J. Hancock and overserved pro athletes
A reasoned column on the senseless Hancock tragedy, by a St. Louis columnist who confessed in print to having his own DUI many years ago. I got ripped mightily on the e-mail for a column I did on Hancock the other day. The opinion was: If toxicology tests reveal Hancock had been overserved before crashing and dying, clubhouse culture is partly to blame. Every MLB clubhouse but one (Oakland's) provides players with beer. Players who drink too much are never chided by their peers, certainly not publicly. Drinking is an accepted part of the lifestyle. Until you die.
We've had a bunch of local coaches and players involved in alcohol-related incidents... B. Huggins, K. LeGree, R. Freel, O. Thurman, the former Bengal Mack, who was asleep at the wheel in his car on the suspension bridge. Thankfully, none was hurt. Or hurt anyone else. Too harsh a column, so soon after a needless death? Maybe. If it turns one head to take one cab, it was worth it.
posted by Paul Daugherty at 8:46 AM
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Post a Comment*Sometimes you need to tell your child something like, "That's why I told you not to stand on the stool!" While he's still crying from the fall. This is similar. If it waits too long, the lesson is less likely to be learned by those who may be willing to learn it.
It was away from the ballpark, but I remember the 1993 spring training boat accident that killed Cleveland Indians Steve Olin and Tim Crews (and nearly killed Bob Ojeda) was also alcohol-fueled.
The code of silence that exists in professional sports and its locker rooms is not just confined to the pros. Itexists at the collegiate and high school level on a somewhat lesser scale.
The column you wrote on Hancock's death should not have been ripped but should be posted in every pro, college and high school lockerroom as a warning.
It's not just the athletes and coaches. P Cox, T Mara, the fireman who killed my co-worker at Humana, the teens who drink and kill their best friends, the drunken boater who killed the Mr and Mrs Martini, then fled the scene...the drunk who ran down the fans a few years back..can someone get through to the substance abusers , or must more innocents die because of their "lifestyle choices" ?
"Get beer out of the clubhouse." Good sound bite, good radio. But classic CYA (cover your ass)mentality. You want culture change...take a vested interest in the players life. It certainly looks like Hancock has had alcohol problems for a long time...did anyone do anything about it? Who knows? But getting beer out of the clubhouse 'because I can't have it at my work therefore they shouldn't have it either' is shortsighted and ludricous. You can't walk around in skivvies after hours at your work either and say the F-word out loud without getting in trouble...but you can in a clubhouse. Beer in the clubhouse is an easy target but it ain't the problem. Having 3 or 4 Bud Lites after a ball game doesn't make you plow into a wrecker at 75 mph. Going down to the local watering hole for 3 hours after work and pounding the spririts very well might. Bottom line...if you there is an alcohol problem with an athlete get him help, counseling, etc., but a eliminating a cold one or two after the game is laughable. The Oakland GM missed the boat...big time. Let's not try to legislate morality. It never works...never has...never will.
John--C'mon...Did you seriously facetiously tell Paul "good sound bite..." at the beginning of your rant, and then close it with, "Let's try not to legislate morality." Do you get why me and my co-workers I showed your post to are laughing?
Your attempt (I guess) at an analogy with skivvies and the F-Word in the locker room was, um...nebulous at best.
And having "3 or 4 Bud Lights" after a game does get the average person--including ball players--drunk. Ohio Dept. of Public Safety says that it takes 1 hour after completing a 12 oz beer before one is under the legal limit...bottom line is we're all TECHNICALLY over the legal limit most times after having a beer and then driving soon after, but 3 or 4 doesn't just put you technically over (the players aren't hanging around for hours after imbibing so that they are sober enough to drive upon leaving the stadium), it leaves you extremely impaired, you twit.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was drunk at the time of his fatal accident, and marijuana was found in the sport utility vehicle he was driving.
Police Chief Joe Mokwa also said at a news conference Friday that the 29-year-old Hancock was speaking on a cell phone at about the time of the crash early Sunday on Interstate 64 in St. Louis.
"Mr. Hancock was legally intoxicated at the time of the accident," Mokwa said.
St. Louis medical examiner Michael Graham said Hancock's blood-alcohol level was 0.157, nearly twice Missouri's legal limit of 0.08.
Mokwa said 8.55 grams of marijuana and a glass pipe used to smoke marijuana were found in the rented Ford Explorer. Toxicology tests to determine if drugs were in his system had not been completed.
Whooooops..................
Sadly, the man Hancock had to look up to as a role model in the clubhouse was Tony LaRussa, who got busted for a DUI in spring training, and was not punished at all....which, especially in hindsight, I find shameful.
Perhaps a stern punishment from MLB would have given Hancock pause on Saturday night.
9:07 needs to check his research, one beer does not get anyone "over the legal limit."
It does take the average person 1 hour to metabolize a 12 oz beer--that eliminate the alcohol effect as measured in the bloodstream--and an addtional 1 hr for each beer consumed.
But, in order to get to .08, it takes the average 180 lb male 5-6 beers in one hour and at least one additional beer per hour after that to maintain it.
Get a clue, Prohibition-Boy.
John,
since when is prohibiting people from driving impaired and injuring innocent others legislating morality? It's only been the law to remain under a certain limit for like, decades. If that kind of thinking prevents some pampered pro athlete from killing someones children, I'm all for it. And you should be too. This is not infringing on anyones 'rights', unless you are arguing the right to kill innocent people is constitutionally protected. By your logic, maybe teams should offer a few lines of blow, or hits from the bong on their way out the clubhouse door, too. Your comment about chugging 3-4 beers after a game and driving home is SCARY. You say it doesn't make you crash - well guess what - IT DOESN'T HELP either. You are WAAAYYY off base. In case you haven't noticed, alcohol related incidents are on a serious rise lately. At best you are callous and uninformed.
What a crock.
Tell me, who other than the players spends more time in the clubhouse? That's right, it's the gossip writers. (better known as sportswriters)
The gossip guys bounce around, cultivating their sources. We hear about supposed injuries, fueds, practice habits (or lack thereof), who likes who and who doesn't....the list goes on.
We hear about these specifics from the gossip writers, but never hear who or where the come from. Reveal the identity and lose the source. (sounds kind of Mafia-istic doesn't it?) Repeat the info told from another gossip and you have broken the code. (see McAlister walking off his show)
Keep in mind, all this we hear happens in every workplace. None of this means a hill of beans in the big picture. All it does is sell papers or boost ratings.
Doc lays fault in the lap of MLB. I wonder how many times he or any other gossip has written MLB to alert them of a potential problem with an athlete.
They know everything else about these guys......... Yet they stay mum......
and a life is lost.........
Maybe it could have been saved.... and then again, maybe not.....
As long as the bottom line is healthy, it really doesn't matter, there will be more sources, more stories.........
and more silence regarding matters that really matter....
1:02: not my job to police a clubhouse... actually, to write about guys who drink too much would be "gossip'' ... because, given The Code, most of it is rumor, anyway. Did you see the Cards banned alcohol in their clubhouse? Unless it's purely symbolic, someone in a position to know what's going on took a stand. Great news. Better late than never. Time for the rest of MLB to do likewise.
Hi Doc -- First, I think it is a terrible loss for the Hancock family regardless of who we want to assign blame to.
I do find it ironic that Saint Louis, the home of Anheuser-Busch, chose to ban beer from their clubhouse.
I am sure that smoking was banned some time ago because of the links of tobacco to lung cancer and other diseases. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America.
Eating food containing trans-fat products leads to coronary disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America. Using your logic, perhaps MLB should ban doughnuts from the clubhouse; they'll save a lot more ball players in the long run.
Honestly, I think it is ludicrous to pass rules and regulations that tell us what, where and when we are allowed to eat, drink, or smoke. I find cigarette smoke offensive, but even more odious than cigarette smoke are these social laws.
Hey, Chena... a few things: Nobody ever died from eating a doughnut... or killed anybody else. While I agree we shouldnt legislate morality, I welcomed to the smoking ban in Ohio...went to a Dickey Betts concert at a small venue here a few years ago... smoke thicker than that a T-bone... pretty much ruined it for me... felt like I needed a chest X-ray afterward. If people want to kill themselves through drink or smoke, have at it. Just don't make me part of your party. And sorry to hear about Ricky Cowan...
This issue of players with substance abuse problems and MLB stoneage clubhouse protocols has legs. I find it appalling that teams refuse to acknowledge the correlation between substance abuse and performance on the field. Whether it be Josh Hancock hungover for a business day special, Chris Henry dropping a TD pass on the opening drive against the Steelers or Odell Thurman shooting the wrong gap and giving up a 30 yard run because he doesnt study the game plan, the teams are willing accomplices by ignoring/tolerating obvious signs of substance abuse. The Reds cut John Hancock on the first day of spring training because he failed to meet his required weight. How could a mediocre relief pitcher fighting for a roster spot come into camp 30 pounds overweight with a potential million dollar contract on the line? Those ten drinks/ day and accompanying 1000 calories can pack on the pounds and those hangovers can make it hard to get to the gym at 8 am and hit the stairstepper for 45 minutes. Did the Reds cut him because he was overweight or did they cut bait on an alcoholic and use the weight issue as a convenient excuse. Hes a big boy but wouldnt a suspension and mandatory treatment( ala Odell Thurman) have served him better than latching on to the Cards to perpetuate the problem. Where's Rob Bell these days? Steroids/GH? Same deal of protecting players when it helps no one. This is a great game that needs some cleaning up instead of protecting/preserving clubhouse tradition.
Paul:
I'd be interested to hear Josh Hamilton's take on the best approach to deal with Josh Hancock when he shows up with a hangover and Wayne Krivsky's answer if Hancock was an alcoholic when he played for the Reds.
I'm sure there are instances of someone driving, talking on the cell phone either killing themselves or others.
The fact that he was "overserved" does not excuse him, he could have opted to "underindulge."
He didn't, he died, too bad for him, his family, the St. Louis Cardinal fans. At least he didn't take any innocent drivers with him. That isn't always the case.
1:03... Amen, brother. To everything you wrote..sometimes, readers make my points better than I can...
"not my job to police a clubhouse"......
Are you saying that if you had knowledge yourself (not gossip)that there is a problem in the clubhouse (not outside the clubhouse) that filters outside of the clubhouse and puts the public in danger that you would not say anything to anyone (MLB)?
If yes, then it is all about ratings and papers sold.
If no, then you are a hypocrite.
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