Carl Everett???
Why oh why oh why oh why???
Now, we have had our share of colorful, sometimes criminal, sports figures in the Seattle area in the past. Does the name Brian Bosworth ring a bell, anyone? More recently, Jerramy Stevens? Why the Seahawks picked him up after his Husky career (and DUI) I’ll never understand, but then to let him play after a second DUI? The excuse, of course, is that he didn’t hurt anyone, so therefore it’s okay.
And the Mariners are not without the occasional misdemeanor on that front, either. Both Carlos Guillen (no longer with the M’s) and Richie Sexson had DUI incidents.
So our sports figures are not always clean-cut. But at least for the M’s, we’ve rarely had a bad-attitude troublemaker.
Enter Carl Everett.
Granted, he was much more well-behaved while playing for the White Sox than he was for the Red Sox. But why do I get the nagging feeling that we just signed up for some trouble?
Yes, the team needs to live up to their big-salary expectations. Yes, we need a strong clubhouse leader, with the legends like Edgar and Buhner and Wilson retiring in the last few years. Yes, we need a left-handed hitter and some good, consistent pitching. Yes, Everett’s got good numbers. But…
Everett has had major ego trips in the past, most notably when he was playing for Boston. Granted, there were one too many divas on that team, but we don’t need a diva. Been there, done that. Griffey turned out to be one to a certain extent, and A-Rod was eventually treated like one (though he ended up being more mercenary than diva-like).
We just don’t need an attitude problem coming to the clubhouse. I hope that Hargrove can lay down the law with the whole team this year, and that a real leader will step forward. Ichiro may demur that role, especially because of the language barrier, but he is hard-working and respected and wants to win, and that’s what a team will respond to. And other than pitchers like Moyer and Piniero, he’s been around a while and understands what winning is and how to do it.
All I can hope for is that Everett, having been a part of the White Sox World Series team, can keep his mouth shut, his ego off the field and out of the press, and produce those numbers that are getting him a one-year contract here. Just a warning for him, though: this is Seattle, and we don’t put up with ego trips as our DH. Take Edgar as your role model and you will go far and earn our respect. If not, well, you’ve seen what happens to A-Rod when he comes to bat here, right?
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