Shawn Chacon Suspended Indefinitely for attacking his GM

[brewerjamie15]

HOUSTON (AP)-Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team Wednesday for insubordination after reportedly grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground.

Chacon, upset after getting demoted to the bullpen over the weekend, told the Houston Chronicle this problem began when Wade saw him in the dining room before the game against Texas. Wade wanted to meet with Chacon in manager Cecil Cooper's office, the pitcher said.

"I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, 'You need to come with me to the office,"' Chacon said. "I said 'for what?' I said 'I don't want to go to the office with you and Cooper.' And I said, 'You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.' He's like, 'Oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said, 'yeah.' I'm not yelling. I'm calm."

Chacon said things went downhill from there.

"He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade, according to a story on the Chronicle's Web site. "I'm sitting there and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said, 'You better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling."

Chacon said that after Wade told him he needed to "look in the mirror," it got worse.

"So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him," he said. "Words were exchanged."

Chacon said players quickly came and separated the two. He recalled outfielder Reggie Abercrombie pulling him away from Wade.

Wade announced the move, but would not provide any other details. Chacon has been upset since being bumped from the rotation and moved into the bullpen on Sunday.

Chacon is 2-3 with a 5.04 ERA in 15 starts for Houston this year. The right-hander set a major league record with nine straight no-decisions to start the season.

"He is suspended pending final resolution of whatever move we end up making with him," Wade said.

When asked if Chacon was disciplined because he physically accosted Wade, the GM said: "I'm not getting into any details of anything beyond what I just said. It is an internal matter."

Wade did confirm that Chacon's agent called and requested a trade earlier this week but said "that has nothing to do with the events of today."

Chacon is now concerned that he might not pitch in the majors again.

"Maybe it shouldn't have happened," Chacon said. "But when you do those things and you're yelling at somebody and you're cussing you better know what type of person you're dealing with. If there's any regret, I just wish they had just let me alone. I wish they had left me alone," he told the Chronicle.

Chacon signed a $2 million, one-year contract with Houston in February after spending 2007 with Pittsburgh. He split time as a starter and a reliever there and was 5-4 with a 3.94 ERA and one save in 64 appearances with the Pirates.

[bullox]

Next thing you know he'll turn down millions because he needs to feed his family.

[sbrylski]

I'm sure Chacon's recount is slanted, but it doesn't sound like Wade was being very tactful.

[istanbultaye]

Wasn't it a Houston sportwriter who said our clubhouse had attitude problems? I'd say he should look in the mirror, but then he might try and choke me...

[TooLiveBrew]

"If there's any regret, I just wish they had just let me alone. I wish they had left me alone," he told the Chronicle."

 

Always good when the guy that got choked was to blame. Makes it a lot less stressful!

[istanbultaye]

Obviously choking someone isn't the proper response to being cussed at, but I could easily believe the part about the GM ranting/cussing at him. He should've held his response to extending a certain dgit and walking away though.

[owbc]

He had a decent ERA with Pittsburgh as a reliever last year, I see why the Astros wanted to move him to the bullpen. I know he signed with the Astros to be a starter, but with a 5+ ERA, it clearly wasn't working out. Chacon looks really bad for this, and we don't even have an incriminating video.

He's probably done for the year, but if he apologizes enough, he'll probably get an invite to Spring Training in 2009.

[Brian the Automator]

To be fair, I'd think that most of Houston's fans would like to have had the chance to choke Ed Wade as well.

 

But seriously, he's lucky he's not in jail.

[naivin]

He's probably done for the year, but if he apologizes enough, he'll probably get an invite to Spring Training in 2009.

 

Given the pitching shortage around MLB, I'd say he probably already has apologized enough to get an invite to Spring Training in 2009.

[Postseason2006]

Brad Lidge was never suspended by Wade for all the choking he did.

[fondybrewfan]

Has he really been any worse than every other player in that awful Astros rotation?

 

The story probably is slanated but if it at least partly true Ed Wade sure wasn't showing a whole lot of professionalism. I can't imagine my boss cussing me out in public

[brwrsfan]

Brad Lidge was never suspended by Wade for all the choking he did.

 

Classic!

[Thurston Fluff]

He certainly showed some disrespect by not going to the office when asked by his boss. I have no doubt he knew he was in for a butt chewing for something. Given all that happened I suspect that something was attitude related. Since he chose to stay were he was he should have expected to be aired out right then and there. That doesn't mean Wade is blameless in this whole thing.

[jwill535]

If I choked someone every time I got cussed and yelled at my hands would still be cramped.

 

Heck I had a boss when I worked for the city that if she wasnt swearing at you then you knew you were in trouble, add too the fact I was have been in construction for the last 10 yrs, being sworn at or swearing at people is considered the norm. That one year spent at an engineering firm was kinda awkward at first though. It took awhile to break the habit of using the 7 deadly words as common verbs/nouns/adjectives etc.

[Diskono]

What does "basically yelling" mean?

 

edit: In my experience, any time someone uses words like "basically" or "practically" in that context, it means that they're exaggerating horribly. For example, Shawn Chacon is basically a major league pitcher.

[bigredrobbo]

I don't doubt for a second that there was blame from both parties (there usually is). However, one of the parties pays the other's wages, and was thrown to the ground in what I believe legal people call "an assault", while the other refused to take the confrontation somewhere more private and is laughably saying he was disrespected.

 

Hmmmmm....I wonder how this will turn out.

 

Some of us here would crawl over broken glass - on fire - to sit in a major league dugout and collect league minimum, and then there's jokers like Chacon treating the gig like it's flipping burgers in MacDonalds and the boss is being an arse. Sheeesh!

[davego]

Shaun should have been on the '02 'Crew team.

[sgtcluels]

So what does this mean for the 2 Million they gave him? Does he forfeit it?

[tristarscoop]

Brad Lidge was never suspended by Wade for all the choking he did.

Funniest moment in an opposing ballpark - hearing the Astros announce Brad "Lights Out" Lidge in this MoviePhone sort of voice. Classic comedy!

 

[sheethead]

Hmmmmm....I wonder how this will turn out.

 

IIRC, Sprewell made millions after his assault on PJ. I know this is a Chacon thread, but that wiki page has some depressing info on Sprewell that I didn't know. Talk about MC Hammer type money mismanagement.

 

So what does this mean for the 2 Million they gave him? Does he forfeit it?

 

See the link above. I know it's a different league, but Sprewell had an arbitrator rule in his favor. His contract was reinstated and deemed valid. So much for employer's rights. Maybe I can choke my manager and still get paid... probably not.

[Bring Back the Stein]

Wasn't it a Houston sportwriter who said our clubhouse had attitude problems? I'd say he should look in the mirror, but then he might try and choke me...

This was one of my first thoughts when I heard the story. It actually was the Houston Chronicle's beat writer, not grandee Richard Justice, who talked about the poison in the Houston clubhouse, lending credence to the folks who attacked Richard Justice for his obliviousness in saying the same about the Brewers situation. So I hereby withdraw any defense of Justice and join the right-thinking to call b.s. on what he said about the Crew. As the Scripture says, "Why do you worry about the mote in your brother's eye when you avoid the plank in your own?"

 

(Although picturing a Prince Fielder eruption, as imagined by Michael Bay, still is a fun little mental exercise.)

 

 

(note: "b.s." isn't allowed; please see language guidelines --1992)

[ESPNOwen]

Chacon should be in jail and if Chacon's account is correct, Ed Wade should be fired. Man, what a bunch of morons.

[davego]

I say 2 out of three falls, pay-per-view. Cage and ladder match. Loser leaves town.

[Fatter than Joey]

So what does this mean for the 2 Million they gave him? Does he forfeit it?

 

Well -- He earned roughly half of it -- I suspect he will get his salary, I think a lot will depend on what HOU does -- If they trade him, I would have to think he gets his paycheck.

[Invader3K]

How soon before the Player's Union files a grievance on Chacon's behalf?