Banning alcohol from MLB Clubhouses, improving play on the field
First, a quote from today's Chicago Tribune...
Drinking starts in the clubhouse
Hancock's death brings questions about alcohol use
Published May 2, 2007
Billy Beane, as progressive of a GM as there is in baseball, banned beer from the Athletics' clubhouse during the 2006 season. He instituted the rule shortly after pitcher Esteban Loaiza was stopped for drunken driving after leaving the clubhouse.
---------
Back in the 70's when I was going to a lot of Cubs games, you'd see the players go to their cars with a beer in their hand. Lots of police around guarding the player's parking lot of no-one objecting to the obvious flaunting of open liquor laws. The Cubs are under new ownership since those days, so I'm not picking on the "new"
I've read rumors on MLB bulletin boards about bars serving visiting baseball team players extra strong drinks after a game... It's the bartenders way of creating a home team advantage.
I've also read about fans lining up to buy their favorite home team players an alcoholic beverage. How is that benefiting their team? How 'bout buying them a protein shake instead?
Personally, I'd like to see my favorite team train like olympic athletes during the entire
baseball season and abstain from anything that would negatively affect their performance.
Granted, Olympians don't get that "crazy paycheck" that professional athletes receive...
With the Cubs having a special situation of playing more day games in the summer Chicago heat, it seems like the LAST THING they'd want are beverages that serve to dehydrate their players.
According to an ESPN article:
The detrimental effects of alcohol on performance are extremely well documented and include impairment of the following:* Balance and steadiness
* Reaction time
* Fine and complex motor skills
* Information processing
* Boisterousness, unsteadiness, slurred speech
* Nausea, vomiting, marked unsteadiness, drowsiness
"Additionally, alcohol may impair temperature regulation during prolonged exercise in the cold, and in the heat, its diuretic effect may lead to dehydration," says Wadler. "Poorly appreciated is the fact that athletes who socially consume excessive alcohol the evening after a practice or a game may subsequently have an impairment of athletic skills for as long as 14 hours." Hangovers, the residual or "day-after" effect of alcoholic consumption, can result in symptoms of headaches, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, dehydration, and body aches that can diminish athletic performance.
http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/alcohol.html
Accrding to the Center for Alcohol Studies and Education...
* Alcohol use is directly linked to the rate of injury sustained in sport events and appears to evoke detrimental effects on exercise performance capacity (El-Sayed, M.S.; Ali, N.; El-Sayed, A.Z. Interaction between alcohol and exercise: physiological and hematological implications. Sports Med. 35(3): 257-269, 2005.)
* The incidence of injury among athletes who are drinkers is 54.8%, compared with 23.5% in non-drinkers. (p < 0.005) (O'Brien, C.P. and Lyons, F. Alcohol and the Athlete. Sports Med. 29(5): 295-300, 2000.)
* The hangover effect of alcohol consumption has been shown to reduce athletic performance by 11.4%. (O'Brien, C.P. and Lyons, F. Alcohol and the Athlete. Sports Med. 29(5): 295-300, 2000.)Alcohol inhibits the body’s ability to eliminate the metabolic byproducts of exercise (such as lactic acid) as well as its ability to use fat and protein, which are necessary for energy during endurance sports.
http://www.uwec.edu/case/heyblugolds/effects.htm
Now it seems to me that if the Cubs want a true "home team advantage" they should train properly and avoid anything, including alcohol that would harm their performance on the field.
What is more important? That beer right now or winning more games during the season?
Now I don't know what the drinking habits of the Cubs are, but I do hope that they'll do everything they can to play to the utmost extreme of their abilities.
If winning is truly one of the most important things to the Cubs organization I hope they'll do every positive thing they can to bring out the best in their athletes.
Years ago I researched the topic of Chicago Cubs players who died at early ages.
There was one Cubs team that really lost of lot of former teammates at rather young ages.
I was told that team was known to have a problem with alcoholism.
The Cubs do a lot to protect the health of their players. I've read about their efforts to prevent what happened to former player Steve Macko, prevent skin cancer, and so on.
Hopefully they are also pro-active in other health issues as well.
-------------
- diana's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Lou Not Adverse to Ban
Writes the Chicago Sun-Times. Of course, it appears, the ban will need to be imposed from on high rather than Piniella himself.
David Wells quits drinking
Wells makes major lifestyle changes due to diabetes
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2804147
Cubs fans wishlist
Cubs fans TV listings
Ryne Sandberg Day
Cardinals Ban Alcohol
"The St. Louis Cardinals banned alcohol from the clubhouse on Friday, five days after the alcohol-related fatal accident of pitcher Josh Hancock," reports the AP.
Deaths among active baseball players since 1970
More newslinks...
Beer is widely available to Major Leaguers
By Derrick Goold ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 05/06/2007
Column about alcohol rankles Guillen
Deaths among active baseball players since 1970
==================
Cubs fans wishlist
Cubs fans TV listings
Ryne Sandberg Day
Cubs Ban Alcohol (Partially)
The Chicago Tribune reports:
Reds 9 Cubs 0
Reds 9 Cubs 0
Before you read my post please read the posts above...I'll wait
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay...the Cubs discontinued alcohol beverage use last year in the Wrigley Field hometeam clubhouse and they won their division. Hmmmmm.
What if they also discontinued the availability of alcoholic beverages on the road too? Remember, baseball players are athletes and they should be doing EVERYTHING they can to compete at the top level of their abilities.
Getting the chance to win the last MLB game of the year is worth it.