No more booze in the locker room

In late April, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed while speeding under the influence of alcohol. This week, the league extended its ban on alcohol in locker rooms to all team functions, and on team buses and flights.

Only one problem: The league was the National Football League, not Major League Baseball. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told owners and executives Thursday that continuing to make alcoholic beverages available to players “imposes significant and unnecessary risks to the league, its players and others.” The new rule affects not only players, but owners, coaches and guests.

Compare that to baseball commissioner Bud Selig’s statement after Hancock’s death that allowing beer in the clubhouses was a matter for individual teams to decide, not the league. That’s all too typical for a sport that’s been chronically feckless where its image and player safety are concerned (see: steroids).

True, Hancock was drinking at a restaurant with teammates and friends, not under the team’s auspices; his blood alcohol registered at twice the legal limit. But had he crashed his SUV into the back of a tow truck after leaving the stadium under the influence, what would the discussion be? Can MLB afford to keep taking that chance?

Suggestions that an alcohol ban restricts players’ rights are nonsense. Any business can, and generally does, impose such rules on employees in a work-related environment. Sports players are no different.