Adam LaRoche worked undercover freeing sex slaves?

Tim Keown’s ESPN feature on recently retired Chicago White Sox slugger Adam LaRoche contains an eye-popping claim about what he did in the off-season.

The Adam LaRoche story is like the proverbial gift that keeps on giving. Not only did his decision to retire suddenly before the 2016 season, reportedly because of a dispute over how much time his son Drake could spend in the team clubhouse, ensure that the Chicago White Sox stayed in the spotlight (albeit for a reason that likely left them dismayed), it’s offered some bizarre entertainment value all along the way.

Never has that been more true than today, when ESPN senior writer Tim Keown did a long profile on exactly what makes Adam LaRoche tick. Except he may have buried the lede.

As pointed out in hilarious fashion by Deadspin’s Drew Magary, the real stunner is how LaRoche spent part of his fall. Are you ready?

He says he was working with Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Blaine Boyer on a project that very few baseball players have probably ever tackled:

"Then there’s this: LaRoche, along with Brewers pitcher Blaine Boyer, spent 10 days in November in Southeast Asian brothels, wearing a hidden camera and doing undercover work to help rescue underage sex slaves."

It sounds like it could have been dangerous, especially since Boyer claims that “make a wrong move, you’re getting tossed off a building.” It sounds like something that could be made into a movie.

The organization the two players were assisting, The Exodus Road, is very real and devotes its efforts to freeing sex slaves. A noble cause, to be sure, even if the Deadspin piece also offers evidence that even people freed from the sex trade don’t typically have storybook endings to their tales.

In any case, please let that sink in again: Adam LaRoche supposedly spent some of his time off before the season working undercover in brothels trying to free sex slaves. Can his story take any more crazy turns?

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