We all have stress. Few of us live in a cabin in the woods, far away from life and its twists and turns, far removed from anyone else with feelings and idiosyncrasies, far away from our constantly-changing needs and wants. But when we do encounter stress, what do we do with it?

Some people try to drown their stress with liquor. Alcoholism as a disease has affected countless people, and their friends and families, and was the justification for the only constitutional amendment to be revoked. Many aids are available to deal with reliance on the bottle, with religion, a focus on personal wellness, and the organization Alcoholics Anonymous and their 12-step recovery program at the lead. But no matter how committed a person may be, or not be, they often fall victim to a relapse. What is the cause of that, and can it be prevented? Can anyone be associated with “fault” other than the person holding the glass?

Many famous athletes have been sufferers of alcoholism over the years: Mickey Mantle, John Daly, John Lucas, William “Refrigerator” Perry, even Ron Artest offered a claim that he would drink Hennessy during the halftime of games earlier in his career. Seemingly invincible during times of competition, their struggles with alcoholism shows a level of vulnerability that affects everyone with a beating heart.

Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers has been through his share of struggles throughout his career, but made a strong comeback over the last couple of seasons. With the Rangers now looking like a perennial challenger for the World Series crown, and himself on the cusp of a sure-to-be blockbuster contract, he had the r-word that doesn’t make or bring in a score for his team: relapse.

In his post-relapse press conference, Hamilton spoke of the personal and family stress that he’s going through, how he will continue to lean on the people closest to him, and that his religion will be a big part of his continued recovery. Hamilton also said his relapse scenario was: he went to a restaurant, had three or four drinks, met up with a teammate, lied to him about drinking previously, spending time talking and afterwards accepting a ride home, then sneaking away to have more drinks.

One of the restaurants in question was said to put the personal responsibility squarely on the patron, Hamilton in this situation. While that is totally permissible in a court of law, was there latent blame on the bartender? No information was released about the specifics of the situation — Hamilton’s behavior, the identity of the bartenders, any details of the transactions, etc. Speculation notwithstanding, if Josh Hamilton came to your bar asking for a drink, and you knew who he was and the extent of his personal struggles, would you serve him? Even if you served him once, would you continue to serve him? Would you offer a different style of drink or cocktail, if he was asking for straight shots of liquor? Would you use some portion of B.A.S.S.E.T. training to “talk him down”?

I just wonder if different styles of drinking would aid in preventing the onslaught of the relapse, get the person to slow down a bit, and think about what they’re doing and who they’re doing it to. Your ability to throw out a runner from left field shouldn’t prevent you from respecting the bottle — we have seen much too often what the bottle does to disrespect you in return.