GatewayRedbirds.com

An interesting thought:

Was it really a laps in judgement? Or has he done this same thing, share some wine over dinner with friends and then driven home without incident? It seems like he has to me, just this time he was tired and fell asleep and got caught.

I don't drink at dinner anymore because I have a small daughter, and will not get behing the wheel of a car carrying her if I have had even a single drink. Funny how quickly your perspective can be changed.

I don't condone what TLR did, but I won't persecute him for it, I am sure he is doing way more to himself than what I could do to hurt him.

skmsw wrote:but for most people it takes 4-6 drinks in an hour to get from zero to 0.08 in the first place.

Or 6-8 drinks over 2-3 hours, which is probably about what LaRussa had if he drank a bottle of wine.

There's plenty of couples out there that split a bottle or two of wine over a 1 hour dinner. They could just as easily blow over 0.08 if they get pulled over on their way home.

--P--

Elphie15 wrote:Wow. I certainly didn't expect to wake up to this.

FWIW, and not to excuse anyone who gets behind the wheel of the car intoxicated because it's not, IMO, an excusable offense... but wasn't there a poll in Social a few months ago where it was over 50% of the people that voted admitted that they had been behind the wheel intoxicated before?

As despicable it is, a lot of people probably could be in the same situation.

Most people don't have the money for a full-time designated driver. Heck, TLR is rich enough to have a left-handed designated driver and a right-handed designated driver around. I'm not passing judgment one way or the other here, but it would make sense for really rich folks to get in the habit of calling cabs late at night.

Popeye_Card wrote:Or 6-8 drinks over 2-3 hours, which is probably about what LaRussa had if he drank a bottle of wine.

Five glasses a bottle. 15 ounces of wine (3 glasses) in an hour can certainly get you to a .09 though, depending on certain variables.

jim wrote:

Suicide_Squeeze wrote:

fulldeck wrote:

Popeye_Card wrote:Seriously folks, .093 is not driving "drunk". It's driving buzzed, and I'm guessing 90%+ of this forum has driven a vehicle at this level or above, and haven't been caught. If he had 2-3 glasses of wine at a late dinner, he could have blown this. I'm also guessing that Whitey Herzog drove back from multiple fishing outings far more "drunk" than .093.

The reason for being "passed out" I'm personally guessing is an adverse reaction with some medication.

Fired? Retire? Come on. It's an honest mistake that I hope none of us on here ever have to go through.

--P--

Agreed.

I'm with you, too. Gosh, I've driven drunker than that! (Sad, I know.) He's probably exhausted getting ready for everything this season. A few glasses of wine, a late dinner, and bam....it happens. Give the man a break!

Maybe I'm in the minority. But:
1. If guilty he made a serious mistake and should be punished accordingly.
2. I don't judge him for the mistake. He shouldn't have done it, but I've done worse.
3. It has no impact on my perception of his as a person, because most of my perception is as a baseball manager. And this really has nothing to do with being a baseball manager.
4. I'd be willing to bet that if LaRussa saw some of the excuses being made for him in here he would tell you you should be ashamed of yourself.

Well, I'm with you except that I don't really agree with #4. Who's making "excuses"? Most of us are simply stating that it's something that happens an awful lot (unfortunately), and LaRussa got caught. That doesn't excuse what he did. Just stating, like Bernie, that we shouldn't be throwing stones at the guy unless we ourselves are without sin. I just think that while it is dangerous to drive at the level he was at, there are varying degrees of DUI's and how serious they are. At his BAC, he's illegal, but it's not the same as being at 0.20 or above. My bigger concern is that he apparently fell asleep at the wheel, which is FAR more dangerous driving that tired than driving with just the 0.093 BAC.

--P--

I guess we should stop asking people to stop wine-ing about TLR.

haltz wrote:

Popeye_Card wrote:Or 6-8 drinks over 2-3 hours, which is probably about what LaRussa had if he drank a bottle of wine.

Five glasses a bottle. 15 ounces of wine (3 glasses) in an hour can certainly get you to a .09 though, depending on certain variables.

One of those variables being what you eat, which if it was a typical LaRussa vegetarian meal probably doesn't stand up to alcohol consumption real well.

--P--

To me, saying "he wasn't THAT drunk" and comments like that are excuses. He messed up and has to deal with it. No more, no less.

Popeye_Card wrote:

skmsw wrote:but for most people it takes 4-6 drinks in an hour to get from zero to 0.08 in the first place.

Or 6-8 drinks over 2-3 hours, which is probably about what LaRussa had if he drank a bottle of wine.

There's plenty of couples out there that split a bottle or two of wine over a 1 hour dinner. They could just as easily blow over 0.08 if they get pulled over on their way home.

--P--

I don't understand. What is your point? Have I somehow given you the impression that I think this was wrong only because it was TLR?

This is not seventh grade. "Everybody else does" is not a good rationalization for dangerous behavior or poor judgment. If "plenty of couples" jumped off a bridge, or cheated on their taxes, or didn't get that lump checked by an appropriate doctor, or hit their children, would that make it OK for TLR to do those things too?

The fact that many Americans drink 6-8 drinks over a couple hours and then get in the car is not OK. It does not make it normal, for TLR or for any of us. The fact that most of us do not get caught does not mean it is any less of a problem, or any less inappropriate. The fact that most do not get hurt does not rationalize away the huge percentage of accidents that are caused by the ones who do get hurt (or hurt others).

Let me go ahead and own my judgmentalism right here and now. Having 6-8 drinks over 2-3 hours and then driving is dangerous. Those who do it are not excused by the fact that many others also do it. Not getting caught or not hurting anyone is lucky, not rationalization that the behavior is tolerable.

Far too many of us believe that drinking a bottle of wine or a six pack and then driving awhile later is OK. That belief comes from the fact that we identify with the behavior, not from a rational, objective judgment that the behavior is OK.