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!

As many of you active in Twitterville Sunday afternoon may have noticed, there was a bit of activity using the #BBGSports tag. By this point, you probably have heard that there was a debut of Bloomberg Sports’ consumer and professional analytics tools, something they were kind enough to invite me to. Aside from getting to check out the very impressive Bloomberg HQ (which is incredible) and get a sneak preview of these two products, it was a good time to get to meet many of the people you read on a daily basis (more on that in a bit).

The first part of the demo was showcasing their “consumer” product, a fantasy draft and in-season analytics tool. This is part of a working relationship with MLB and represents Bloomberg’s first foray into sports analytics. For those who don’t really know what Bloomberg does, they are the leader in info and analytics for the financial services industry. Every firm who works with the Street in some capacity – from brokerages, to M&A advisory, to law firms, etc. – all have at least a few Bloomberg terminals…these ubiquitous flat screens pumping out reams of news and data on the stocks and stories affecting the companies. Data analytics. It’s what they do and what they do best. Expanding into sports analytics is a natural extension, even if the market isn’t as large. After all, data is data and for all intents and purposes, a player is very similar to a stock. The trick is using the underlying data in order to help the user make the best decision using the best available information.

What Bloomberg conveyed best of all is that they are here to listen to our feedback. They want to know what works and what doesn’t and seem genuinely interested in making a product that people can get the most out of. Given their pedigree in financial services, this is not to be discounted. This is their corporate mantra. And if they are hiring…(raises hand)

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To close out January, Buster Olney does a nice job in outlining the Damon Drama and draws a good parallel:

Think of this like trying to get a date for the senior prom, and Johnny Damon as the target who keeps saying no. The Yankees wanted Damon more than anybody else has wanted Damon, and Damon has repeatedly turned them down — for a time essentially telling them to not even bother calling.

So they got another date.

Is that their fault?

Dateless Damon. Sad, unfortunate but true.