Gallardo arrested for OWI - Blood level nearly three times limit at .22

[torts]

I can't see how anyone can presume to know if this suggests his performance is regularly hampered by alcohol ingestion. How the hell would any of us know? If he was scheduled to start today, sure but he doesn't pitch until Thursday.

 

He was caught at .22, and unless he was drinking in the car, that means at some point, his BAC was higher than that.

 

I don't believe that is true.

 

I dunno, Boston's pitching was pretty bad, and they used to have ragers in the bullpen

[JimH5]

He was caught at .22, and unless he was drinking in the car, that means at some point, his BAC was higher than that.

 

I don't believe that is true.

 

 

It's possible that it's true, though it's also possible that it's not true, so I stand corrected.

 

Alcohol enters the bloodstream mostly through the stomach and small intestine, so it's very conceivable that he had a last drink, and his BAC peaked at .22, after leaving the bar. He was stopped pretty close to the bar, so it's possible that he was stopped while at his peak BAC, before his body began to process the alcohol.

 

Thank you for making me rethink that part.

[TooLiveBrew]

I know there are at least two lawyers commenting in this thread. Can anyone clarify for me what a bar/pub/establishment's potential liabilities are for a DUI/OWI case? I worked at a bar briefly, so I understand in general the concept of & punishments for overserving. However, are there any other types of responsibilities pub owners are expected to fulfill? I'm thinking of things like not allowing a clearly intoxicated customer to get into his/her car. I realize these kinds of issues would be a lot more complicated than they might appear to someone like me (with no real legal knowledge).

[Harry Doyles JD]

Some of the "oh well" reactions to DUIs in this thread are mind-boggling. So if Yo, instead of getting behind the wheel of a car, walked out of the tavern, pulled out a pistol and fired a shot in any general direction, would the attitudes be the same I wonder? I ask, because it's the same darn thing, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. Frankly drunk driving is worse, because not only are you putting someone else's life at risk, it's likely multiple people and yourself to boot.

[Nottso]

I would be less upset with a .09 than with a .22, because it takes more than twice as much drinking to get to a .22 than to get to a .09.

 

I understand your logic there and I can pretty much accept it, but try this one just for grins: 2 guys are drinking and get caught driving. One guy is .20 and shows little, if any, impairment while the other guy is .10 and can't even stand up. Is the .20 guy "worse" than the .10 guy?

 

The only point I'm trying to make here is that the numbers are extremely deceiving in these situations. Possibly more so than in any other situation and it gets a lot of people in a lot of trouble. BAC isn't a measure of impairment, it's just the best way law enforcement has to measure if a person has been drinking. It doesn't even measure how much they've been drinking to any real degree of certainty. It can't. The "one ounce of alcohol metabolized per hour" is an average at best.

 

On the flip side of your "his BAC may have been much higher earlier" thought, it also may have been much lower. He might have left the bar "kind of okay" but as he was driving home those last 2 or 3 shots hit him. It's all very inexact science to say the least.

 

And again, I'm not condoning his actions or excusing them in any way. It's just that the fact that he blew .22 doesn't make it any better than if he blew .32, or any worse than if he blew .12, and it certainly doesn't tell me his level of impairment. I just wish he hadn't done it at all.

[MJLiverock]

What Yo did was stupid and I am not defending it, certainly compounded the stupidity of any athlete with the income levels to afford a cab and the league's car ride systems to drive that impaired.

 

I knew reading the thread would someone would inevitably bring up the out too late, go to be by 10 and nothing can go wrong attitude. I always find these ideas to be complete poppycock. People with the ability to cause and get in trouble pay no mind to the time of day and plenty of night people stay up late and get up late and are just fine. I worked in a factory for a summer in college and saw plenty of lifers on the assembly line go straight to the bar at 3 PM, get hammered, be home in bed by 8 and back at work at 6 AM the next day or the third shifters drinking at 8 AM drunk by noon only to sleep it off until work started at 11 PM. Sun Prairie just had a Lutheran Bishop hit and kill a pedestrian at 1 in the afternoon while drunk.

 

Tougher penalties and laws can only do so much. First offenders don't think they are going to get caught and probably don't worry about the penalties if the do because A. they don't know them, B. aren't making the best decisions anyway C. don't think they'll be caught. The people getting 7, 8, 9 DUI/OWI's just plain don't care what the penalties are. They likely don't have a license, often drive someone else's car or have the car in someone's name, and raising the fines, suspension, etc. are no deterrent to them because they are raging alcoholics and the only fix for them is no more drinking which is their biggest issue in life.

 

Yo getting blitzed doesn't mean he needs to go to rehab unless it is a regular occurance. I don't care what his age is, he is allowed to once in a while have to much, just not drive. I'm 39 years old have had to have my wife pick me up after a Badger football game at least a couple times in the past few years. I have no idea what my BAC was but it was well above 0.08 based on how felt that day and the next. That was a result of spending almost an entire afternoon/evening after the game drinking and eating with a group of guys I rarely see anymore and given my lowered tolerance getting drunk even into my 30's as a father and husband can happen.

 

Alochol tolerance does exist, regular and hardcore drinkers can handle and function better than others with the same BAC. (doesn't mean they won't be or can't be impaired) I know I can feel the effects from just a couple drinks vs in college when I drank much more than today. I've seen the ability of friends who had alcoholic parents to function and act perfectly normal while probably legally drunk because their BAC never went to zero and they lived a completely different life than most people. But 0.05 BAC doesn't feel the same to a long time alcoholic as it does to someone who rarely drinks.

 

WI does not have Dram shop laws where the bar can be blamed for a drunk doing something wrong. I think it is a good thing given the litigious nature of our society. I bar tended in college and saw plenty of people walk in the door drunk, even if not served there would still be people trying to say they left bar XYZ and killed someone. Or a person can pound a bunch of drinks at one bar, walk next door, appear fine, drink one drink and all the shots, etc from the last place hit and they appear drunk really fast. Not to mention trying to keep track of everyone's drinks, who bought for who, etc. At least WI doesn't let under 21's in bars like some states and pretend the underagers aren't getting drinks from their friends. At some point people need to be responsible for their own actions even if they were impaired by their own free will.

[brewmann04]

He wrong and there is no one that can justify that!

[trwi7]

Gallardo: "I want to apologize to my fans, teammates and family...it was a bad call."

 

So is Gallardo an umpire?

[jjkoestler]

Some of the "oh well" reactions to DUIs in this thread are mind-boggling. So if Yo, instead of getting behind the wheel of a car, walked out of the tavern, pulled out a pistol and fired a shot in any general direction, would the attitudes be the same I wonder? I ask, because it's the same darn thing, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. Frankly drunk driving is worse, because not only are you putting someone else's life at risk, it's likely multiple people and yourself to boot.

 

The more you know. We now return you to that movie on Lifetime about that woman.

[torts]

Gallardo: "I want to apologize to my fans, teammates and family...it was a bad call."

 

So is Gallardo an umpire?

 

cant be, umpires dont know how to admit to their mistakes

[Harry Doyles JD]

The more you know. We now return you to that movie on Lifetime about that woman.

 

Outstanding maturity. I hope you or no one you care about is never a victim (or perpetrator) of a DUI-caused death.

[thebruce44]

I don't want to put myself in a position of defending drunk driving but some of the reactions here are pretty amazing. Do people really think you are up to no good if you are in your 20s and you drink on a Monday? Or if you are in your 20s and you get to a .22 you've got a problem?

 

Yo messed up. We don't know all the details but it happens and a lot of people have made similar mistakes. In fact, there is a very good chance that a lot of the people here who are so appalled at this have driven in a worse state since they have no idea how Yo handles his alcohol.

[jjkoestler]

The more you know. We now return you to that movie on Lifetime about that woman.

 

Outstanding maturity. I hope you or no one you care about is never a victim (or perpetrator) of a DUI-caused death.

 

I hope so too. I also hope they aren't shot by a drunk person. I apologize for the snarky response to your PSA.

 

Yo messed up. He also apologized and accepted responsibility for his actions. What else can he do at this point?

 

DFA Yuni

[jjkoestler]

I don't want to put myself in a position of defending drunk driving but some of the reactions here are pretty amazing. Do people really think you are up to no good if you are in your 20s and you drink on a Monday? Or if you are in your 20s and you get to a .22 you've got a problem?

 

My thoughts exactly.

[homer]

For me personally, it's because he could have taken a $55 cab ride home, or called a locker room attendant, or called Doug Melvin. I really don't care that he was .22 or out on a Monday. I care that he willfully got behind a wheel while drunk with a family waiting for him at home.

[TheCrew07]

In fact, there is a very good chance that a lot of the people here who are so appalled at this have driven in a worse state since they have no idea how Yo handles his alcohol.

 

Actually since another motorist called 911 on him it must have been fairly obvious he was having issues to those that were on the road with him.

[thebruce44]

In fact, there is a very good chance that a lot of the people here who are so appalled at this have driven in a worse state since they have no idea how Yo handles his alcohol.

 

Actually since another motorist called 911 on him it must have been fairly obvious he was having issues to those that were on the road with him.

 

I've had a random driver call my boss once when I was in a company vehicle with the number on the side and leave him a message saying I was driving drunk. I was pulling out of the parking lot of a bar and had zero drinks, just stopped in because it was the nearest ATM since I was in the middle of nowhere. I didn't cut anyone off or do anything wrong. I almost got fired the next day. Never underestimate what random people will do.

 

What kind of car was he driving too? Probably draws even more attention.

[SRB]

Damn... I saw "Yovani Gallardo" on the Google News Top Stories sidebar and thought he pitched a perfect game or something.

 

Not cool, Yovani.

[brewmann04]

I agree it was wrong and could have turned into a tragedy but thankfully it did not.

I Just hope he learned his lesson and gets whatever help he needs. But NO ONE HERE should be making any kind of excuses on his part.

[StearnsFTW]

There is a very high probability that his drinking is affecting his performance on the field and his family life. So I think it's correct to say that he has a problem.

 

This wasn't a wedding. It was a Monday night. During the season. And he drove home.

 

That's what you're basing it on? He's 25 years old.

 

You may be right, but I don't think you have much evidence.

 

What an awful excuse and he's 27 years old.

 

 

Sorry, 27 years old. And you haven't learned (or didn't learn) anything in your 20s?

[JimH5]

2 guys are drinking and get caught driving. One guy is .20 and shows little, if any, impairment while the other guy is .10 and can't even stand up. Is the .20 guy "worse" than the .10 guy?

 

I guess I understand where you're going with this, but if I may, I'd like to reserve the right to hate both of these hypothetical gents.

 

Do people really think you are up to no good if you are in your 20s and you drink on a Monday? Or if you are in your 20s and you get to a .22 you've got a problem?

 

I don't think being out late is a problem, really at all for these guys. They have lots of free time and weird work schedules.

 

But I think anyone who ever drinks so much that they get to a .22 BAC does have a problem.

 

Understand that I'm 50 and not 25, so I have different sensibilities than I did at 25. I also don't expect everyone to agree with me.

 

Drinking to reach a .22 requires what? A dozen beers?

 

I believe a dozen beers is too many, even if I admit to doing that when I was in college.

 

Perhaps you see that as hypocrisy on my part. I see it as developing maturity--but again, we don't have to agree on that.

 

He also apologized and accepted responsibility for his actions. What else can he do at this point?

 

He could vow to not ever do it again. He could speak to schools about the danger of drunk driving. He could donate money to pay for taxi service for people who drink too much at Summerfest or Brewers games. He could do PSAs promoting sobriety.

 

With his celebrity and his salary, he really could do a lot. He's probably the most recognizable person of Latin American heritage in the state. He could really make an impact on the whole community, but the Latin community especially. This is a really great opportunity for him and the team.

[trwi7]

Sorry, 27 years old. And you haven't learned (or didn't learn) anything in your 20s?

 

I've learned enough not to get [expletive deleted] to the tune of 3 times the legal limit and then get behind the wheel of a car, especially when a free service is available to pick me up.

[TracyThom]

I'm ashamed to read many of the comments trying to rationalize Yo's behavior. (He is in his 20s, everybody knows someone arrested for OWI, college kids binge drink all the time.) There is such a thing as being a little drunk and a lot drunk. Unless you are a hardcore alcoholic, .22 is a lot drunk.

[StearnsFTW]

Sorry, 27 years old. And you haven't learned (or didn't learn) anything in your 20s?

 

I've learned enough not to get [expletive deleted] to the tune of 3 times the legal limit and then get behind the wheel of a car, especially when a free service is available to pick me up.

 

 

Well, I agree.

 

My original comment was directed at whoever said that anyone who ever blows a .22 has a problem with alcohol. I'm not excusing his behavior in any way, just pointing out that young(ish) people make mistakes with alochol.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Using BAC calculators on the internet, it would take 15 beers over 4 hours to get a .22 BAC based on Gallardo's weight. Just food for thought. Not saying he does or doesn't have a problem with drinking or anything. But obviously that's a lot. Nothing that most young people haven't done before, or done often though. I'm sure most have. It's the driving part that is the part to be upset about with him about.