NetShrine
07-27-2001, 03:29 PM
First, BB Weekly reports that:
Quietly, a settlement has been reached with former hitting coach Mike Easler, who asked for his release when the club wanted him to move to a rover position.
Then, this story comes out. Seems disconnected?
Thursday, July 26
Easler claims he was unjustly ousted as Cards' coach
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- Mike Easler, dropped as the St. Louis Cardinals' batting coach earlier this month, filed suit Thursday claiming he was unjustly ousted.
The suit, filed in state court, charges the Cardinals with wrongful termination, defamation of character and invasion of privacy, and seeks damages in excess of $25,000 and additional punitive damages.
"Mike wants closure to this," said James Schottel Jr., Easler's attorney. "He wants another opportunity to be a hitting coach and eventually an opportunity as a manager."
Easler was in his third season with the Cardinals when he was reassigned July 13. He was offered a spot as a roving minor league hitting coach and declined.
Easler was unavailable for comment Thursday and not expected back in St. Louis before the weekend, Schottel said.
"I'm speaking from the gut. I can't believe Mike's getting the best advice," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said after a 3-1 win in Chicago against the Cubs.
"We did everything more than right," La Russa said. "I'm disappointed. I really liked Mike."
In the petition, Easler admits he missed a nine-game road trip prior to the All-Star break, blaming the absence on several unspecified health conditions. But he insists he kept the Cardinals informed of his whereabouts and treatment.
Easler charges that Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg and team physician Jim Loomis asked an emergency room doctor at Saint Louis University Hospital to "give (Easler) some medicine and tell (Easler) to catch the next flight out in the morning" to rejoin the Cardinals on the road.
Instead, Easler went home to San Antonio and was treated by his personal doctor. When he rejoined the club, the suit says, the Cardinals informed Easler he was being replaced.
"After years of advancing through the major league baseball system, (the Cardinals) deliberately rendered (Easler's) working condition, in being demoted to the minors, so intolerable that (Easler) was forced to resign and thus constructively discharged," the suit says.
The suit also alleges that public comments made by Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty about Easler's removal -- specifically "Mike had some personal issues he had to deal with" -- were knowingly false and have "caused irreparable harm ... in that (Easler) is and will be unable to find employment in major league baseball as a hitting coach or manager."
The suit's description of events leading to Easler's departure generally match those given publicly by Jocketty and La Russa, who in announcing the change said it wasn't related to Easler's job performance.
The club wanted Easler to swap places with Mitchell Page, who took over as the major league hitting coach. La Russa said at the time if Easler "had been 100 percent, we would have never had this problem."
Easler was upset with the switch, calling himself the "fall guy" for the team's performance at the plate. But the next day, he backed away from that sentiment and told reporters in a hastily arranged news conference that he asked for his release for health reasons.
Easler said then he needed three to four weeks of rest for a nerve problem in his neck, and he also had been bothered by a sinus infection, bronchitis and an ear infection.
While Easler was the batting coach, the Cardinals went 43-44, were tied for third in the National League with a .267 batting average and were ninth in runs. Since Page took over, the Cardinals have dropped to fifth in the NL in batting average (.265) and are still ninth in runs.
Quietly, a settlement has been reached with former hitting coach Mike Easler, who asked for his release when the club wanted him to move to a rover position.
Then, this story comes out. Seems disconnected?
Thursday, July 26
Easler claims he was unjustly ousted as Cards' coach
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- Mike Easler, dropped as the St. Louis Cardinals' batting coach earlier this month, filed suit Thursday claiming he was unjustly ousted.
The suit, filed in state court, charges the Cardinals with wrongful termination, defamation of character and invasion of privacy, and seeks damages in excess of $25,000 and additional punitive damages.
"Mike wants closure to this," said James Schottel Jr., Easler's attorney. "He wants another opportunity to be a hitting coach and eventually an opportunity as a manager."
Easler was in his third season with the Cardinals when he was reassigned July 13. He was offered a spot as a roving minor league hitting coach and declined.
Easler was unavailable for comment Thursday and not expected back in St. Louis before the weekend, Schottel said.
"I'm speaking from the gut. I can't believe Mike's getting the best advice," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said after a 3-1 win in Chicago against the Cubs.
"We did everything more than right," La Russa said. "I'm disappointed. I really liked Mike."
In the petition, Easler admits he missed a nine-game road trip prior to the All-Star break, blaming the absence on several unspecified health conditions. But he insists he kept the Cardinals informed of his whereabouts and treatment.
Easler charges that Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg and team physician Jim Loomis asked an emergency room doctor at Saint Louis University Hospital to "give (Easler) some medicine and tell (Easler) to catch the next flight out in the morning" to rejoin the Cardinals on the road.
Instead, Easler went home to San Antonio and was treated by his personal doctor. When he rejoined the club, the suit says, the Cardinals informed Easler he was being replaced.
"After years of advancing through the major league baseball system, (the Cardinals) deliberately rendered (Easler's) working condition, in being demoted to the minors, so intolerable that (Easler) was forced to resign and thus constructively discharged," the suit says.
The suit also alleges that public comments made by Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty about Easler's removal -- specifically "Mike had some personal issues he had to deal with" -- were knowingly false and have "caused irreparable harm ... in that (Easler) is and will be unable to find employment in major league baseball as a hitting coach or manager."
The suit's description of events leading to Easler's departure generally match those given publicly by Jocketty and La Russa, who in announcing the change said it wasn't related to Easler's job performance.
The club wanted Easler to swap places with Mitchell Page, who took over as the major league hitting coach. La Russa said at the time if Easler "had been 100 percent, we would have never had this problem."
Easler was upset with the switch, calling himself the "fall guy" for the team's performance at the plate. But the next day, he backed away from that sentiment and told reporters in a hastily arranged news conference that he asked for his release for health reasons.
Easler said then he needed three to four weeks of rest for a nerve problem in his neck, and he also had been bothered by a sinus infection, bronchitis and an ear infection.
While Easler was the batting coach, the Cardinals went 43-44, were tied for third in the National League with a .267 batting average and were ninth in runs. Since Page took over, the Cardinals have dropped to fifth in the NL in batting average (.265) and are still ninth in runs.