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Has the Astros GM Wade lost his mind?
By Ken Gimblin, Stefani Rebekah Black and Ralph Gora
June 26, 2008
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The next time the San Francisco Giants face the Astros again it will be in August by then the argument and neck throw down of Astros General Manager Ed Wade by ex- Astro pitcher Shawn Chacon would have been an after thought. But right now it's clear as a bell as to who made a fool of themselves in the Astros clubhouse on Sunday, Wade made a fool of himself demeaning his position of authority and started yelling in the face of Chacon when Chacon was trying to have lunch before Sunday's game with his teammates..
Chacon while very wrong for putting hands on Wade and throwing him down to the floor in the Astros clubhouse during lunch by his neck, but it does not make Ed Wade immune to discipline but from the looks of things your dreaming if Wade will also get discipline because he's the Astros "leader" and he's the one who sets the example.
Some example when your boss your General Manager asks you to go into the manager's office and your having lunch you have a right to union representation the last time we looked it up according to baseball's so called collective bargaining agreement Chacon has a right to representation and that was violated.
When Chacon refused to come into Astro manager Cecil Cooper's office to talk to both Wade and Cooper, Wade blew a gasket and got in Chacon's face. The only way that Chacon could have protected his honor and pride was to get Wade out of his face and he took both hands (now the wrong move) and put them around Wade's neck and threw him onto the clubhouse floor.
Chacon needless to say was unceremoniously dumped by the Astros on Thursday. This was not the right move. Many writers have missed the point to of all of this calling out Chacon as some kind of crack pot, saying he got what he deserved; it was Wade who instigated the fight. Boss or no boss you don't rant your issues in front of the team and show up a player, your the General Manager of a Major League club.
If Chacon didn't want to go for a chat then do what all professional General Managers do ask him later, ask his agent, actually Cooper himself should have come out and asked to see Chacon. Chacon earlier in the week had requested a trade and his agent called Wade. The called infuriated Wade to no end and it showed in the clubhouse as Wade got in Chacon's face screaming, "look in the mirror" in front of Chacon's teammates.
It should have never got to the point where Chacon ended up on top of Wade and teammates were trying to pull Chacon off. Now the MLB Players Union has jumped in this matter. There won't be any collusion here for another team to sign Chacon. The MLB Player's attorney Michael Weiner said on Thursday, "if Shawn Chacon clears wavers and is released, we will pursue appropriate relief on his behalf."
The Union and the players particularly the Astros players need to ban together and stand behind Chacon. Chacon is not some crack pot, or a Latrelle Spreewell that people have portrayed him to be. The difference between Spree and Chacon is that Spreewell's former head coach PJ Carlisemo asked Spree to run certain practice plays and Spreewell didn't like the way Carlisemo asked him to do it and tried to choke the coach.
In this instance Wade got in Chacon's face. Now the writers have said that Chacon will never be signed by any big league team because of this incident. Chacon will be black balled. The Union must force the Astros to take Chacon back and force the Astros to adhere to the contract that was signed by Chacon, the reasons for the Astros releasing Chacon is unacceptable.
If this had been something that was Chacon's error like Wade had asked Chacon to come to Cooper's office several times but never yelling in his face and baiting Chacon and Chacon attacked Wade then it's a different story here. If the MLB Players lose in arbitration over this one there is something very wrong with a player trying to stand up for himself when he's baited by someone like Ed Wade. Wade should face a long discipline too but it'll never happen, he's the General Manager, free reign.
Stefani Rebekah Black, Ralph Gora and Ken Gimblin all contributed to this story for Sportstalk Radio.
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