Of all the things that MLB could seek to purge from the wide-reaching circles of the game, beer in the clubhouse doesn’t rank first on my list. I understand where Jon Paul Morosi is coming from, though:
A universal ban on alcohol in major league clubhouses is long overdue. Until every team removes beer from the working quarters of its employees, each day on the baseball schedule will include the most unsettling of possibilities that alcohol consumed in a clubhouse could contribute to injury or death on the road.
I struggle to think of a good reason why baseball clubhouses should be viewed differently than all the other workplaces where alcohol is forbidden. The NFL gets this. Roger Goodell has a simple, easy-to-remember policy: If you’re in the locker room, bus or airplane of an NFL team, you can’t drink. Period.
It’s time for Major League Baseball to do the same thing, rather than continue leaving the decision to individual teams.
This is a low-hanging fruit, in my eyes. Could it be done? Of course. Should it be done? Probably so. They don’t offer beer in my office and I’m guessing they don’t offer it in yours, unless you work for Budweiser, Coors, etc. Naturally Craig has his lawyerly take and it’s worth reading.
So let’s make a list of things we want banned from baseball (including the fan experience side of the game), shall we? In no particular order, here are a few to start us off:
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A hearty congrats to Jon Miller, named yesterday as the 2010 Ford C. Frick award winner.
“Jon Miller is one of baseball’s most recognizable voices and is extremely deserving of this prestigious honor,” said Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “His soothing play-by-play, his affable and welcoming personality and his relaxed nature on-air give every baseball fan a personal invitation to enjoy the game, as if each was sitting in the front row.”
Maybe now he’ll retire that awful yellow shirt (white collar) that he wears on nearly every Sunday Night Baseball broadcast!
