Should this really be a surprise? After all, didn't the NBA Players' Union file a grievance after the Golden State Warriors tried to void the rest of their contract with Latrell Sprewell? You remember: Spree was angry at new head coach P.J. Carlesimo's telling him to "put some mustard on those passes" and subsequently grabbed Carlesimo twice around the neck.
The coach, the classy man he is, declined to press charges. Sprewell, facing the loss of millions of dollars, went whining to Johnnie Cochran. The contract was restored, although Spree never played for the Warriors again. Last I heard, he was having financial problems.
Fast forward a decade. the MLB players union is filing a grievance on behalf of former Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon. You remember: Chacon twice shoved down Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade after Wade's repeated attempts to talk to Chacon to address the issue of demoting him from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Chacon wanted to start and wanted nothing to do with the bullpen, never mind that some starters go to the bullpen, get their groove back and return successfully to being a starter. I suppose it could've been worse: the 'Stros could've done what the Detroit Tigers did to star lefthander Dontrelle Willis and demoted Chacon all the way down to Class A ball.
Union general council Michael Weiner (I presume it rhymes with "whiner"), argued that "The grievance alleges that [Chacon] was unlawfully terminated and asked that he be made whole..."
The union, according to the Associated Press, argued that Chacon's punishment termination violated the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players' union.
The Astros, meanwhile, according to the article, said that "...Chacon violated a provision in the uniform player contract that states the player may be terminated if he shall 'fail, refuse, or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition or to obey to the club's training rules.'"
It would be nice if Chacon would do the right thing and drop this, but I guess $900,000 is more important than an opportunity to save face and play in the big leagues again. Think his career is done? Sprewell spent several years in the NBA after the Carlesimo incident.
Keywords: Shawn Chacon
