The lifestyle factor

Kyle Farnsworth.

Two more words:

Todd Hundley.

...Mark Grace seemed to do all right.  Of course maybe that's because he didn't waste time with a commute down to Rush Street - he just walked across the street to Hi-Tops.

Randy Myers used to ride his 3-wheeled bicycle to/from the park.  It was a hoot to see him ride that granny-trike down Waveland and then park it over at Murphy's.  Not sure what he was like on his other teams/cities, but seemed like he could handle it okay here.

That being said, it's my guess - and strictly a guess - that sure they take lifestyle into consideration when looking at players but not necessarily because of being in Chicago and all the day games.  I'd think they do it just as a matter of it being a sound business practice.

I live in Dubuque, IA, and for those who don't know where that is, it is the furthest East city in Iowa; right on the other side of the Mighty Mississip from Illinois. Iowa, I'd assume like most states have Semi-Pro town ball teams. With town ball teams in Iowa you play about 50 league games and around 10 tournaments. The tournaments being the only thing that pays money; so people always "stock-up" for them Well, in our league here in Iowa a small town (Worthington pop. approx. 390) had a family connection to Mitch Wiliams. So during the Worthington tournament around 2000 they actually (this is so true) hired Mitch Williams to pitch. His fee?  Two cases of beer, and $500. The stadium was full as a tick waiting to see him. He emerged from his RV that he took to the park and seriously hobbled liquored up to the mound and threw 6 innings of shutout ball. I was still in high-school back then and I know some people who were there. I will try and dig up some photos of the masterpiece.

has a bit to do with the diary; did anyone see Jason Kendall's quotes in SI's pop culture section?

Favorite thing to eat: "Kodiak" (chew)
Favorite thing to get at a restaurant: Beer (I think he specified)
Finish this song: ..."get me a beer"

I would say Kruk would be another example of someone who failed to get a lifestyle clause.

I am friends with a minor league player. We hunt together and hang out when he is home for the winter. He has a decent chance of making it, if he works hard and continues at it. He is a 6'3" left-handed, hard throwing pitcher.

When he comes home, he won't even drink beer unless he is around people he is comfortable with. They hang out and party on the road sometimes, but he isn't one of them. (His fiancee travels a lot with him) He says he can almost always tell which guys are taking it too far, and which ones it may become a problem for if they were called up and became a major league player with a lot of money to kick around with. They do get talked to about it from coaches and other people, and they are always watching to make sure players are representing the organization well.

Now, how that factors in when a club is ready to evaluate personnel, I can only speculate. You see how quickly the Cubs dealt with Eric Patterson and his proclivity to show up late for team workouts.

I would imagine that there is some degree of understanding of what you do in your personal life, as long as you represent the club and yourself well. I think society has a lot of it changing too, as almost everyone has camera phones and instant access to the web. You do something stupid in a bar one night and it is on YouTube five minutes later.

I hung out with another Floridian recently at a Jimmy Buffett concert. Bronson Arroyo and his HS basketball coach came to the concert with us, as I had 2 extra tickets, and tailgated with us all afternoon. Surprisingly, Bronson didn't have a single drink, and we asked a dozen times if he wanted one. If there is any place I would have not been able to not drink, a Buffett concert would have been it. I respected that he had that kind of control. I remember camera phones got him into some hot water once or twice in his career too.

I wouldn't imagine an MLB team would step in unless it reflected poorly on the club and/or was borderline legal issues. Behind closed doors, however, I would think a players penchant for rabble-rousing late night in bars would certainly come up.