Astros Suspend P Shawn Chacon After Attack On GM Ed Wade

Astros Suspend Chacon  Indefinitely Over Attack On GM

Astros P Shawn Chacon yesterday was suspended indefinitely after a "heated exchange" with Astros GM Ed Wade prior to last night's Rangers-Astros game "turned violent," according to Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Chacon admitted that he "lost his cool and threw Wade to the ground after Wade insisted he go to manager Cecil Cooper's office." The argument occurred in the Astros' dining room, which Chacon "refused to leave" when Wade asked him to. Chacon said that he "lost his temper after Wade cursed at him and told him to '(expletive) look in the mirror.'" Chacon: "I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him, because at that point I wanted to beat his (behind). Words were exchanged." Wade did not comment on specific details of the fight, but said of the suspension, "Insubordination to the club. I'm not getting into the details. It's an internal matter." Chacon Sunday "made his displeasure clear after he was demoted to the bullpen." Astros Owner Drayton McLane said of the incident, "We can't have anarchy. You can't have rebellion. If he disagreed with what Cecil wanted him to do, he should have had the courage to sit down and talk to him. ... Can you imagine shoving a principal in a school? ... You can't defy authority" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/26).

TICKET TO RIDE? The HOUSTON CHRONICLE's Ortiz in a separate piece wrote, "There's no need for grabbing another man and tossing him to the ground." Ortiz wrote of Chacon, "It's clear there's no way he can return here to the Astros." McLane, when asked if Chacon would return to the team, said, "Absolutely not" (CHRON.com, 6/25). Also in Houston, Steve Campbell writes, "In what may have been Chacon's last act as a big leaguer, he went Latrell Sprewell on his boss," referring to an incident in '97 when former NBAer Sprewell attacked then-Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo. Campbell notes Sprewell "got other chances after his attack" on Carlesimo, though Sprewell was "an All-Star NBA guard." Chacon is a "30-year-old righthander with a 45-61 career record and 4.99" ERA (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/26).