Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Todd Helton, long time Rockies first basemen, arrested for DUI in Colorado
(www.nydailynews.com)
Long time Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol Wednesday, the team announced. The incident occurred in Thornton, Colo.
The team released a statement along with the announcement of his arrest.
“We were extremely disappointed to learn that Todd was arrested this morning. This type of behavior is taken very seriously by our organization. We know that he clearly understands the seriousness of his poor decision, the harm that could have been inflicted on others and the embarrassment his mistake has caused to himself, his family, the Colorado Rockies organization and to Major League Baseball,” the statement read. “Todd is taking full accountability for his actions with his family, his fans and the organization. The man we have grown to know has strong values that are grounded in his family and hard work. Todd clearly understands the severity of the situation.”
Helton himself expressed remorse for his actions, issuing a public apology through the team.
“I am very sorry and embarrassed by my actions. I hold myself to a high standard and take my responsibility as a public figure very seriously. My entire career I have worked to set a positive example for my family and in our community, and I fell far short of this standard,” Helton said. “I humbly ask your forgiveness”
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1 2 3 >You call and one or two guys show up to get both you and your vehicle home safely. Can't be that hard?
Don't know about MLB but the NFLPA has one and players don't use it because they are afraid teams will use it against them, even though it's supposed to be confidential.
FTFY
Now that's a company man.
So close your eyes
You can close your eyes, it's all right
Playing 1B must be very stressful, they seem to get all the DUI arrests...(well Cabrera has since moved to 3B, but still...)
So along with the whole, he's made a bazillion dollars why doesn't he just use a car service once in awhile, my main concern is that someone earns $150mil+ and you're drinking Coors? Really?
"Helton's BAC would have been just average, but, true to form, his numbers were inflated by Coors."
This is actually an interesting observation that might have some truth to it. Not that 1B is more stressful, but that the Body By Budweiser plays better at first, so you're more likely to have drinkers there than elsewhere. If you drink yourself out of shape and play SS you won't last long, but a 1B who drinks away his range can stick around a while.
So what you're saying is he's already been punished enough.
And yes, for the love of god hire a car service. Even if there are no taxis around you should be able to arrange for a ride with a little bit of forethought. I am not able to drive for medical reasons right now, and it is a pain in the ass and it is somewhat limiting, but it wouldn't be if I had Helton's kind of money.
My guess would be "I drove to work; I drove to the bar. I need to drive to work in the morning. I can't leave my car where it is overnight." So I think an effective service would also have to get the guy's car home with him.
Playing 1B must be very stressful, they seem to get all the DUI arrests...(well Cabrera has since moved to 3B, but still...)
This article lists a number of players arrested for DUI -- Derek Lowe, Adam Kennedy, Miguel Cabrera, Austin Kearns, Shin-Soo Choo, Coco Crisp. I am not seeing much of a pattern there in terms of positions.
You'd rather he get away with it?
Winner!
Hard to imagine there was an attorney present at this point.
Hah, no. If you get soused, and a millionaire, you're rich enough to hire somebody to drive for yourself.
Well, actually you can leave your car overnight and take a taxi home. Then take a taxi to work and pick up the car later; this is what I do. If the car is vandalised, I assume Helton has insurance for that type of stuff.
As we have all stressed, with the amount of money these guys have, there is no excuse at all for this situation ever occuring.
BTW, 22 beers isn't that much. I assume Coors is just over 3% alcohol(most Aussie and European beers sit around 5%), so in reality it's like 13 Aussie beers. Heck, I'm 48 and know dudes my age that can consume that much alcohol in a few hours.
No way. Coors is 5% ABV and Coors Light is 4.2%, according to various Internet sources.
A drunk younger-me not only would have had to figure out how to even call a cab, I would have had to deduce that such a thing was possible. Not likely. Much more likely that I just run off into the night and hope I'm within a few miles of my house.
Here's another version.
It's a good point. And not just the teams. MLB can't keep drug test results confidential long enough to get through an appeal and players are supposed to believe that the drivers will keep things confidential? How long before you've got a picture of a drunk player making out with a 20-year-old who's not his wife the night before game 1 of the World Series plastered on the internet? Then again, you can probably trust a limo driver more than a lab professional or an MLB Exec -- they've been pretty discreet about Jeter over the years plus the limo company is gonna know which driver took the pic.
There used to be a service here in Minneapolis/St. Paul that would do that. Two guys in a car would arrive, one would drive you and your car home, and the other would follow and pick up the driver. I think they're still in business.
Yeah, no. If you can call a cab in freaking Utica, you can call one anywhere.
Excellent product placement by Nike.
That's pretty improbable. Just jiggling the results at bloodalcoholcalculator.org for a 250 lb male (Helton's B-R says 220) he'd have to be drinking for something like 14 hours to get down to 0.08 after that many beers. Of course, that's assuming real beer.
And 0.08 isn't necessarily impaired (below what many other drivers on the road have at 0.00)
BAC is a BAD proxy. There should be reaction tests given upon licensing against a required baseline. At 30 mph, you have to react this quick. At 45, that quick, At 55 this quick, at 65 bisquik.
Then when you are pulled for DUI, if you can perform the reaction tests above the required baseline, no DUI. This BAC crap is crap.
Yeah, I didn't even try and bait the hook there. After 19 and 24 I figured the jig was up.
Yeah, you know who is really good at determining if they are capable of driving? Drunk people.
Is BAC perfect? Of course not, but it is easily the best and fairest system we have readily available. It's far better than relying on some subjective test performed by a policeman. Or some objective reaction test, which could easily be influenced by nerves, or adrenaline. And it's infinitely better than just letting drunk drivers roam the streets with no consequences.
Don't want to get a DUI, don't drink and drive. It's not fucking rocket science.
That makes it easier to create an All-DUI lineup. Tony La Russa could manage.
If you are going to have beer-in-mouth drinking, then you pay the consequences.
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