A’s Mike Fiers survived car crash, fought long odds to make big leagues
Ten years ago, Mike Fiers nearly lost his life on Florida’s Turnpike, just north of Orlando.
The new A’s starter had decided to stay to watch a bowl game that January night, delaying his drive from Pompano Beach, near Fort Lauderdale, back to the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky until late at night.
Just outside Orlando, at around 2:30 a.m., Fiers fell asleep at the wheel.
He hit the median, was ejected from the car and blacked out. When Fiers came to, he was wedged in the guardrail, with his car on the other side of the freeway, still running.
“It was so crazy I didn’t know what was going on,” Fiers said. “When I woke up in the guardrail, I realized I was alive, but I didn’t know what was wrong with me right away.