Everett Not Worthitt

[NetShrine]

They should just cut the guy.

Monday, September 17
Everett reportedly sent home for tardiness
ESPN.com news services

BOSTON -- The Red Sox continue to be plagued by turmoil within the team, the latest a reported weekend run-in between manager Joe Kerrigan and outfielder Carl Everett.

The Boston Globe said Monday the incident stemmed from Everett's tardiness for a closed-door workout at Fenway Park on Sunday.

According to an unnamed source, Kerrigan ordered Everett to leave the stadium. The volitale outfielder then erupted and engaged in a running argument with Kerrigan, who levied a fine against the outfielder.

"He wasn't happy about it," the newspaper quoted the source as saying of Everett's reaction to Kerrigan sending him home.

Everett reportedly challenged Kerrigan's authority in front of the entire team, according to a source.

The incident was not the first for Everett and a Red Sox manager. Everett clashed several times with Jimy Williams, who was fired earlier this season and replaced by Kerrigan.

Williams fined Everett twice in spring training for missing team buses.

Everett also was fined by Major League Baseball for an obscene gesture last month as he crossed home plate after hitting a home run off Seattle's Jamie Moyer.

Major League Baseball also punished Everett last year for an incident in which he bumped umpire Ron Kulpa at Fenway Park.

[ChrisCary]

I'm sure as a moral and conscienscious American he;s just reacting to the stress of current events.

[NetShrine]

Chris.

Yeah, right, that's the ticket.

[NetShrine]

Old Jimy W must be laughing his ass off.

Red Sox OF Everett suspended 4 games for run-in with Kerrigan
SportsTicker

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Carl Everett's dislike for Boston Red Sox managers apparently has carried over to Joe Kerrigan.

In another tumultuous chapter of a never-ending soap opera for the Red Sox, Everett was suspended four games and fined an undisclosed amount Monday, one day after a run-in with manager Joe Kerrigan.

The suspension will begin Tuesday, when Boston hosts the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Boston Globe reported that the volatile outfielder was ordered by Kerrigan to leave Fenway Park after showing up late for a team workout. He then engaged in an argument with the manager.

According to the newspaper, Everett challenged Kerrigan's authority in front of the team.

Clashes with managers are nothing new for Everett, who made life miserable for Jimy Williams before he was fired as Red Sox manager on August 16.

Williams suspended Everett for tardiness last season, but Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette backed his outfielder instead of the manager, severely diminishing Williams' authority by rescinding the suspension.

Everett was fined twice by Williams in spring training for missing team buses. He also was fined by Major League Baseball last month for making an obscene gesture as he crossed home plate after hitting a home run off Seattle's Jamie Moyer.

Promoted from pitching coach to replace Williams, Kerrigan is 7-16 since taking over the Red Sox, who have lost 13 of their last 14 games.

Everett is batting .257 with 14 homers and 58 RBI in 102 games. He also was suspended 10 games last season for bumping and butting an umpire.

[Duque]

Says something about that organization - when Everett's hitting well, as he did last year, they don't touch him. When he's not hitting, he's fair game.

[NetShrine]

Always been that way in baseball.

They said if Cobb had hit .244 instead of .367, he would have been in prison instead of baseball.

Baseball players are like programmers - - companies will put up with a lot of odd behavior, if you're gifted and produce. Slip a little, and than you're just a PITA who needs to be removed.

[nyy26wc]

I agree with Net.

Athletes are held to the same standard that everyone else in the country is held to. The standard is whether the benefits of keeping the person outweighs the costs of keeping him.

A productive player will get away with more than a benchwarmer. But, that's no different from how the top performers in all companies are handled compared to those who don't provide as much benefit.

[NetShrine]

First, Everett. Now, Pedro. Manny should be next.

Tuesday, September 18
Report: Martinez officially done for season
ESPN.com news services

BOSTON -- The Red Sox are expected to announce Tuesday that Pedro Martinez will not pitch again this season, The Boston Globe reported.

According to the newspaper, the Red Sox had been expected to shut down Martinez for the season even before last Tuesday's terrorist attack put Major League Baseball on hold.

The decision follows a reported weekend confrontation between Martinez and manager Joe Kerrigan.

Martinez and Kerrigan apparently had a disagreement at Saturday's workout. WBZ-TV in Boston reported that Martinez stormed off the field, but team spokesman Kevin Shea denied the TV station's version of the incident.

The Globe cited unnamed sources as saying said Martinez and Kerrigan had "an animated discussion." Since the team began workouts Saturday, the Red Sox have closed the sessions to the media.

Shea said Martinez had an extended meeting Sunday with general manager Dan Duquette in which his future with the club was discussed.

"Pedro was very happy with the meeting," Shea told The Globe. "And he was in great spirits today."

Martinez went on the disabled list June 26 soreness in his right shoulder.

[BuzzBuzzard]

I didn't believe it possible that 1 franchise could be so F'ed up.

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by BuzzBuzzard
I didn't believe it possible that 1 franchise could be so F'ed up.

How long have you been a Met fan Buzz?

[BuzzBuzzard]

The Cone/Saberhagen/Coleman era does not even compare.

[NetShrine]

How about Hodges/Kranepool/Espinosa era?

[BuzzBuzzard]

Sure, we had our bad teams from a performance perspective, but never had the mutiny that's going on in Boston.

[NetShrine]

Maybe they should add Boston to the contraction list?

[NetShrine]

Nice job Mike.

Everett tantrum a despicable act
Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/19/01
by Mike Lopresti

In the matter of Carl Everett of the Boston Red Sox . . . sometimes sport can produce a moment of such monumental selfishness, it takes your breath away.

Carl Everett? This could test your tolerance, or at least your stomach.

He's the hopeless head case suspended for four games by the Red Sox for showing up late at a Sunday workout, and then reportedly ripping into the manager when he was told to go home.

Sunday.

The same weekend the New York Yankees were visiting survivors at Ground Zero in Manhattan.

The same weekend Mets manager Bobby Valentine was helping stack emergency supplies on the parking lots of Shea Stadium.

The same weekend Americans -- including a good many major league players -- wept and prayed and gave blood and made donations and wondered what comes next.

The same weekend that what is truly important was clear, and what is truly petty was even clearer.

No one could possibly miss this message, could they? Certainly no one as fortunate as a professional athlete.

But along comes Carl Everett. In his own confused world, oblivious to . . . well, he must be oblivious to everything.

His Boston baseball rap sheet includes bumping an umpire, berating his manager, trying to fight a teammate, grabbing his crotch after a home run in some disturbed display of power, and exhibiting habitual tardiness.

There have been tirades and bad judgments and wrong turns. The Red Sox, notably general manager Dan Duquette, have winked at some and nodded at others - lest the Boston lineup pay a price.

(Everett's statistics, partly due to injury, have plummeted this season from the All-Star neighborhood to .257 and 58 RBI. Numbers hardly worth the aggravation. But we digress.)

The Red Sox apparently decided they needed every available bat, no matter how wayward the man swinging it, to cope with the Yankees. They were willing to swallow a lot, and one outfielder has treated them to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

But none of the previous Everett blown fuses occurred during a national horror.

Look at TV. There are more rescue workers arriving at the scene. There's another funeral. The airlines are talking grimly of trying to survive in a nation too frightened to walk onto an airplane.

Oh, and there's Carl Everett -- salary of $7 million -- throwing a tantrum because his boss asked him to be on time at a ballpark.

In Boston. Where two of the hijacked planes took off.

I am not sure how to quantify the degree of disgrace he ought to feel. I don't even know where to start.

And so on Monday, while the rest of baseball sought to find the best way it could to honor the dead and help in the healing and keep the bad guys outside, the Red Sox had to suspend and fine a player who could not control his temper, or his small-mindedness.

Even now. Good heavens, even now.

Next, I suppose, will be the union grievance filed on his behalf.

Everett could be back Saturday. Though it is hard to understand why the Red Sox would ever want him in their uniform. Why any team would.

War is coming, they say. Baseball will have to struggle for relevance, perspective and its role in a world suddenly more sober. The soul-searching and thoughtful gestures by many of its stars in recent days have distinguished their game, better than any shutout or home run.

With one exception. One sole malcontent, guilty of dreadful behavior and even worse timing.

Just as well he's suspended. Baseball needs its heart in the right place at the moment. The emotions radiating from the ballparks this week do it credit. Carl Everett would just be in the way.

Mike Lopresti is a Gannett News Service columnist.


© copyright 2001 Gannett News Service