Since the day the Boston Globe released its atom bomb of a story about the collapse of the 2011 Boston Red Sox, we have heard a number of different reactions to the idea of drinking in the clubhouse. Some believe there is no place for beer during the game while others admit to having enjoyed a few rally beers at some point in their career.
Since the topic has picked up so much steam over the last month, MLB vice-president Joe Torre had no choice but to get together with the MLB and look into banning beer from clubhouses altogether. They eventually ruled to allow teams to create their own policies, and Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks that is a very, very good idea.
“I’m not into knee-jerk reactions,” Maddon told WEEI.com on Thursday. “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. If you want to be proactive about some thoughts, go ahead, be proactive and I’m all for that. But to say a grown-up can’t have a beer after a game? Give me a break. That is, I’m going to use the word, ‘asinine,’ because it is. Let’s bring the Volstead Act back, OK. Let’s go right back to prohibition and start legislating everything all over again. All that stuff pretty much annoys me, as you can tell.
“I don’t understand any of that. Do we sell beer in the ballpark? These people who attend the games have a much greater chance of becoming drunk by the time they leave than a baseball player does. Most of the time if you have a beer after the game, it’s one, maybe two, and that’s it. I have a glass of wine. I defend there’s not a thing wrong with that. If they want to start pulling beers out of clubhouses they better start pulling them out of ballparks, too, because that’s a higher percentage chance of something going awry.”
Amen, Joe. If the Red Sox hadn’t gone 7-20 in the month of September, this would not even be a topic of discussion. To make a major rule change over it would be completely unreasonable. On a side note, did anyone peg Maddon for a wine guy? I guess the glasses give him a somewhat sophisticated look, but I never would have pictured him enjoying a nice glass of wine in the clubhouse at The Trop. Who knew?
