NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Like most sporting events, MLB Ballparks sell beer. In fact, getting a cold one while watching America’s pastime is an institution so idolized and practiced, it might as well be a religion. Like most sporting events, there is a cap on beer sales, and for baseball, sales used to be discontinued after the 7th inning. However, with the inclusion of the pitch clock, games are much faster than they used to be and beer sales have suffered as a result. To counteract this, MLB teams have extended beer sales into the eighth inning. Someone who has an issue with this is Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Matt Strahm.
Strahm’s issue with this new policy has everything to do with fan safety. I have no doubt his heart is in the right place when he says “The reason we stopped hitting the seventh before was to give our fans time to sober up and drive home safe, correct? So now with a faster pace game, and me just being a man of common sense, if the game is going to finish quicker, would we not move the beer sales back to the sixth inning to give our fans time to sober up and drive home?” There’s just one small issue with this statement, it says that it’s baseball’s responsibility to govern drunkards and it’s not.
Whoever thinks that two innings is enough time for fans to appropriately “sober up” is gravely mistaken and quite frankly, you shouldn’t be drinking if you plan to drive. Yes, there’s a reason why bars have parking lots but there’s also a reason why DUIs exist. Let’s also not disregard the fact that Uber/Lyft/cabs and public transportation are both around and are easily assessable from ballparks. For anyone that says that those means of transportation are too expensive, ballparks charge for parking and if you can’t afford a ride home, you can’t afford a drink either.
But it’s more than just about beer. It’s about personal responsibility. If you can’t handle yourself, watch the game from home. No one forces you to purchase a drink or multiple drinks. No one forces you to drive to the ballpark. For being a man of common sense, Strahm failed to provide the most sensible solution which is to have a designated driver. If the DD drinks, maybe you shouldn’t associate yourself with them and call a ride home. The answer is so simple it’s actually frustrating that no one seems to say it. If you look at social media, there are many who echo Strahm’s statement or use it as the foundation for another argument against the pitch clock.
Yet it seems the voices of reason fall on deaf ears. In my opinion, you sell beer until the Mid-Ninth because customers are adults and if adults can’t behave themselves, send them to jail. I’m tired of institutions being held responsible for people acting like children. If a person gets a DUI from the stadium, ban them from purchasing alcohol. Sure their friend might buy them a drink so if they get caught again, ban them from the stadium. Baseball is a popular sport, I’m sure the stadium will survive.
If the previous solution was to let people sober up at the ballpark, then there really wasn’t a solution, to begin with. Alcohol disrupts everything, especially the ability to think quickly or to have high-functioning motor skills. It doesn’t prohibit the ability to call an Uber or to catch the rail. The concept of sobriety is based on time and numbers but gauging the ability of one’s own person to declare themselves sober is based on the feelings of a drunk individual.
Either sell booze or ban it because there is no regulation you can put in place to stop drunk driving except to attack the drunkard who gets behind the wheel. It’s time to stop catering to the lowest dominator of ballpark consumers and to act like the adults deemed mature enough to purchase and consume alcohol.
