FORT MYERS, Fla., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Boston Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine said Saturday he has banned alcohol from the team's clubhouse and on flights returning to Boston.
The ban comes after revelations late last season that several Bosox pitchers -- including starters Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and John Lackey -- drank beer in the clubhouse as games were being played.
Valentine, who was hired in the off-season to replace the departed Terry Francona as skipper of the Red Sox, told The Boston Globe he banned alcohol from the New York Mets' clubhouse when he ran that team from 1996 to 2002.
"It's just what I've always done," Valentine he said. "I'm comfortable with it that way."
He said the ban on alcohol on return flights to Boston was a safety issue because players drive home from Fenway Park after arriving back in the city from road trips, the newspaper reported.
Eighteen other major league teams also ban alcohol in their clubhouses.
