Should beer be allowed in the clubhouse?

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If you are going to drink in the clubhouse, at least drink a good beer

I don’t know this for certain but I have never seen any player drink a beer in the Rockies clubhouse. I have been in the clubhouse before games and after games and never seen anyone sip a frosty adult beverage. I have seen some of the post game spreads and seen some of the players with large bottles of water but never a Budweiser.

Last year there was a bunch of press surrounding the Boston Red Sox and their historical late season collapse (or was it the Tampa Bay Rays late season surge?). What came after the season were stories that the manager lost control of the clubhouse and a bunch of other excuses as to why the team couldn’t win down the stretch. I think the reason is quite clear: their pitching was pretty terrible. And when speaking of the pitchers we have to mention that it became known that some of the pitchers were reportedly drinking in the clubhouse before, during and after games.

A few months and an offseason later and the Red Sox are without the manager and general manager who helped the franchise win their first World Series in like 100 years and kill the Great Bambino once and for all. A team that was supposedly cursed for 86 years and destined to never win another World Series won two in three years and was a perennial power house in recent history. The 2011 version of this team was picked by almost everyone to win the World Series or at the very least get to the World Series. A really bad stretch of pitching in September and some reports of beer in the clubhouse cost a few guys who don’t throw or hit their jobs.

Under the direction of a new manager it was announced a few days ago that the Red Sox clubhouse will be suds free. New skipper Bobby V says it is not a PR move but old skipper Terry Francona believes it is. Even Joe Maddon, the captain of the ship that beat the ’11 Sox, says beer is OK in the clubhouse because players are adults (even though they pull stunts like lighting feet on fire).

What do you think?

I think beer in the clubhouse is fine (assuming everyone adheres to strict moderation and no one gets behind the wheel intoxicated). Many players spend seven, eight or nine hours a day at the ballpark. Many arrive around noon or 1pm for a seven o’clock start and don’t leave until 10 at night. After a long day if they want to sip a beer (I strongly recommend a Left Hand Milk Stout or a Bull and Bush Man Beer) they should be able.