Boston Red Sox: Terry Francona Is Wrong About BoSox Clubhouse Beer Ban

A lot of things contributed to the Boston Red Sox's epic September collapse in 2011, but two things have gotten extra attention: beer and chicken.

New manager Bobby Valentine has yet to ban chicken, but he decided this past weekend to ban alcohol from the team's clubhouse.

"It's just what I've always done, except in Texas, I guess," Valentine said, according to ESPNBoston.com. "I'm comfortable with it that way."

So what does old manager Terry Francona think of Bobby V's decision?

Actually, he didn't sound all that impressed with it when he talked about it on Mike and Mike in the Morning.

Via ESPNBoston.com:

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"I think it's a PR move," Francona, now an ESPN analyst, said on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" show. "I think if a guy wants a beer, he can probably get one. You know, it's kind of the old rule ... If your coach in football says no hard liquor on the plane—I mean, you serve beer and wine—somebody's going to sneak liquor on the plane.

"If you furnish a little bit, it almost keeps it to a minimum."

...

"I don't think it's a surprise that they put this in effect, or the fact they announced it," Francona said of the alcohol ban. "It's probably more of a PR move just because, you know, the Red Sox (took) such a beating at the end of the year."

"

Francona has a point in that Valentine's decision to ban alcohol from the clubhouse will no doubt please Red Sox Nation, which wasn't happy to hear that several of the team's top pitchers made a habit out of drinking during games on off days. Valentine didn't have to ban alcohol to please fans, but his decision will most definitely sit well with fans anyway.

But that's not all there is to this. By referring to this merely as a PR move, Francona is ignoring what Valentine is really trying to do.

Ever since he was hired, Bobby V has only made it more and more clear that he means to change the culture of the Red Sox. Francona was a good manager, but his tendency to keep things loose and easygoing really came back to bite him in 2011.

Judging from all the various reports, Francona had little to no authority over his team. That led some players to basically do whatever the heck they wanted.

Valentine's not about to let that happen to him. It's already apparent that he means to be the anti-Francona. He's not about to outlaw fun, but he clearly means business.

By banning alcohol, Bobby V is sending a message to his players more than he's sending a message to fans. He wants his players (a select few of them in particular) to know that he's not about to let the team's success be derailed by trivial distractions like booze in the clubhouse.

Players obviously aren't going to give up drinking altogether, but David Ortiz said it best when he said that the clubhouse "ain't a bar."

So to call this a blatant PR move is not giving Valentine the credit he deserves. He's not trying to please the public. He's trying to change the culture of the team he inherited, which apparently was out of control under Francona.

Valentine has gone out of his way to establish the fact that he's in control. He's doing it for the sake of winning, not for the sake of curbing all the jokes about beer and chicken consumption.