There was a lost of controversey last season when it was reported that starting pitchers were drinking beer in the clubhouse during games they were not pitching in, but manager Bobby Valentine is putting an end to that. Â Check the jump for the full story!
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The Red Sox have banned beer in the clubhouse and beer consumption on the last leg of road trips, according to manager Bobby Valentine announced Saturday afternoon.
Valentine said he informed the team of the change Saturday morning during a meeting of the full squad, with the Red Sox owners and the baseball operations staff in attendance.
The ban applies to all alcoholic beverages, the Red Sox confirmed.
Red Sox starters Josh Beckett and Jon Lester met separately with reporters last weekend, expressing varying degrees of responsibility for the team’s collapse last September, but agreeing that the fans’ anger was understandable.
Valentine, when asked how the change was received Saturday, said: “You mean standing ovation or booing? I didn’t get either of those. Probably fell somewhere in between a standing O and a standing boo.”
Valentine said he did not speak with any of the team’s veterans before announcing the policy.
The Cardinals banned alcohol in their clubhouse in 2007, five days after pitcher Josh Hancock, who played briefly for the Red Sox, died in an alcohol-related automobile accident.
Both the Mets & Yankees have banned alcohol from their clubhouses.
Former Yankees manager Joe Torre said during the World Series last fall — when he was still working in the commissioner’s office — that MLB might consider an alcohol ban in all clubhouses.
Asked in general about what other rules he discussed Saturday, Valentine said: “Not to embarrass themselves or the team, the community, their teammates, themselves. I don’t think that’s a new rule. It’s a long-standing rule of life.”
Source ESPN
