Sam Malone
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Sam "Mayday" Malone is a character in the sitcom Cheers, and a bartender at (and for the majority of the series, the owner of) the bar of the same name. Malone was played by Ted Danson.
"Mayday" Malone was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, #16, until he spiraled into an alcoholic oblivion, which ruined his career. At the beginning of the series, Sam's past career in baseball is spoken of as though he had been a very good pitcher who, perhaps, could even have been a truly great pitcher had he not been derailed by his alcoholism. A particularly obnoxious New York Yankees fan, during this period, even retreats from his constant disparagement of all things Red Sox to concede that Sam "didn't stink" (decidedly high praise from a Yankee fan--particuarly this Yankee fan--talking about a member of the Boston Red Sox), and recalling specifically that Sam "had a darned good hard slider." By the end of the series, however, the writers had turned to Sam's baseball career as a source of comedy, and as such, most later references to Sam's performance with the Red Sox became decidedly derogatory. During this period, when Carla Tortelli and Norm Peterson talk about Sam's cool under pressure, they recall how, during Sam's baseball career, when there were two runners on base in the ninth inning, and the game was on the line, the Red Sox would turn to Sam Malone and his "Slider of Death" to come in and protect the team's lead. But when asked what would happen next, Norm acknowledges that "usually [Sam] would give up a three-run homer. It was actually Sam's teammates who called it the 'Slider of Death'."
Sam is also a famous womanizer, a fact which Norm and Cliff Clavin use to live vicariously. The character was romantically interested in Diane Chambers, then later in the series with Rebecca Howe, which formed the plot of a number of episodes.
To counteract a possible message that a show set in a bar might send encouraging alcohol abuse, the writers made Malone a recovering alcoholic. The backstory was that during his bout with active alcoholism, Sam had bought a bar. Then, for 'sentimental reasons', he decided to continue to own and operate it even after becoming sober. At one point during the series, Sam briefly relapses and begins drinking again, spurred by the emotional trauma of the collapse of his romance with Diane Chambers. With the help of Diane and of Dr. Frasier Crane, however, Sam soon regains his sobriety and, aside from this time period, Sam never drinks alcohol during the show--usually carrying around a bottle of water or ginger ale.