| Beer and Baseball by Dave Metrillo Beer and baseball are a match made in heaven. In the early days of the sport a number of the league’s teams were owned by beer barIons. Jacob Ruppert, whose eponymous family brewery stretched over a large swath of New York’s Upper East Side and a four-term Congressman, bought the Yankees in 1915 and was the man who engineered the acquisition of star slugger Babe Ruth from his Boston rivals—in addition to winning seven World Series titles and building Yankee Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals were owned by Anheuser-Busch and the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles also had ties to large beer brands. That’s not to mention the Milwaukee Brewers who, of course, honor the city’s beer industry, including the team’s mascot Bernie Brewer. Beer and baseball were not always considered partners though. When the National League was formed in 1876 alcohol was prohibited from being sold and consumed on baseball grounds. The rival American Association League saw the NL’s beer ban as an opportunity. Not only was alcohol allowed at A.A. games, but many of the teams were sponsored or owed by distillers or brewers. The NL scoffed at the upstart league, referring to it as the Beer and Whiskey League. One of the more successful teams at leveraging this marketing strategy was the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Owner Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Von Der Ahe was also a local bar owner. He installed a beer garden at the Brown’s stadium, Sportsman’s Park, forever connecting beer with St. Louis baseball, becoming wealthy in the process and proving that beer was a successful addition to baseballs marketing strategy When the American Association folded in 1891 several of the teams were absorbed by the National League which rescinded its ban on alcohol, connecting beer with baseball ever since (with the exception of the Prohibition era, of course!) In those days of old, it was not at all unusual for ballplayers to work in saloons during the off- season. The more affluent (e.g., John McGraw) opened their own establishments. In some cases, it was possible to go to work for a brewery. When Roger Maris retired from the Cardinals, Gussie Busch got him a Budweiser distributorship in Central Florida. Tommy Henrich, in-between coaching stints, was the head man at Red Top Brewing in Cincinnati from 1954-1956. In the second decade of the 20th century, however, beer-related employment was increasingly rare for ballplayers. A number of states had taken the pledge before the 18th Amendment Prohibition) was passed in 1919. One suspects that during Prohibition, serious drinkers were delighted to catch on with Canadian minor league teams. One also wonders about how many ballplayers spent their off seasons in the employ of bootleggers. Just as the National League eventually saw the marketing potential of beer many modern teams have seen the potential of selling craft beer at their ballpark.If you are an Atlanta Braves fan you have beer to thank, at least in part, for the team moving to Atlanta. Until 1962 the Milwaukee Braves allowed fans to bring their own unopened beer containers to the ballpark. The bad PR that sprang up when the team cracked down on this practice, along with some lousy teams in the ‘50s, led to the eventual move to Atlanta. Of all the play-by-play announcers in baseball history, perhaps none is more linked with beer than Harry Caray, who was legendary not just for promoting beer (in addition to Falstaff, he promoted Griesiedieck and Budweiser for the Cardinals and Old Style for the Cubs) but also for consuming it. One of the great moments in American baseball/beer history occurred after the 1969 season when wherein he announced his resignation from the Cardinals. Perhaps the most famous incident involving baseball and beer happened in Cleveland on June 4, 1974, The idea was simple: Get people to buy tickets to the Rangers/Indians game at Cleveland Stadium with the promise of 10¢ beers. At no point did anyone stop the initial planning session and ask, "So what happens when there's a crowd of 40,000 completely hammered people in our stadium?" Among the more tame incidents was a woman who flashed the crowd from the on-deck circle, a father-son team mooning the players, and fans jumping on the field to meet the outfielders. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the Indians tied the game, but never got a chance to win. Fans started throwing batteries, golf balls, cups, and rocks onto the field. The drunk-fest involved more streakers, base stealers (literally), and fans who stormed the field and attacked the opposing team. Cleveland players had to wield bats to come to the aid of the Rangers players. Texas was awarded a forfeit. The American League president forced the franchise to abandon the promotion idea and added this great understatement: “There was no question that beer played a great part in the affair.” Oh, if you're interested in going to the stadium with the best beer today a recent study gathered the beer menus from all 30 MLB stadiums, then used Beer Advocate's rankings to compare them, also giving weight to beer made within the team's home state and the uniqueness of that beer within MLB. Because, you know, it's cooler if no other team serves it. The Seattle Mariners scored the No. 1 overall ranking because they have the most unique beers and the most local beers The Cincinnati Reds finished second overall, but first in quality, meaning the Reds serve the best beers in baseball. The rest of the top five: The Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles |
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