odd major-league players why I'm doing this. I'm not looking at it like I'm doing anything against the players. They can come back any time they want."
Hickey, who was released by the Orioles after the All-Star break in 1991, still works for their public relations department. He worked for the Bowie Baysox in 1993 when the team played at Memorial Stadium, and in 1994 for ARA services at the Stadium Club at Oriole Park.
"My job was to greet and meet people," he said. "I only made $8 an hour. That was a joke."
Hickey said he has not signed a replacement contract and his status with the Mets is up in the air.
"Hopefully, the Mets will reward me for going out on a limb for them."
Mets general manager Joe McIlvaine watched Hickey pitch Monday and said: "I liked the way he threw; I liked his action on the mound."
"I was outrunning all those 21-year-olds in camp the other day," Hickey said. "I'll go to my grave believing that I shouldn't have been released by the Orioles."
It came after he pitched 14 innings, allowed 15 hits and 14 runs, including three home runs. The 9.00 ERA was a major dropoff from the 2.92 and 5.13 of his previous two years.
Hickey, who will be 39 Saturday, also is coming back from a serious health problem. Five months ago, he said, he was a day away from going into a diabetic coma.
Doctors discovered he was diabetic when he took a physical to work for Bud Schmidt Buick, and he was sent straight to the hospital.
Hickey lost 35 pounds, down from his playing weight of 197.
"The doctors have gotten me straightened out, and I passed the Mets physical with flying colors," said Hickey. "They told me I should take it easy for a few days in camp, but I'm feeling so good that I don't have to slow up at all."