You Can't Avoid Boyd

The Bases Aren’t The Only Things That Are Loaded In Baseball

 Shin-Shoo Choo, Cleveland Indians OF, has been in the news twice this year for matters outside of Major League Baseball (MLB).  First, he received an exemption from serving in the South Korean army by being a member of the 2011 Asian Games championship team.  All South Korean males have to serve two years in the military by the age of 30.  With Choo’s 30^th birthday in 2012, the Asian Games was his last shot to receive the special exemption granted to gold medal winning athletes.  It was an uplifting story of a man being able to pursue his chosen career, rather than being forced into military duty.  The second story isn’t quite as uplifting.  On Monday, he was arrested for driving under the influence.  After failing many sobriety tests, he was taken into police custody, where he failed the breathalyzer test as well by blowing a .201 (Ohio’s legal limit is .08.)  Choo is part of a disturbing trend in MLB and society.   

Choo became the sixth major league baseball player since January 1^st to be arrested with a DUI, joining Cleveland’s Austin Kearns, Seattle's Adam Kennedy, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, Oakland's Coco Crisp and Atlanta's Derek Lowe.  Among these arrests, two stick out for me.  On the night Coco Crisp was pulled over and arrested, the police officer noticed a 2^nd vehicle had pulled over as well.  When the officer asked Crisp if he knew about the 2^nd vehicle, Crisp acknowledged the two men in the vehicle were his personal security team.  To review, Crisp decided to drive home from a bar, drunk, while his two sober security guards followed behind.  Also, Miguel Cabrera was arrested in February of DUI.  It was reported that Cabrera was drinking scotch in front of the arresting officer and put up a fight during the encounter.  This came about 16 months after Cabrera’s infamous 2009 domestic altercation.  During the MLB stretch run (where his team was fighting for a playoff spot), Cabrera was involved in a physical encounter with his wife early Saturday morning.  While charges were never filed, he was taken into police custody, where his BAC was .26.  It was during this embarrassing time in his life where Cabrera admitted he had a problem and began seeking treatment to stop drinking.  It seems the treatment did not work.

This is another black eye for baseball.  In 2007, drinking among ballplayers was put into the national spotlight when Josh Hancock, a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, was killed in a car accident.  It was determined that he was legally drunk when his SUV hit the back of a tow truck, killing him instantly.  After the incident, some MLB teams banned alcohol in their clubhouses and some teams set up car services for their players, at the expense of the team.  Other teams did not change policy at all, pointing out a person should be able to enjoy alcohol in moderation.

I am not going to go on a rant that you shouldn’t drink and drive.  You should know not to do this.  You have been hearing it since grade school.  However, most people do it.  Whether it’s a buzzed five minute drive from the metro to your house or a commute where you do not recall it the next day, it’s wrong on so many levels.  I am not above this, as I have been guilty of doing this on more than one occasion.  It usually takes a drastic measure, arrest or car accident, to stop some people.  I am completely flabbergasted that baseball players continue to do this on a regular basis.

 You would figure the Josh Hancock incident would have scared baseball players straight.  Wrong.  Six DUIs this year (and counting with about eight months to go) and many more since the tragic car accident.  Why do ballplayers insist on driving while drunk?  It can’t be because they can’t afford a cab or car service.  The average baseball salary this year is $3.3 million, with the minimum salary at $414,000.  I have friends who have spent $150 on a cab ride before despite making a lot less than $414,000.  Once again, some baseball teams even pay for a car service throughout the season to make sure their players get home safely.  Despite the fact they are role models (regardless of what Charles Barkley and others think, they are), baseball players have no issue sullying their reputation with a DUI arrest.

While I am not aware of any current MLB players who read this blog, I am hoping that baseball players (and you for that matter) stop driving under the influence.  You might be saying to yourself this won’t happen.  All I know is my blog last week asked President Obama to focus his attention to important issues now that he ended Birthgate and by Sunday night, Osama Bin Laden was dead.  You Can’t Avoid Boyd has mythical powers.

           -Written by Marcus Boyd