Last week, 22 year old Nick Adenhart was killed in Los Angeles when another 22 year old, driving under the influence, drove his van into the car Nick was in. People shook their heads, said things like “he was just a kid,” and MLB mourned his loss.
Last October, 23 year old Joba Chamberlain was arrested in Nebraska for driving under the influence. People shook their heads, said things like “he’s a kid,” but neither MLB nor the Yankees did anything.
Last year, 35 year old former Angel Scott Spiezio pled guilty to DUI and hit-and-run charges.
In February, former Yankee Jim Leyritz was jailed in connection to a DUI case where he is being charged with vehicular manslaughter.
In April 2007, Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock, driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, was killed when he ran his Ford Explorer into teh back of a flat bed truck.
In March 2007, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa was arrested for DUI in Florida.
In Ocober 2008, Colorado reliever Luis Vizcaino was arrested for driving under the influence in Tampa after driving 71 in a 45 mph zone.
In October 2007, Tampa Bay’s pitching coach was arrested on DUI charges after rear-ending a car near Tropicana Field.
In March 2007, Toronto pitcher Gustavo Chacin was arrested for drunk driving in Tampa.
These were just examples I found after a 5 minute Google search – in other words these were the easy ones.
But is baseball doing anything? Is Bud Selig doing anything?
No
Bud is too busy thinking about maybe punishing Alex Rodriguez for doing steroids.
Baseball now has tough penalties for steroid and drug use. Yet when it comes to alcohol abuse they continue to look the other way.
Don’t get me wrong, steroids are a problem – but obviously alcohol abuse among players is a problem. And really always has been, going back to Babe Ruth. The difference is that steroids have never killed innocent bystanders – alcohol abuse has.
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Um… drunk driving is already illegal. We have police for that. Bud Selig is the commissioner of baseball. Why would it be his responsibility to make sure players aren’t drunk driving? His responsibilities mostly tend towards, well… baseball.
If players do other illegal activities, MLB sanctions them (either suspensions or fines). Look at drug use – if a player is caught with a joint for example, they are suspended and fined. Yet if they are arrested for drunk driving (ala Joba) nothing is done.
Whatever the consequences are to players, it won’t make any difference. People drive drunk. Athletes, being people, but more importantly people who are sometimes young and sometimes immature and sometimes think they are indestructible are going to drive drunk.