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The Spectacle Blog
I was reading National Review Online's new sports blog, Right Field, when I learned that Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was arrested on Monday night for drunk driving.
Choo is the sixth MLB player to be arrested for a DUI offense since the beginning of this calendar year. Just last week, Atlanta Braves pitcher Derek Lowe was arrested and was actually racing other vehicles on the road. When Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera (who has a well documented problem with alcohol) was arrested for DUI last February, Cabrera is alleged to have said, "F#*k you. Do you know who I am?" Other MLB players to have been arrested this year for impaired driving include Oakland Athletics outfielder Coco Crisp, Seattle Mariners infielder Adam Kennedy as well as Choo's teammate Austin Kearns.
The obvious question is, "What are these guys are thinking?" The obvious answer is that they are drinking instead of thinking. If they were thinking, they might remember that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in a traffic accident in 2007. Not only was Hancock impaired at the time of the accident but he was talking on his cell phone and had marijuana in his vehicle. If they were thinking, they might remember that Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two of his friends were killed by a drunk driver in 2009. The driver had a previous conviction for DUI and was on probation at the time of the accident. Last December, he was sentenced to 51 years in prison.
MLB ought to suspend any player arrested for DUI. If they don't, sooner or later, one of these players is going to end up killing someone.
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More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/05/04/baseball-dui
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bill glass| 5.4.11 @ 11:40AM
Baseballers are a seriously rowdy group. MLB needs to make a big deal out of this...but don't expect it. It took them years to do anything much about performance enhancers.
PCC| 5.4.11 @ 11:48AM
Some people drink. Some of these people drink and drive. Some people who drink and drive are baseball players.
Where's the story?
Sid Vicious| 5.4.11 @ 12:49PM
It's a story because they're role models to millions of kids, whether they like it or not. The moment we start accepting "Do you know who I am?" as a defense against loutish and potentially dangerous behavior is the moment we start teaching kids that the rule of law isn't really a constant, but infinitely variable based on the status of the accused.
Besides, every last ball player who has made the Bigs remains able 1) to get falling-down drunk at home all they wish with little risk to anyone but themselves and 2) to afford cab fare for the ride home if they happen to drink to excess while out on the town.
Sean| 5.4.11 @ 8:46PM
You are wrong. From personal experience I have had a friend pulled over after two drinks and he got charged with a DUI. This has all really just turned into a money making exercise. Mandatory insurance with a huge jack up in price, heavy fines and bail amounts, counseling fees, attorney fees ect.
You know what I would be happy to have huge charges against anyone that cause accidents. Also someone that was drinking shouldn't be automatically at fault for any accident they are in.
JohnD| 5.4.11 @ 11:49AM
Whenever I go to my local Chinese restaurant, I always order the Shin Soo Choo, usually with a side order of Hee Sop Choi.
robin| 5.4.11 @ 12:04PM
Regarding Miguel Cabrera's "Do you know who I am?" remark, as Tony Kornheiser so aptly states, "If you have to ask the question,'Do you know who I am?', then you are a nobody."
JohnD| 5.4.11 @ 12:12PM
A few seasons ago, didn't MLB stop providing beer in their clubhouses with the post-game buffets to prevent this very thing?
Sean| 5.4.11 @ 12:36PM
There is drunk driving and then there is a couple beers and then getting busted for a DUI. A lot of people don't take this seriously because the Blood Alcohol limit is so low.
Sid Vicious| 5.4.11 @ 1:10PM
That's a myth: Any adult weighing more than 110 pounds is capable of tossing back "a couple of beers" – as in two 12-ouncers – while remaining fully compliant with the DUI laws after one hour. If your idea of a "couple" is two pitchers' worth, I've got news for you: You drink a lot.
The reason auto-insurance rates skyrocket after a DUI arrest is because the underwriters know that those who get busted once have previously driven drunk an average of 150 times. They also know that, at the .08 BAC limit, one is twice as likely as a sober driver to cause a fatal accident. Too low? I think not.
Now, if you're going to retort that the authorities should also do more to thwart the virtual drunks whose cell-phone conversations are far more important than the safety of everyone else on the road, I'll wholeheartedly agree.
Derek Leaberry| 5.4.11 @ 12:59PM
Sean is exactly right. The MADD mothers demand a low threshold on "drunk driving." Moreover, there is a confluence of nanny-state liberals and Protestant fundamentalist conservatives on the "drunk driving" issue. One can be against drunk driving but support the idea that people should be allowed to drive if they've had a couple of beers, a rather low amount of alcohol. What fun would there be at a family or church picnic that didn't have a little alcohol flowing.
I don't like the hypocrisy of the police on the question. They conduct check points for the easy pickups but seem to ignore popular bars and NFL stadiums. If you really wanted to crack down on drunk driving, stop every car coming out of a NFL stadium and create a six hour traffic jam. That is, if the police really wanted to "save the children."
james wilson| 5.4.11 @ 2:19PM
Bad column. Find a group of 750 men between twenty and forty who travel seven months a year and have large egos, I'll show you more than six DUI arrests. Alcoholism once raged in mlb, but players are far more serious about themselves now.
Did Billy Martin ever drive sober?