When Ken Griffey Sr. played for the New York Yankees, Ken Griffey Jr. was a clubhouse presence at Yankee Stadium, though not every day. In fact, he once got in trouble with Manager Billy Martin. Nick Priore, the Yankees’ clubhouse boss, went to Griffey Sr. one day in 1983 and told him Martin had complained that his sons, Ken Jr., 13, and Craig, 12, were making too much noise in the hall outside the clubhouse.
Ken Jr. never forgot that incident and said he would never sign with the Yankees because of it. And he never did.
I remember, too, Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr. tossing baseballs against a wall outside the Texas Rangers’ spring training clubhouse in Pompano Beach, Fla. Buddy Bell also played for the Rangers, and his young sons, David and Mike, were with him in spring training, though I don’t know for how much of it.
These scenes came to life again last week because of the Adam LaRoche development. Seldom has a controversy raged in spring training like the one that has burst into flames between the Chicago White Sox and LaRoche, their designated hitter.
LaRoche, a 36-year-old veteran of 12 years in the majors, said last week he was retiring, thus forsaking his $13 million salary, rather than accede to the request – demand – of the club’s executive vice president, Kenny Williams, that he leave his son at home when LaRoche is in the White Sox spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz.
According to reports, Williams initially asked LaRoche to “dial back” on the time his 14-year-old son, Drake, spends in the clubhouse with the White Sox. Players later said Williams subsequently told LaRoche to keep his son out of the clubhouse altogether.
LaRoche’s teammates erupted in fury, going so far as to threaten to boycott an exhibition game. Pitcher Chris Sale called Williams a liar, saying he gave three different reasons why Drake LaRoche should not be in the clubhouse. The elder LaRoche said that before he signed a two-year $25 million contract as a free agent in November 2014 the White Sox agreed that his son could be part of the clubhouse.
I have a theory that would explain the development.
The White Sox – Williams or Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf – decided they didn’t want to pay a .207 hitter $13 million this year, and inducing him to quit was the only way they could avoid paying him.
Executives have a special talent for knowing what buttons to push to induce a high-paid employee to quit. I’ve witnessed some at work in more than one company. I wouldn’t be surprised if in LaRoche’s case the Whites Sox decided Drake’s status made his father vulnerable, and LaRoche responded exactly how they wanted him to. They could find a .207 hitter for a lot less money.
If I had to pick an owner most likely to pull off such a scheme, it would be Reinsdorf. His credentials: He was one of the leaders of the owners’ collusion against free agents in the 1980s, and he was a leader in the owners’ move to oust Fay Vincent as commissioner in 1992 so he wouldn’t be in the way of their attempt to break the union in 1994l
When the White Sox signed LaRoche, they were coming off a fourth-place division finish, a season in which they ranked 12th in the American League in on-base percentage, ninth in batting average, eighth in hits and runs scored and struck out the most of any team but Houston.
In other words, they were looking for offense and thought LaRoche could provide some. In his previous season with Washington, after all, he had hit 26 home runs, driven in 92 runs and had .362 on-base and .455 slugging percentages. The $25 million they gave him seemed to be reasonable.
But the .207 batting average with 12 home runs, 44 r.b.i. and .293 on-base and .340 slugging percentages hardly seemed to be worth a $13 million salary for this year.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to speculate that Williams, a long-time Reinsdorf employee, whom the owner has treated well and better than any other long-standing, high-ranking minority employee, was willing to be the bad guy in the LaRoche scheme and take the heat for Reinsdorf.
Notice that neither Reinsdorf nor any other White Sox executive has stepped up to calm LaRoche’s enraged teammates and soothe the situation by offering a compromise.
The most Reinsdorf has done is issue a statement Friday saying,
“While we appreciate everyone’s attention and interest, we continue to feel that it would be premature to comment at this time. This is an internal issue and we are in the process of holding a number of discussions with players, staff and the front office.
“As a result, we do not want to comment until that process is completed. I have instructed members of the organization not to talk about this issue and get our focus back on the field and winning baseball games.”
LaRoche topped Reinsdorf with his statement:
“Given the suddenness of my departure and the stir it has caused in both the media and the clubhouse, I feel it’s necessary to provide my perspective.
“Over the last five years, with both the Nationals and the White Sox, I have been given the opportunity to have my son with me in the clubhouse. It is a privilege I have greatly valued. I have never taken it for granted, and I feel an enormous amount of gratitude toward both of those organizations.
“Though I clearly indicated to both teams the importance of having my son with me, I also made clear that if there was ever a moment when a teammate, coach or manager was made to feel uncomfortable, then I would immediately address it. I realize that this is their office and their career, and it would not be fair to the team if anybody in the clubhouse was unhappy with the situation. Fortunately, that problem never developed. I’m not going to speak about my son Drake’s behavior, his manners, and the quality of person that he is, because everyone knows that I am biased. All of the statements from my teammates, past and present, should say enough. Those comments from all of the people who have interacted with Drake are a testimony to how he carries himself.
“Prior to signing with the White Sox, my first question to the club concerned my son’s ability to be a part of the team. After some due diligence on the club’s part, we reached an agreement. The 2015 season presented no problems as far as Drake was concerned. (My bat and our record are another story!)
“With all of this in mind, we move toward the current situation which arose after White Sox VP Ken Williams recently advised me to significantly scale back the time that my son spent in the clubhouse. Later, I was told not to bring him to the ballpark at all. Obviously, I expressed my displeasure toward this decision to alter the agreement we had reached before I signed with the White Sox. Upon doing so, I had to make a decision. Do I choose my teammates and my career? Or do I choose my family? The decision was easy, but in no way was it a reflection of how I feel about my teammates, manager, general manager or the club’s owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
“The White Sox organization is full of people with strong values and solid character. My decision to walk away was simply the result of a fundamental disagreement between myself and Ken Williams.
“I understand that many people will not understand my decision. I respect that, and all I ask is for that same level of respect in return. I live by certain values that are rooted in my faith, and I am grateful to my parents for that. I have tried to set a good example on and off the field and live a life that represents these values. As fathers, we have an opportunity to help mold our kids into men and women of character, with morals and values that can’t be shaken by the world around them. Of one thing I am certain: we will regret NOT spending enough time with our kids, not the other way around.
“At every level of my career, the game of baseball has reinforced the importance of family to me. Being at my father’s side when he coached. Playing alongside my brothers as a kid and as an adult in the big leagues.
“Likewise, it has been great to have my son by my side to share in this experience as I played.
“In each and every instance, baseball has given me some of my life’s greatest memories. This was likely to be the last year of my career, and there’s no way I was going to spend it without my son.
“Baseball has taught me countless life lessons. I’ve learned how to face challenges, how to overcome failure, how to maintain humility, and most importantly, to trust that the Lord is in control and that I was put here to do more than play the game of baseball. We are called to live life with an unwavering love for God and love for each other. These are lessons I try to teach my kids every day. I truly am blessed to have been granted each of those experiences.
“Thank you to all of my previous managers, past teammates and friends across the league for making these past 12 years such a wonderful journey, and for providing me with memories that I will never forget – especially the ones with my son by my side.
“I will leave you with the same advice that I left my teammates. In life, we’re all faced with difficult decisions and will have a choice to make. Do we act based on the consequences, or do we act on what we know and believe in our hearts to be right? I choose the latter.”
Having players’ sons in the clubhouse or other team facilities is nothing unusual. As far back as I remember, teen-age sons or younger have spent time in the clubhouse before or after games. The Griffeys, Alomars and Bells are only a few examples.
But the LaRoche case, with his father’s insistence that he be allowed to be present every day for six weeks, raises a question.
At the age of 14, Drake is in eight or ninth grade. Why is he spending the six weeks of spring training in spring training and not at least some of the time in school? I have read that the LaRoches home school Drake, but I have not been able to learn if they also home school their daughter, Montana.
I personally don’t believe in home schooling, primarily because there is significantly more to school than classroom study – the social side of learning to interact with other children, for example – but the LaRoches have a right to educate their children however they want as long as they are teaching them something besides baseball.
The question I would pose is are they homeschooling Drake so he can spend quality baseball time with his father? If he is a promising baseball player, will he get the opportunity to play scholastic baseball or will he be limited to summer-league baseball?
When I covered the Yankees and went to spring training, like other writers who had children, I allowed mine to miss two weeks of school and take their school work to Florida with them.
If the LaRoches are homeschooling Drake, he could benefit from learning subjects other than curveballs and four-seam fastballs. Instead of learning algebra and geometry he could learn baseball analytics – WAR and UZR, for example.