Shawn Chacon assaults Ed Wade

by JasonB on Jun 26, 2008 10:04 AM EDT

How many Phils fans have dreamed of doing this?

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.”

Wow... Regardless of Wade was acting, there can be no excuse for this. Especially a pro athlete assaulting a much smaller and older guy. I'm somewhat surprised the police aren't involved...

The worst part is that neither guy seems to want to take responsibiltiy

“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.

“I’d hoped he pitched better for us,” Wade said. “That’s the bottom line. We took him out of the rotation on Sunday basically on merit. He’d had 10 starts since late April, and the last three starts, four starts weren’t very good. So we hoped that he would help us in the bullpen, and unfortunately we’re at a point right now when we think it’s in our best interest to move forward.”

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I actually dreamed of doing much worse to Wade in his Phillies days. I applaud Chacon for taking matters into his own hands (pun intended) but also for having the restraint not to cave that weasel’s face in.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 26, 2008 10:44 AM EDT 0 recs

Wow – as much as I’ve always hated Wade, I wouldn’t wish this on any GM. They’re usually not athletes, but they deal with very strong guys who make a living off their body. There’s no excuse for Chacon, even if Wade was out of line. Chacon really should be arrested.

by David S. Cohen on Jun 26, 2008 11:26 AM EDT 0 recs

Not taking up for Chacon here, BUT…
if you were a scrawny mid 50’s GM type, would you put yourself in a position to get a beat down from an athletic 30ish year old?
Don’t poke a bear with a toothpick unless you’re ready to face the consequences.

by Bilzo on Jun 26, 2008 11:33 AM EDT up 0 recs

If my job description included such actions, absolutely. This isn’t some random 50 year old scrawny guy challenging some 30 year old athlete. This is Chacon’s boss. Now, Wade may not have been the best boss at that point in time (or any for that matter!), but employees generally have to listen to their bosses when their bosses are unhappy.

by David S. Cohen on Jun 26, 2008 1:26 PM EDT up 0 recs

Wade played college ball, so I suspect he might be a little bigger than he looks on TV. Still, he is 50 and of course this is inexcusable. And I don’t place any blame on Wade for “poking the bear” or what not. He’s the boss, and you can’t show fear when you’re disciplining your subordinates even (especially?) if you’re a smaller, older guy.

by taco pal on Jun 26, 2008 11:46 AM EDT 0 recs

I get what you’re saying, but compare this to how Charlie Manuel handles his business. Wade mishandled the situation from the jump; he misread Chacon, obviously, and while he might have won some points in the clubhouse for enforcing accountability on performance, I doubt he engendered much goodwill.

We probably don’t appreciate as much as we should that the Phillies under Manuel and Gillick pretty much never embarrass themselves in this way. I guess the Myers situation two years ago sort of figures in, but IMO that was more the executives screwing it up than the skipper or GM.

by dajafi on Jun 26, 2008 12:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

There’s no doubt that Wade seemed a bit out of line… but the guy who gets physical first is always going to be the bigger villain.

Bleeding Green Nation - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Jun 26, 2008 12:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Well, I think it depends on the details. I’m not sure if any new info has come out today, but what I read in the morning was just Chacon’s account, which I think has to be taken with a grain of salt. If Wade went into the clubhouse screaming from the word go, then that was clearly poor form (though it still doesn’t mean he asked for Chacon’s reaction). But suppose Wade went up to Chacon and just said discreetly “Let’s go meet in the office,” and then Chacon started noisily resisting. At that point I think Wade has to stand his ground.

All that being said, I agree that Manuel is clearly superior at people-management. My take on Charlie is that he’s really an all-star in that department.

by taco pal on Jun 26, 2008 2:04 PM EDT up 0 recs