Denying denial

Indulge The Common Man as he discusses the baseball. He does it so rarely.

It will come as little shock to most of you that Major League Baseball has problems. Indeed, despite record-breaking revenue and ever-increasing attendance, between steroids, amphetamine abuse, rising ticket costs, and a declining popularity with young males, baseball has its share of issues it will need to resolve in order to remain competitive with other sports leagues (*ahem*NFL*ahem, *ahem*Mixed Martial Arts*ahem*) in the long term.

But the issue that The Common Man wants to address today has been far less visible in the public eye until the recent death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock. Hancock was killed in an car accident at about 12:30 AM on Sunday morning, slamming his rented SUV (his car was in the shop due to another accident a few days earlier) into the back end of a tow truck that was stopped in the middle of the highway. Hancock was killed almost instantly. Since his death, police have revealed that the pitcher's blood/alchohol level was .157, or nearly twice the legal limit in Maryland. In addition, he had eight grams of marijuana in the car and was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident.

These facts, of course, do not mitigate the tragedy of Hancock's death, as the loss of any life is a tragedy. That said, the culture from which Hancock comes and the reaction to it should give us insight into how one young man could be so stupid. You see, baseball is a sport that likes its beer. Most clubhouse refrigerators are well stocked with complimentary bottles and players are well-known to go out after their games for a few pops. Some of the most famous baseball players in the game's history have been heavy drinkers/probable alcoholics: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Pete Rose. During Spring Training, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, the man who was supposed to be responsible for setting the tone for his team and for maintaining discipline amongst his players was charged with DUI. Though LaRussa only blew a .93 (Florida's limit is .08), he was asleep at the wheel of his car, sitting at a red light with his foot on the brake. And he did not initially wake up when officers tap, tap, tapped on his car window. The problem is not confined to the Cardinals. Prominent players Esteban Loiza and Dontrelle Willis have also been popped for DUI in the last year, as has Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden.

Perhaps this is not so bad. After all, there are more than a thousand major league players, coaches, and prominent front office people. Some of them will, undoubtedly fail their good citizenship exams. But, of course, it is likely that far more players are stopped by police and released because they are recognized. Indeed, The Common Man is fairly sure that Johan Santana, Jason Bay, or Ichiro have a better chance of getting off with a light warning and an autograph than he or you do.

And before accepting Hancock's death as an isolated incident, consider the statements of Hancock's teammates and fellow players in the aftermath of his death. According ESPN.com, Cardinal Jim Edmonds "believed that by eliminating one of several elements -- alcohol, talking on the cell phone, speeding, a tow truck parked in a traffic lane with somewhat limited visibility -- Hancock probably would have made it to his destination." Houston Astros manager called what happened to Hancock a "perfect storm" of events that led to his death.

Such rationalizations deflect attention from the central problem that Hancock was drunk and distracted. Of course, if one to remove, say, the truck in the middle of the road, Hancock would have likely made it to his destination (which, according to the woman he was talking to, was another bar). But thousands of drunks make it home every night without killing anyone. This does not mean that driving drunk is somehow a better idea than calling a cab in those instances. Instead, it simply demonstrates that stupidity does not guarantee that you'll be hurt or hurt others. It just makes it much more likely. Sometimes, it takes a while for Darwin to catch up to idiots. After all, there are so many of them to get to. Baseball players, macho guys that they are, tend to believe that they have a high tolerance and deny that alcohol influences them in any significant way.

Following Loiza's arrest, the Oakland A's became one of the first major league teams to ban alcohol from its clubhouse, citing concerns about legal liability and public safety. Since Hancock's death, the Cardinals have followed suit. For far too long, baseball's dirty secret has been that it has a drinking...if not "problem," then what? Habit? Enthusiasm? Perhaps that's unsurprising, given that the league is filled with young, macho men, many of whom have been drinking heavily since their teens. But it is now incumbent upon Major League Baseball and its Commissioner, Bud Selig, to ban all alcohol, save for celebratory champaign, from major league clubhouses. It's time to send the message that work time is work time, and play time is play time, and that it's not imperative to have beer on hand at all times. And trust The Common Man, he says this as a man who has a healthy enthusiasm for beer.