Padres The Latest MLB Team To Alter Alcohol Policy

Brian Giles Has No Problem With Padres’ New Alcohol Policy

The Padres became the latest MLB team to alter their alcohol policy after the death of Cardinals P Josh Hancock, but the team “stopped short of a complete ban,” according to Jay Posner of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Alcohol will still be available in both the home and road clubhouses, but the team said that “quantities will be limited to ensure moderate, responsible consumption.” Alcohol will also remain on team charter flights, but “it will not be served during the final two hours of a trip back to San Diego,” and it will not be served at all on flights less than two hours. The new policy does not affect the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park. Padres CEO Sandy Alderson and manager Bud Black said that the changes “were made with input from the front office, coaching staff and players.” Padres LF Brian Giles said, “It’s a pretty fair policy” (UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/13).

CARDINALS: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar reported during Rockies-Cardinals last Tuesday, an FSN Midwest camera “panned outside Busch Stadium trying to find Al Hrabosky’s Ballpark Saloon,” which is located outside the ballpark. With Hancock dying just nine days earlier after leaving announcer Mike Shannon’s bar, Caesar wrote it “seemed very peculiar to be showcasing a bar in general, let alone one tied to a Cardinals broadcaster.” FSN Midwest Exec Producer Mark Hulsey said, “I apologize if anybody was offended” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/12). Also in St. Louis, Joe Strauss reported Cardinals Chair Bill DeWitt Jr. supports manager Tony La Russa and his handling of the Hancock situation. DeWitt: “Tony has my 100[%] support as Cardinals manager.” La Russa was arrested for DUI in March and has been criticized for a “combative stance” towards the media before the team’s first game after Hancock’s death (POST-DISPATCH, 5/12). FSN’s Ken Rosenthal said of La Russa, “There’s some questions around him and there’s even some possibility that (Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty) could leave at the end of the season due to the rising influence of a younger executive, Jeff Luhnow” (“FSN Baseball Report,” FSN, 5/11).

MEETING POST: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) CEO Chuck Hurley indicated that he is “trying to arrange a meeting” with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig next week “to better understand the issue [of alcohol in clubhouses] yet he has not received a return phone call.” MLB officials said they have not heard from him. Hurley: “In baseball, you can drink and drive and no serious action is taken by your employer. Where else does that happen?” In L.A., Bill Plaschke wrote, “Through various charity and outreach programs, baseball teams make daily efforts to show they are trying to be a community’s leading citizen. Why not clear beer out of the clubhouse and prove it?” (L.A. TIMES, 5/13). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes "If I owned a professional sports team, I would err on the side of my own self-interest and tell the players to get their beer somewhere else." In litigious society, "the liability risk inherent in providing free beer to anyone is too great to justify continuing the practice" (Baltimore SUN, 5/14).