For fans at several MLB ballparks this season, the seventh-inning stretch no longer serves as an alarm bell to scamper off for a beer before sales end. For that recent change, they can thank new rules that have resulted in a faster pace of play.
With games 31 minutes shorter on average, some teams have extended alcohol sales to the eighth inning or beyond, as opposed to a seventh-inning deadline that has long been the unofficial standard for most major league stadiums.
On Thursday, the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros became the latest MLB franchises to push alcohol sales, with some restrictions, past their long-standing cutoff point at many stadium locations. The Royals are now concluding alcohol sales at the end of the eighth inning, except for premium areas that can continue selling booze until the end of games. The Astros announced Thursday that fans can buy food and alcoholic beverages through the end of games at two-fifths of its vending stations at Minute Maid Park.
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Other teams that have enacted similar changes this season include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.
“This is [reflective] of the fact that the games are shorter,” the Brewers’ president of business operations, Rick Schlesinger, said to MLB.com earlier this month. “From a time perspective, we’re probably looking at selling beer for the same amount of time by extending to the eighth inning that we did last year through the seventh. Obviously, the safety and the conduct of our fans has primacy. We’ve had no issues, but it’s a small sample size and we’re going to continue to test it and see if it makes sense.
“I know a number of other teams are doing the same thing.”
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals, who are among the clubs still adhering to a seventh-inning cutoff for alcohol sales in general seating areas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the club is considering a change.
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The Boston Red Sox said in an email Thursday to WBZ News that they are “still evaluating the impact of new pace of play rules on all elements of the fan experience, including the concession operation … and will pursue adjustments if deemed appropriate.”
Raising an objection to the extensions of alcohol sales was Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm, who said that given the shorter games, sales should end earlier.
“The reason we stopped in the seventh before was to give our fans time to sober up and drive home safe, correct? So now with a faster-paced game, and me just being a man of common sense, if the game is going to finish quicker, would we not move the beer sales back to the sixth inning to give our fans time to sober up and drive home?” Strahm, a 31-year-old in his eighth major league season, said on an episode of the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast released Thursday. “Instead, we’re going to the eighth, and now you’re putting our fans and our family at risk, driving home with people who have just drank beers 22 minutes ago.”
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In a statement provided to The Washington Post, the advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving said that while it “does not generally take a position on the sales of alcohol,” it is “concerned about the historic increases of drunk driving deaths on U.S. roads.”
“It’s more important than ever for people to always make a plan ahead for a non-drinking driver when they plan to consume alcohol,” said the group. “MADD would invite Major League Baseball to plan with us on how to keep people safe.”
Schlesinger, the Brewers executive, said earlier this month of an extension through the eighth inning that he was “comfortable that our people are going to be monitoring the situation well and making sure that people who shouldn’t be served won’t be served, regardless of what inning it is.”
“The vast majority of fans behave responsibly,” he added. “In fact, I will tell you, because I get the data, that the number of incidents of misbehavior with alcohol are down. I think people have more sensitivity and awareness. But again, if we see some concerns, safety is No. 1 and we’ll revisit it.
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“If it turns out that this is causing an issue or we feel that it might cause an issue, then we’ll revert to what we have done previously.”
The Chicago Cubs have allowed beer sales through the eighth inning for day games, but a city ordinance prohibits sales in night games after the seventh or 10:30 p.m., whichever comes first.
The Baltimore Orioles’ alcohol policy already allowed for eighth-inning sales, albeit within a time limit of 3½ hours after the scheduled first pitch. The Astros’ cutoff is four hours after the first pitch, and in addition to limiting stadium locations where alcohol can be purchased through the end of games, seat vendors will still stop selling alcohol after the seventh inning.
While the Rangers’ cutoff time is 2½ hours after the start of a game, they have expanded a policy that previously allowed some alcohol sales through the eighth inning. Until this season, the team had cut off in-seat service after the seventh, but if the game moves fast enough, Texas fans now have one more inning to stay put and order a beer by phone.
A Rangers spokesman said (via CNN) that the team moved to extend the service “partly in reaction to the pitch clock and the potential of shorter game times, so fans would not have to miss extended action waiting in lines at concession stands.”
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