Adam LaRoche walks away from 13 million dollars

[CaliAngel]

I find this guy to be pretty selfish. Not only does he disregard every other adult who’s a part of the organization by basically giving an ultimatum, he’s willing to throw the entire team under the bus to the media and cause this kind of drama a week before the season starts. Nobody fired him! He walked away on his own, unwilling to compromise! This is his doing, and nobody else’s. He could have dealt with the matter in a much more “adult” way. Perhaps, that is the root of the problem. He doesn’t know how to.

 

He’s apparently ingrained in his beliefs, and hey, that’s great. But don’t expect 24 other guys, and numerous other coaches and management, to just be “okay” with a kid being around ALL the time. As a 20 year old, as a 30 year old, sometimes you just want to be left alone with adults, to talk about, you know, adult stuff. I work with adults, and we talk about, well, adult stuff. And when there’s a kid close by you’re always going to be looking around your shoulder hoping the kids not around, wondering if what you say the kid might repeat, etc. Quite frankly, in an adult environment (such as a MLB field, dugout, clubhouse), it doesn’t allow you to be adults. And that can be very detrimental to an environment where at times there needs to be intense conversations, confrontations, words said to each other, that quite frankly, might be held back because there’s a kids sitting right there.

 

I think a couple unnamed players complained, a couple unnamed coaches complained, and someone had to bring it up to him, and now Kenny Williams is taking it up the wazoo. The players who were cool with it are defending this guy, and the media has taken the question mark and ran with it.

 

To be honest? I can’t imagine being a ballplayer in that kind of environment where I have to hold back or watch what I say EVERY DAY. It just doesn't seem productive or realistic. Especially when some of the best results come out of going at each other for a couple intense minutes to come to a realization that you all agree and you're just coming from different angles. Sometimes when you're encouraging you say vulgar stuff just to pump the guy up, and now you can't because kid.

 

If I played in the MLB, the second I saw this guys kid in the clubhouse I’d be like “What the hell is this twerp doing down here? Why is he on the field during warm ups? This is a professional organization. He's in my way. This kid doesn’t belong here.”

 

Bye .207 Felicia!

 

Impossible for me to give a crying shoulder to millionaire crybaby ballplayers.

[bloodbrother]

To nobody's surprise, there were complaints about LaRoche having his kid around all.the.friggin.time.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/bob-nightengale/2016/03/18/adam-laroche-drake-laroche-kenny-williams/81993428/

 

 

And while the early evidence frames this as a Williams vs. LaRoche battle over clubhouse time for LaRoche’s son, multiple baseball officials with direct knowledge of the Adam LaRoche brouhaha told USA TODAY Sports a different tale.

 

Several players and staff members privately complained to White Sox management recently about the constant presence of LaRoche’s 14-year-old son, Drake, in the clubhouse. Drake LaRoche, multiple people say, was with the team about 120 games during the 2015 season.

 

Apparently, no one ever told LaRoche. These players and staff members didn’t feel comfortable even sharing it with their own teammates, with several White Sox players saying they never heard a complaint. But they did express their views to management.

 

It put the White Sox in an awkward position. They were the ones who told LaRoche that his son could be with him as often as he desired when they signed him to a two-year, $26 million contract before the 2015 season. They even furnished him with his own locker and uniform, right next to dad.

 

Perhaps the verbal agreement in theory felt far different in practice, and that the White Sox were taken aback that LaRoche truly had his son everywhere with him. They were together virtually every home game. He made almost half the road trips. Flew on the team charters. And even participated in drills.

 

According to the story, White Sox asked LaRoche to scale things back and after the talk nothing changed. LaRoche still kept bringing his son to the ballpark and had him participating in practice drills for the next 3-4 days. That's when the White Sox finally had enough

Edited March 19, 2016 by bloodbrother

[tdawg87]

I honestly just do not care about any of this.

[Wallerrrr]

he's 14...he should be chasing @ss anyways....

[IEAngelsfan]

Just for argument sake, but what if he wanted to bring his wife there everyday?

That one i know for sure the other guys would have bitched to management...

Maybe, maybe not.  What if she wanted to shower with the guys?

[QuinlansMinion]

To nobody's surprise, there were complaints about LaRoche having his kid around all.the.friggin.time.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/bob-nightengale/2016/03/18/adam-laroche-drake-laroche-kenny-williams/81993428/

According to the story, White Sox asked LaRoche to scale things back and after the talk nothing changed. LaRoche still kept bringing his son to the ballpark and had him participating in practice drills for the next 3-4 days. That's when the White Sox finally had enough

But u dont have all the facts!!!!11

[Vegas Halo Fan]

To nobody's surprise, there were complaints about LaRoche having his kid around all.the.friggin.time.

 

When I hear about stuff like this, I think about Dusty Baker's kid getting almost bowled over at home plate in the 2002 World Series, and J. T. Snow had to grab him and move him out of the way. Having a child around is fine in reasonable doses, but children don't belong on the field, and they aren't part of the team.

 

My father was an aircraft electrician in the military. I went to the base on occasion, but I can't imagine going to work with him every day. LaRoche's son was with the White Sox for 120 games last year. That seems a bit excessive.

[Jay]

LaRoche's son was with the White Sox for 120 games last year. That seems a bit excessive.

Yes it's excessive. And if La Roche doesn't recognize that, he has a screw loose.

[CaliAngel]

LaRoche is LaDouche.

[m0nkey]

The fact that so many people here are offended is more interesting than the story itself 

[Stradling]

Yep, being bothered by it is silly. He and the team had an agreement, the team decided they didn't like the agreement so he decided to walk away. I truly don't see why anyone would be judgmental about this. Focus on your own shit.

[NrM]

Open letter to White Sox players

http://www.southsidesox.com/2016/3/19/11269960/open-letter-to-white-sox-players

 

 

 

This whole thing strikes me as just another example of a spoiled, pampered, childish athlete.

 

 

I think the teammates are coming off worse. Eaton calling Drake a "team leader". Chris Sale hanging his son's jersey up in the locker. Threatening to boycott a game. 

 

Yikes.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Mr. Meeseeks

[ABC]

Yep, being bothered by it is silly. He and the team had an agreement, the team decided they didn't like the agreement so he decided to walk away. I truly don't see why anyone would be judgmental about this. Focus on your own shit.

 

Why are you on AW? The point is to get a respite from "your own shit".

[Stradling]

fair enough, still don't understand why this whole thing is a big deal. He's retiring because he disagrees with a new rule.

[Wallerrrr]

Open letter to White Sox players

http://www.southsidesox.com/2016/3/19/11269960/open-letter-to-white-sox-players

 

 

 

I think the teammates are coming off worse. Eaton calling Drake a "team leader". Chris Sale hanging his son's jersey up in the locker. Threatening to boycott a game. 

 

Yikes.

 

There clubhouse leader is 14? thats awesome...lol

[ten ocho recon scout]

There clubhouse leader is 14? thats awesome...lol

is it a dominican 14 though?

[JAHV76]

That would make him 24

[Wallerrrr]

seems legit....lol

[QuinlansMinion]

Open letter to White Sox players

http://www.southsidesox.com/2016/3/19/11269960/open-letter-to-white-sox-players

 

 

 

I think the teammates are coming off worse. Eaton calling Drake a "team leader". Chris Sale hanging his son's jersey up in the locker. Threatening to boycott a game. 

 

Yikes.

 

 

That was great, particularly these parts

 

 

To us, it's utterly ridiculous. A guy - most particularly a guy who was really, really, really bad at his job and was the 3rd highest-paid employee - wants to bring his teenage son to work almost everyday. And you're sticking up for him. We can't relate. It's laughable for one of us to think that we could take our kid to work even once (setting aside the extremely infrequent take-your-kid-to-work days). It's actually kind of offensive to hear someone think they're entitled to take their kid to work everyday.

 

 

Let's break that down for a minute. How do you think that sounds to a lot of your teammates? Let's say it's a guy with a few major league seasons under his belt, maybe with the White Sox, maybe with some other teams, too. Guess what they're probably thinking.

This teenager is a team leader? That's a guy my teammates respect as a leader? Really? What about me? I'm supposed to give that much respect to a kid? I have to watch what I say and do, watch some kid fly on our charter, have a locker, be involved in everything - even handhold him in drills where I'm trying to get better - while I've worked for years to reach this level, sacrificed lots of things, actually play for the team. And I don't get the same respect Adam Laroche's kid gets. I can't actually approach him about his son, about how I really feel about having a kid in my locker room. (And, yes, some of us did notice that LaRoche was not a good player.) That's why I (and others) went behind LaRoche's and everyone else's back.

 

 

We don't mind that you may care about him (and his son). After all, you see the other - and more important - side of him. To you, he's an actual human being where, for us, he's essentially a walking stat line. He came to the White Sox with a great reputation. You have a lot of respect for him. That's fine. But we don't.

 

 

White Sox fans are thrilled that hes gone and if youre the owner thats all you really care about.  

[NrM]

Interesting thoughts on LaRoche from a baseball wife/mom - wife of former 3B Joe Randa.

 

https://twitter.com/DAonCBS/status/711579375796424706/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

[Wallerrrr]

Joe who?

[ten ocho recon scout]

That would make him 24

and a grandpa

[yk9001]

Bob Nightengale Verified account ‏@BNightengale

Adam Eaton says that he originally planned to bring his father to the clubhouse today, but in wake of LaRoche/Sox mess, feels uncomfortable

 

 

This whole saga sounds like something from the Onion now.

These Sox players are frigging drama queens.

[NrM]

These Sox players are frigging drama queens.

 

Drama queens who cry and whine to the media because their boss told them they couldn't do something that no normal person could ever imagine of having the privilege of.

 

What they think we're going to sympathies with them?

Edited March 21, 2016 by Mr. Meeseeks

[GrittyVeterans]

If you had to play in Chiraq, you'd be bitter, too.

Worst stadium, worst neighborhood, worst fans in MLB?

 

Worst stadium, yes. Worst neighborhood is probably Baltimore. I went to Camden a couple summers ago, and my god it's a disaster there. Guys selling rock right outside of an incredible stadium. It was wild