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His biggest problem was that he decided to take one of his bosses, Astros general manager Ed Wade, into his own hands as well.
Not a good career move there, Shawn. Good luck in the beer leagues.
Before soft-tossing the diminutive Wade across the Astros’ clubhouse, Chacon should have researched some of the famous player-management physical altercations in Major League Baseball history.
He’d have to look no further than 1977 when Texas Rangers second baseman Lenny Randle defeated manager Frank Lucchesi, who I think was 97 years old at the time, by TKO when informed he was being replaced in the starting lineup by Bump Wills.
Lucchesi suffered a broken cheekbone and Randle never wore a Rangers uniform again. As it turns out, Randle may have gotten the better of that deal.
Perhaps Chacon thought he was in the NBA. There a player can physically assault his boss (or anyone else for that matter) and still keep his job. Latrell Sprewell almost choked his coach, P.J. Carlesimo, to death in 1997 and still went on to play eight more strangling-free years in the league.
gm could have handled situation better
But even though there is no excuse for Chacon’s actions, I still question Wade’s method of communication in this case.
Baseball is unique in that it calls its locker room a “clubhouse.” The atmosphere in a baseball clubhouse is very much like that in a golf clubhouse.
An hour before a game, you’ll see baseball players in the clubhouse engaged in games of dominos and cards. Until recently, most clubhouses provided beer for players after games.
The clubhouse is a sanctuary where players feel they can relax before a game and wind down afterward. For this reason, general managers normally don’t venture into the clubhouse.
Bad move by Wade
The GMs and other “suits” usually hang around the batting cage before the game and may be seen in the press box after the game. Most wise GMs know not to invade the space of their players in the clubhouse.
The decision to demote a player or take one out of the everyday lineup is usually jointly made by the manager and general manager. The GM will then make the manager deliver the bad news.
That’s why I can’t understand why Cecil Cooper wasn’t the one to inform Chacon of his demotion to the bullpen. Furthermore, why did Wade have to deliver the news in the clubhouse in front of Chacon’s teammates?
According to reports, when Chacon asked Wade why he was being taken out of the starting rotation, Wade instructed Chacon to “look in the (bleeping) mirror.”
Those were evidently fighting words to Chacon and words that surely didn’t raise Wade’s respect level among the rest of the players.
But after all is said and done, Wade may be hailed as a master motivator. The Astros have won four of six games since the beatdown.
Keeping my workplace violence-free
As supervisor of the Advocate sports department, I think I would handle things a little differently when demoting one of the members of my staff.
First of all, we don’t have a “(bleeping) mirror” in our office, so that line is not an option.
But I think I could hold my own or avoid an altercation all together if one of the employees of my department tried to go Shawn Chacon on me.
I may have a step or two on assistant sports editor Paul Ebner and sports writer Mike Forman, who are both my elders by a few years, so I could probably make it to the elevator before they got their hands on me.
Sports copy editor Billy Mau was in the Navy, but I don’t think you get very much hand-to-hand combat training in a nuclear submarine.
Now young sports writer Wes Bloomquist, he scares me a little. He’s wiry and he smiles a lot.
But so far, I haven’t had any uncomfortable incidents with any disgruntled employees. I do my best to keep everyone on my staff as gruntled as possible.
Which is more than I can say for Wade.
Coy Slavik is the sports editor of the Advocate. Contact him at sports@vicad.com or 361-574-1206.