Major League Baseball: What's Beer Got to Do with It?

What's the difference between a beer drinking cult hero and a beer drinking clubhouse cancer? Winning, apparently. I'm sorry, but all of the piling on Red Sox pitchers for drinking beer in the clubhouse during the 2011 seasons seams a bit disingenuous. It doesn't seem like all that long ago when Boston hero Johnny Damon was sitting on a national talk show referencing players drinking Jack Daniels in the clubhouse prior to game 5 of the 2004 ALCS. In that same interview, he referenced gaining 15 pounds in the offseason and stated, "I'm gaining weight the right way. I'm drinking beer."

Flash forward to the present again and Boston talk radio lines are lighting up with fans complaining about how these spoiled, rich players showed up out of shape to spring training. Boston sports writers are treating it like Fenway's version of Watergate. Drinking beer in the clubhouse, something that Boston players have always done, is suddenly the lowest of the low. Funny, I don't remember fans complaining when the documentary "Still We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie", showed members of the 2003 pitching staff drinking beer in the clubhouse.

Perhaps Rays manager Joe Maddon said it best when he was asked about banning alcohol in MLB clubhouses in light of Red Sox "Beergate" drama. He responded by saying, " If somebody had all of these wonderful thoughts prior to this happening, I may be more on board with it, or more empathetic to it. But all of this knee-jerk stuff that occurs in our game absolutely drives me crazy." Way to hit the nail on the head Joe.

This faux outrage over major league baseball players drinking beer in the clubhouse is nothing more than the flavor of the week. It's always been a part of baseball and reporters and fans never care much about it when teams are winning. This is baseball we're talking about! One of the teams is named the Brewers. The St. Louis Cardinals were owned by Anheiser Busch for over 40 years, and they still play in Busch Stadium. When St. Louis and Philadelphia met in the ALDS, the mayors of each respective city publicly bet a case of local beer on the series. When the Cardinals former manager Tony La Russa was arrested in March of 2007 for driving under the influence and falling asleep inside his running car at an intersection during Spring Training, he received a standing ovation in his first game back as manager. When he retired last month after winning the World Series, no one cared.

And the Red Sox and Cardinals have a lot of company in this department. There are 13 major league baseball teams that still allow beer in their clubhouse. And some of the teams that don't allow beer in their clubhouse still allow beer in the visitor clubhouse. The New York Daily News recently reported that Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi used to pass rally beers which they called "protein shakes" in the dugout in New York. Detroit Tigers MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera was arrested for driving while under the influence this February. Other major league players arrested for driving under the influence this year include; Shin-soo Choo, Adam Kennedy, Austin Kearns, Coco Crisp and Derek Lowe.

Baseball players have large salaries and a lot of free time. They spend a lot of time away from home and they often don't have to show up to work until the afternoon. They're also human and they deserve to be treated as such. That's not to say baseball's relationship with alcohol doesn't have a darker side. In 2007, Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed while driving under the influence. His teammate and fellow pitcher Tyler Johnson later disclosed that he would go out at night while with the Cardinals in 2006 and drink "10 or 15 beers a night". He went on to say, "we would go out almost every single night and have fun." Eventually, Johnson sobered up while Hancock never got the opportunity.

There is talk that major league baseball may ban alcohol in all major league clubhouses. But I wouldn't count on it. Beer always has and always will be part of baseball. And really, what difference does it make? If you want to be angry at players for drinking, that's fine. But don't treat them like heroes when they drink all year and win a World Series, then call them lazy slobs when they drink all year and miss the playoffs.