http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/co ... /81993428/PHOENIX — Now, do we really think Chicago White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams acted alone here, going out of his way to alienate his own team and have one of its most popular players abruptly quit in anger?
In the wake of Adam LaRoche’s surprise retirement, there are plenty of spinning narratives, as management, LaRoche and his teammates all testify within the court of public opinion.
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.
The officials spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the club has forbid officials from commenting.
And it is tricky territory, certainly. Drake LaRoche, by all accounts, is a good and well-respected kid, dubbed the club's "26th man." White Sox manager Robin Ventura even joked Friday that “he’s probably more mature than most of the guys in there.’’
Still, not everyone felt comfortable with Drake’s constant presence.
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 Drake with his own locker and uniform, right next to dad.
Perhaps the verbal agreement felt far different in practice than in theory, and 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.
While almost every major league organization welcomes such bonding, Drake was something of an outlier. Even Ken Griffey Jr., perhaps baseball’s most famous son, was only in the big league clubhouse with his dad a handful of games a year.
Certainly, if the White Sox wanted to scale back Drake’s presence, someone should have told LaRoche during the winter. It at least should have been addressed before spring training.
Instead, it wasn’t until Williams heard complaints, sat down with LaRoche, and told him to scale back his son’s presence in camp. He could still come to camp and be in the clubhouse, but perhaps just half the time. Certainly, not every day.
Well, after their heart-to-heart talk, nothing changed, according to multiple people in White Sox camp.
LaRoche kept bringing his son to the ballpark every day. This went on for at least three or four days. When Williams saw Drake on the field this week, in the middle of a practice drill, standing on the pitcher’s mound, he lost it.
Williams told LaRoche that was it. He violated the privilege. No more clubhouse access.
Williams later relented, and went back to his original request, simply asking LaRoche to cut his son’s clubhouse presence to about half of the time.
Too late.
LaRoche showed up Tuesday, told his teammates he was quitting, filled out retirement papers, and made it official Friday.
“The current situation arose after White Sox VP Ken Williams recently advised me to significantly scale back the time that my son spent in the clubhouse,’’ LaRoche said in a statement. “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.’’
The players became even more infuriated Friday, knowing that LaRoche is now gone, saying that the White Sox reneged on their agreement with him. Sure, maybe there was nothing in writing, but there was a handshake deal. A commitment. LaRoche had his son alongside him for three years before even signing with the White Sox.
“I’m a big loyalty guy, a big promise guy,’’ said White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier, who joined the club in an offseason trade. “If you’re going to promise somebody something you have to go through with it, whatever that is, or to the extent to whatever it was.’’
Williams spent two hours Wednesday trying to calm his team, but they screamed at him, even threatening to not get on the team bus to play the Milwaukee Brewers in their spring-training game.
“We got bold-faced lied to,’’ White Sox ace Chris Sale said Friday, “by someone we were supposed to trust. This isn’t us rebelling against the rules. This is us rebelling against B.S. …
“Somebody walked out of those doors the other day,’’ Sale said, “and it was the wrong guy. Plain and simple.’’
Williams, after hearing Sale’s comments, later spoke with him Friday, and fired off a statement that read: “While I disagree with Chris’ assertions today, I certainly have always appreciated his passion.’’
In this mess, it is Williams aiming to wedge himself between several factions, hoping to avoid a fracture within the organization.
He’s the fall guy for this clubhouse unrest. The players don’t blame manager Robin Ventura, who realizes if he spoke up against LaRoche, he would lose his clubhouse for the rest of the season. Not a good idea when you’re on the final year of your contract.
They don’t blame GM Rick Hahn. He’s the one who deals with the players the most outside Ventura and the coaching staff. He needs their trust and respect.
They don’t blame chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who signs their paychecks and is considered the most loyal owner in baseball, even paying employees after they no longer work in the organization. Reinsdorf has stayed clear of the debris, just like Ventura and Hahn, but told the players that he will meet privately with a few of them in the next couple of days.
“I think the ultimate goal is to talk to him,’’ Sale said. “Jerry's a very understanding person, and I think if we can get to him and speak to him and actually have an adult conversation, I think we'll be able to figure things out and iron out all the creases.’’
Williams says he can handle it. He’s been criticized plenty of times as the former White Sox GM and president, so it’s nothing completely out of the ordinary - only this time it’s a subject that transcends the box scores and instead lands on the morning news shows.
The biggest concern now is simply to make sure this disruption goes away before opening day and doesn’t linger, which Ventura conceded will be a challenge.
"We were rolling,’’ Sale said. “We had positive energy in here. Nobody saw anything as a distraction until all this happened. There was absolutely no problem in here whatsoever with anyone. And (Williams) kind of created a problem.
“We're missing two big pieces to our puzzle, plain and simple.
“I'm not going to sit here and say it's going to be the main reason (if the team struggles), or anything like that, but he's definitely going to be missed, and we're not going to get him back.’’
Sale plans to treasure the jerseys that Adam and Drake LaRoche left him. He hung them up on each side of his locker Friday, and likely will keep them up during the regular season, too.
To his left was from Drake: “Chris, thank you for taking care of me.’’
To his right was from Adam: “Thanks for everything. I’ll never forget you.’’
And for LaRoche, his very public commitment to his son will leave a legacy that’s greater than anything he accomplished in the batter's box during his 14 years. Faith-based and family-focused organizations will surely reach out to him.
“I think a lot of people have stepped back,’’ White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton said, “and said, ‘If a man can step away from $13 million for his family and his son, what does it take for me to spend a little more time with my kid, or take a little more responsibility for my family situation?’’’
“I think he believes that the Lord put him in this position, he made this decision, and there are positives coming out of it. I think him retiring, and everybody standing up for him, it’s a credit to him.’’
LaRoche leaves this game as a role model, and without this sudden retirement, perhaps no one beyond his closest peers knows the real man. Now, he’ll forever be remembered.
“I understand that many people will not understand my decision,’’ LaRoche said in his statement. “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.’’
“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.’’
Then again, so did Williams.
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