MLB considers clubhouse booze ban

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NEW YORK, March 20 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball says it is still considering a ban on alcohol in MLB locker rooms.

A baseball official whose name was not reported confirmed to the Los Angeles Times Monday the commissioner's office is considering such a ban, after announcing last fall it was looking into the possibility.

About 19 teams have banned alcohol, including the Boston Red Sox, which joined the group last month.

Manager Bobby Valentine said he had banned alcohol from the team's clubhouse and on flights returning to Boston.

The move came after revelations late last season that several Boston 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 said. "I'm comfortable with it that way."