RINGOLSBY: Chacon, Wade both to blame
By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News
Published June 27, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Pat Sullivan / Associated Press
Ex-Rockies pitcher Shawn Chacon's scuffle with Astros general manager Ed Wade puts his baseball career in jeopardy.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi and in the final paragraph listed the wrong pitcher as the subject of Ricciardi's misstatement. Both errors were corrected.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story should have said Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi made a misstatement about an injury to pitcher B.J. Ryan.
MILE HIGH WATCH
* Center fielder Dexter Fowler and right-handed relievers Casey Weathers and Ryan Mattheus, teammates with the Rockies' Double-A Tulsa affiliate, were selected for the Futures Game, a minor league showcase staged in conjunction with the All-Star Game.
This is the first time the Rockies have sent three players to the game, which will be played July 13 at Yankee Stadium.
* The first player selected in the 2006 draft, Luke Hochevar, made it to the big leagues in a hurry.
He spent only 38 games in the minor leagues before being called up this season and inserted into the Royals rotation for good.
Quick as it might have been, it also was a challenge. Hochevar was only 6-12 with a 4.13 ERA in his minor league efforts.
His confidence, however, never wavered. It was about learning, the Fowler product said, not statistics.
"In pro ball, there were things I needed to work on, adjustments I needed to make, so that I could become better in the long term," Hochevar said. "I bought into that. I knew I would scuffle when I made the adjustments because they wouldn't seem natural. But I knew it was something that had to be done.
"Obviously, I was going out, competing and trying to win games, but I saw the big picture. My concern was to get better each time out."
Hochevar didn't require a major makeover, simply an adjustment on how his front foot lands in his delivery.
"I'm still working on it, but I've gotten to the point where it is almost second nature," he said. "It is designed to help me repeat my delivery. That's big for any pitcher.
"The more consistent you become with your delivery, the more consistent you become with your command."
NUMBERS GAME
23 home runs for Florida second baseman Dan Uggla, the second second baseman in major league history to hit 20 home runs or more in each of his first three seasons. Uggla had 27 in 2006 and 31 in 2007 and has hit 23 this season. Joe Gordon opened his career with four 20-plus home run seasons for the New York Yankees: 25 in 1938, 28 in 1939, 30 in 1940 and 24 in 1941.
MATCHUP FOR THE AGES
Randy Johnson, 44, started for Arizona on Wednesday against Boston's Tim Wakefield, 41.
It was the first matchup of 40-something starting pitchers since Boston's Curt Schilling, 40, faced the Yankees' Roger Clemens, 45, on Sept. 16.
Johnson and Wakefield had a combined age of 86 years, 252 days in the "oldest" matchup since July 21, when Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer and San Diego's David Wells were a combined 88 years, 308 days.
HE SAID IT
"The kid gloves are off. And we expect him to go deep into games for us."
Joe Girardi, Yankees manager, after Joba Chamberlain threw 114 pitches in his start Wednesday, the most by a Yankees pitcher younger than 23 since Andy Pettitte in 1995.
First, there was then-Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi ordering the towels and postgame food removed from the clubhouse and demanding that the players stand at their lockers in response to continuing lethargic play.
Then came Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi not only publicly criticizing Cincinnati outfielder Adam Dunn, whom he has never met. He criticized him not only for his abilities on the field but his personal life. He later announced that he talked with Dunn on the phone and apologized on Saturday, only to have Dunn show up in Toronto with the Reds on Tuesday and make it clear he had never spoken to Ricciardi and had no desire to talk to him.
Now comes the saga of Houston general manager Ed Wade and pitcher Shawn Chacon, suspended then released this week after publicly admitting that a confrontation with Wade resulted in Chacon grabbing Wade by the neck, throwing him to the ground and jumping on the GM.
There's no excuse for him physically attacking Wade.
Leadership, however, let the Astros down in this instance, too.
Having moved Chacon from the rotation to the bullpen earlier in the week, Astros manager Cecil Cooper initially requested that Chacon come to his office to discuss issues that were being raised during the week. Chacon declined.
That prompted Wade to approach Chacon in the players' lounge prior to Wednesday's game.
Chacon again declined to go into the office, told Wade that the general manager should be free to say whatever he had to say there in the lounge and Wade, by Chacon's description lost his cool, yelling and cursing. That's when Chacon lost it, and the next thing anyone knew, Chacon had thrown Wade to the floor.
Chacon was out of line. Now, at age of 31, he is likely out of baseball, first suspended by the Astros and then, on Thursday, released.
But that doesn't exonerate Wade, who is supposed to be the leader of the franchise and has a responsibility to owners to handle his job with dignity, which doesn't include profanity-filled shouting matches with players.
Infield chatter
* Oakland assistant general manager David Forst is quick to decline interview requests for GM jobs because he figures to be the head man with the Athletics as early as next season. While Billy Beane will be around, Beane has indicated he plans to put his focus on developing the pro soccer team that he is involved with, along with Athletics owner Lewis Wolf.
* Former outfielder and current Giants scout Ted Uhlaender, whose daughter Katie was selected as the Colorado Sportswoman of the Year in 2007, has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, the same form of cancer that original Rockies manager Don Baylor has battled. Uhlaender's daughter is a four-time national skeleton sledding champion and was a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic team.
* Milwaukee right-hander Ben Sheets says in light of the Brewers deciding not to try to negotiate an extension during the season, he expects to explore the free-agent market in the fall.
The rotation
Houston GM Wade's scuffle with Chacon was rare, but not the first time team management has had such moments. As a big-league manager, the late Billy Martin was always ready to brawl. Four memorable moments:
* In 1969, his one year managing Minnesota, Martin punched pitcher Dave Boswell so hard he needed 20 stitches.
* In 1973, as manager in Detroit, Martin traded punches with minor leaguer Ike Blessitt during spring training.
* In 1985, as manager of the Yankees, Martin challenged pitcher Ed Whitson, who left Martin with a broken arm.
* After the 1985 season, in a Minneapolis bar, Martin punched marshmallow salesman Joseph Cooper, resulting in Martin's being fired by the Yankees.
Out in left field
Cito Gaston, who managed Toronto to championships in 1992 and 1993 but was fired after the 1997 season, returned as the Blue Jays manager last weekend when John Gibbons was fired.
Gaston is the 11th man to manage the same team twice with more than a 10-year gap between full-time managerial stints, according to Bill Arnold.
The longest gap was 21 years by Bucky Harris, who left the Tigers after 1933 and returned in 1955, and Paul Richards, who left the White Sox after 1954 and returned in 1976. Other extended gaps: 19 years, Yogi Berra, Yankees (last year 1964, returned in 1984); 15 years, John Pesky, Red Sox (1964, 1980) and Bill Rigney, Giants (1960, 1976); 14 years, Rogers Hornsby, Browns (1937, 1952); 11 years, John McNamara, Angels (1984, 1996); and 10 years, Bill Carrigan, Red Sox (1916, 1927), Billy Southworth, Cardinals (1929, 1940), Charlie Grimm, Cubs (1949, 1960) and Paul Owens, Phillies (1972, 1983).
Closing statement
Toronto general manager Ricciardi is indignant over questions about his credibility, when he says he talked to Reds outfielder Dunn on the phone last weekend and apologized for inane statements about Dunn, while Dunn emphatically denied ever having spoken to Ricciardi.
Ricciardi said he prides himself on his honesty and resented his integrity being questioned. He even pointed out that Dunn's call came from area code 519.
Maybe if Ricciardi lived in Toronto instead of outside Boston, he'd know the 519 area code is actually from the province of Ontario, which would seem to prove that the call didn't come from Dunn, who lives in Texas and plays for a team in Ohio.
But then Ricciardi is the guy who announced that pitcher B.J. Ryan was sidelined by back problems only to later say Ryan had reconstructive elbow surgery. Accused of lying about that, Ricciardi took exception and explained that it's not a lie when you say something that isn't true as long as you know what the truth is.
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June 27, 2008
10:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
sll writes:
A great article amongst your great articles.
A few weeks ago I exchanged emails with another superior baseball writer, and I'd be highly interested to hear your take on "Amazing: the Hall of Fame is looking now at not having a) baseball's hits leader (Rose), b) HR king (Bonds), and now c) CY king (Clemens)."
I also think we can safely cross Wade and Riccardi off the HOF Christmas card list.
June 27, 2008
10:35 a.m.
Suggest removal
Betty writes:
Thank you Mr. Ringolsby for doing more research on this incident and reporting it correctly as you did. In yesterday's Rocky Mountain News article it reported the blame was entirely Mr. Chacon. The Houston Chronicle had reported it quite differently.
It's a sad day when a person, Mr. Wade, cannot take blame for the actions that he instigated and put the blame entirely on Mr. Chacon. It takes two people to cause an altercation not one.
The sad part is that the reprecussion of this whole incident will affect Mr. Chacon and not Mr. Wade.
The saga of the Houston Astro Baseball managers continues on.
June 27, 2008
11:08 a.m.
Suggest removal
flybys writes:
O.K., let's quit giving Shawn Chacon a pass. Not talking about the writer but the people posting.
Astros GM Ed Wade, and his manager, Cecil Cooper, expected Chacon to act like a professional. When he twice refused, Wade, unprofessional himself, went ballistic. That was wrong, dead wrong but Chacon could have looked at Wade like he was crazy and then turned and left the room.
Under no circumstances, morally or legally, did Chacon have cause or right to do what he did. It was immoral, it was illegal.
Trust me, I've wanted to body slam some people for similar behavior in the past to but I'm not an animal. I have the power of reason so I made sounder judgment. To be honest, morality was the issue some of the time but maybe the fear of arrest was the clincher.
Chacon's career is likely over.