Should The Dbacks Ban Alcohol In The Clubhouse?
Since the passing of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock their have been changes in many clubhouses throughout baseball. The Yankees and Oakland have banned alcohol in both clubhouses. Numerous other clubs are thinking of following suit. But should the Dbacks follow the trend? Should any team be doing this or is it completely reactionary to a case of poor judgment by Josh Hancock?
Honestly no team let alone the Arizona should be banning alcohol in the clubhouse. Last time I checked these are adults. They have been making their own decisions, I would assume, for years. If they can’t make the same decision Joe Nobody at the local sports bar has to make after numerous cold ones and not drink and drive then maybe they aren’t smart enough to be a millionaire.
It is ridiculous to ban something that has been in the clubhouse for years and hasn’t been an issue till now. It would be one thing if Josh Hancock had just left the clubhouse and had partaken in one too many and got in a car accident because of his drinking but he didn’t. He left a restaurant reportedly on his way to a bar. This was obviously a bigger problem then just having too much alcohol in the clubhouse. Hancock had personal demons that went deeper than what happened at the stadium.
The better solution for baseball may be to provide players with counselors for issues such as alcoholism, substance abuse and depression. Instead of reacting to the situation and putting a Band-Aid on it how about actually helping the players and attempting to fix things. How about putting better examples in leadership positions. Hancock’s very own manager Tony La Russa had a drunk driving incident in spring training. How did La Russa handle the situation? By completely ignoring it and the team did not even suspend him for the next day’s game.
Would making an example of La Russa prevented what happened to Hancock? Probably not but maybe it would have made him think twice before getting behind the wheel. Or maybe if La Russa took more responsibility for it he could have been an example for Hancock. Instead none of that happened and the league is reacting. Instead of treating these athletes like kids how about treating them like adults and truly helping them instead of slapping them on the wrist.
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Posted by Greg Esposito
Co-founder of AzSportsHub.com. Greg provides the sometimes serious, sometimes sarcastic and always interesting takes on Arizona sports (at least we hope). Whether it’s on In The Zona with Matt or in his column Greg reports, rants and raves about whatever is in the news for Arizona Sports.
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