Dick Allen

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/jerry-r...n-adam-laroche/ According to JR no one lied, just miscommunication and misunderstanding, and it could have been handled better, and he has never had more respect for LaRoche. With the gag order, Rick Han will have never spoken on this matter, after it came out why he retired.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/avila-i...-faked-it-well/ Avila,had no problem and thinks KW overstepped his bounds.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 05:26 PM) If I took a job at a company, and we had a deal that I could work from home a couple of times a week, and then I proceeded to not live up to expectations in my work, then I don't think many people would be on my side if I complained after my employer took away or restricted that privilege. LaRoche didn't come close to living up to expectations, so he has a lot of gall to ignore or disobey a reasonable request from a superior. So if LaRoche was awesome last year, KW would have been way out of line to make the request?

I think there was one pitch Avi didn't swing at.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 04:40 PM) The player was lied to or LaRoche lied to? LaRoche was lied to according to this nameless player.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 04:29 PM) Where is this from Bleacher Report

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 04:27 PM) They announced today the Fundamentals Deck will now be called Drake's Den KW is going to be the new bouncer.

There is another anonymous guy who is saying he is supporting LaRoche simply because he was told lies. So an anonymous player calling KW a liar.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 02:12 PM) If they want to spend it then they better be sure he won't come back. He can't come back for at least 60 days of the regular season, and the White Sox would have to agree with it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 11:49 AM) Serious question....what does Drake do now? Has no classes to attend He goes to school in the winter. I assume he will go back. Another fallacy, that he does no schoolwork

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 11:28 AM) Maybe, but we are finally rooting out the liars that were on Horace Grant's side 20 years ago. Finally, justice is served and it is SWEET. What it shows is JR expects people to keep their word. I would imagine that includes his employees.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:57 AM) Oh come on, he said he would address it if there were complaints. I'm sure when they came to the agreement when he signed that he said "if anyone but Kenny Williams or Jerry Reinsdorf asks me to make a change, I will do so". He said he would address the issue if he made a teammate, coach or manager uncomfortable. Why is the only way to address the issue doing what KW wants? And what exactly did KW say to him? What if the conversation was, can you dial it back a bit, and LaRoche said you know I have an agreement he can be around as much as I wish.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:56 AM) DA, you keep bringing up the handshake agreement. LaRoche said in his statement, "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." KW talked to him about it and it seems he did not address it immediately or a week later. AL may have broken the agreement first. KW isn't one of those things though. And we have no idea what KW told him. A player or a coach or a manager had a problem, he may have just said he had a problem. If you take KW at his first word, he just said he asked him to dial it back. That isn't saying his presence was making a teammate or coach or manager uncomfortable. And addressing it doesn't necessarily mean not coming in. It could mean avoiding the player or coach or many other things. If it bothered KW, I am fine with him asking, but LaRoche IMO had every right to say no. Then IMO, KW should have dropped it. He would have dropped it if a productive player retired, and would be considered a massive idiot by many praising him now mentioning who brings their kids to work over losing a player over something so trivial. It wasn't Romper room. The kid is 14, and held his own. Remained quiet, worked around the clubhouse, and didn't cause problems.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:40 AM) He conveniently left out the part that he didn't adhere to the club's wishes about dialing it back before KW said no access at all. Maybe that will be in the 2nd part of his letter in which he thanks the fans and doesn't plug his company. He said he was asked to cut it back. It is there in his letter. He didn't have to cut it back, the team agreed to his arrangement. Why is it OK to break deals? JR didn't like it when Horace Grant broke his deal. What did you think of DeAndre Jordan last summer?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:36 AM) Assuming KW is Bozo. Who plays the role of the Hulk Hogan look alike, Cooky? It has to be Hahn. KW always throwing pies in his face.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:34 AM) Both KW and LaRoche are spinning their version of events. Both need to be gone, IMO. LaRoche isn't spinning his story at all. When he said the kid was totally banned, we had never heard it before, then KW told Nightengale, that he just remembered, that did happen. He knew he forgot something his first attempt. It will be fascinating to see how the Sox attempt to spin their way out of this. Yeah we agree to it to get him signed, yeah we gave the kid a locker and a uniform, yeah we vetted it with the Nats and knew he would be here quite often. Yeah he was doing it all last year and the first couple weeks of spring training. Yeah we told him to cut it back, and break our agreement, yeah he didn't go for it, yeah we then said the kid couldn't come around anymore. Yeah we told you a few different stories, but really we didn't do anything wrong. The saddest part to me is the national play will make the Sox appear anti-kid, when they probably are for fans, as kid friendly as any major league team. Only the White Sox.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:29 AM) You keep saying this, but even LaRoche said he would address any complaints. For him to say he wouldn't address it if it came from KW or JR is absolutely ridiculous. Seems like selective reasoning in his retirement letter. Not at all. It would be a clubhouse issue. Those guys aren't in the clubhouse. Maddon said with the Cubs the players would have to figure it out. He would be out of it.

I just don't know how people can buy whatever KW is selling. He had is first story he gave the press. Sale, whether you think he is crazy or not, said KW gave them 3 stories, and the Nightengale story was yet another different version. So there is 5 nor even counting whether buckets story is anything, but that would make it bucket #6 officially Bozo's Circus.

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:20 AM) George Steinbrenner forced Johnny Damon to shave and get haircuts. A rule Damon was aware of when he agreed to become a Yankee.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:19 AM) I still can't believe this argument being made by the players and some on here. Do people really think if Theo had to tell Arrieta something that Arrieta would flat out blow off his request? If it was breaking a previous agreement, yes. Besides, it doesn't appear KW has much respect from the clubhouse. Telander may be on to something. But the battles against KW didn't just begin. He appears he is turning into a Jerry Crumbs Krause type. The Bulls players and coaches hated Crumbs.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:03 AM) There are plenty of issues with almost any drill that this wouldn't have been questioned by anyone, and LaRoche would have looked like a jerk if he truly did ignore it, and then even more so had he opposed it. Whatever. Too late now. What a f***ing mess. And Eaton and Sale won't just shut. the. f***. up. I agree they could have used safety as an excuse. But that wouldn't fly with "dialing it back" unless it was dialing it back to zero. That is why I think the story KW supposedly used, now story number 5 is total BS as well. Story to the press, here all the time just asked him to dial it back a little bit Story to the players, coaches complained about him being here too much Story to the coaches players complained New story actually ownership thought it was too much Bucket story, KW concerned about safety LARoche couldn't care less

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:01 AM) but does that justify sale and eaton doing their thing ???? i am done with this main point of the debate, unless there is something else outside this excuse. It is 'merica. People, for the most part, are free to say what they chose.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 09:45 AM) If they really are concerned about the kid, they need to stop dragging him into this. What a joke. Secondly, as to bucket's post about safety, agreed that this should have been mentioned earlier. The safety issue, particularly in light of the issues which have occurred around the game in the last several years, would have been a very clean way to handle this mess. Many people would have likely sniffed through it, but it wouldn't have been able to have been challenged like it has. There are clear safety and liability issues created with a 14 year old being on the field during drills. It depends on the drill. They made it seem like he was on the mound and balls were flying all around him, but maybe it was a base running drill and just seeing him pissed KW off. It is obvious that safety and liability weren't the issue or they would have pulled him off the field totally, not just asked that he "dial it back" because even doing that, the issue remains.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 09:49 AM) If he didn't get approval to be on after yesterday, he should be suspended for saying this. I think the Union would have quite a case. I don't think JR has the power to shut his players up.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 09:35 AM) And then they changed their mind. Which is their right No it's not to most. Again read what chairman Reinsdorf had to say when he called a press conference after Horace Grant verbally agreed to a contract extension, but realized things change, and backed out. Weren't most people critical of DeAndre Jordan last summer? I would love to see if things change was mentioned in that thread.