Red Sox outfielder Carl Everett, whose four-game suspension for insubordination ended last night, is not expected to return today and could be placed on the 15-day disabled list. New information surfaced yesterday that Everett's outburst toward manager Joe Kerrigan had racial overtones, including the player's allegation that Kerrigan called him a racial epithet in January.
There was no support last night of Everett's allegation from any team member, and Kerrigan refused to comment on anything regarding the Everett situation. ''Until he says it publicly or until I see it in print, I'm not going to address the issue,'' Kerrigan said yesterday afternoon.
Also, a day after Pedro Martinez departed for the Dominican Republic, there were new details about Martinez's run-in with Kerrigan last Saturday, when Martinez ripped off his practice jersey, threw it onto the field, and later returned in street clothes to shake hands with teammates and say goodbye, according to several team sources. Further, Manny Ramirez denied last night the assertion by one member of the team that Ramirez had to be talked out of leaving the club for the rest of the season.
Everett's agent, Larry Reynolds, said last night his preference would be for Everett to go to a doctor for a second opinion on his right knee and that most of his discussions with general manager Dan Duquette have centered on the player's health. Reynolds said he expected to speak further with Duquette.
Reynolds also said he expects to file a grievance with the players' union in an attempt to recover the four days' pay, totaling $153,005, Everett was docked during his suspension. Everett was suspended after arriving late for Sunday's workout, then confronting Kerrigan on the field after being told he was being fined and told to go home.
By putting Everett on the DL, the Sox could avoid having Everett in uniform for the remainder of the team's home schedule and could keep him off the team for the rest of the season, which will end Oct. 6 because of the rescheduling of games missed after last week's terrorist attacks. The Sox could also keep him on the active roster, permit Everett to seek a second opinion, then decide whether to place him on the DL. Everett is under contract with the Red Sox through the 2003 season at a cost of $16 million.
''After seeing him in Anaheim [Calif.] a few weeks ago dragging his knee, I think it's important that he get the knee checked sooner than later, so he can get ready to go next year,'' Reynolds said. ''There's no point dragging his knee through the rest of the season.''
One team member who witnessed Sunday's incident offered a detailed account yesterday of what took place, the essential facts of which were confirmed by a half-dozen sources, including rookie third baseman Shea Hillenbrand.
The team was on the field, taking its first round of batting practice after doing stretching exercises and taking infield practice, when Everett, who already had been told in the clubhouse by Kerrigan that he'd been fined for tardiness, emerged from the dugout, screaming at the Sox manager. ''As soon as I saw him coming, I moved into the outfield,'' one team member said yesterday. ''I didn't want to hear what he had to say.''
But the team member, who was near the batting cage, was within earshot when Everett approached Kerrigan, who was hitting fungoes to the infield.
''There was a lot of profanity used,'' the team member said. ''Then Everett called Kerrigan a racist and accused him of calling him a [racial epithet] during the team's FanFest in January.''
''He [Everett] said that,'' Hillenbrand said.
Hillenbrand, who said he is friendly with Everett (who once bought the rookie $6,000 worth of clothing on a West Coast trip), said he couldn't address the validity of Everett's allegation. ''I don't know [if Kerrigan made the purported remark in January]. I wasn't there.''
Several other team members confirmed that Everett accused Kerrigan of using a racial epithet and being a racist, but none offered substantiation.
''He kept talking black this and that,'' one team member said. ''He said, `I should have punched you in the [expletive] mouth back then, but you were too [expletive] drunk to remember saying it to me.'
''Finally, he called Kerrigan a `[expletive] Philadelphia boy.'''
How did Kerrigan respond at the time? ''He just kept hitting fungoes,'' the team member said.
Asked if Everett accused him of being a racist and using a racial epithet, Kerrigan said, ''I don't think it's appropriate to respond to that in light of what's going on in our country right now. It's a very small issue. Any issues with Carl Everett will be dealt with between Carl Everett and the club. My statement is it's an unfortunate incident and you move on. It's over, forgotten, and move on.''
Reynolds would not address the racial allegations, either, reiterating his focus was on Everett's health and the grievance. The allegations are not expected to be part of the grievance claim.
The union has 45 days to file a grievance.
''We've spoken with Carl and his agent,'' union lawyer Michael Weiner said. ''We are conducting an investigation and ultimately expect to file a grievance.''
As part of the investigation, lawyers are interviewing players who witnessed the incident.
''The details of the grievance, we'll deal with later on,'' Reynolds said. ''But as I've said before, I'm concerned with the inconsistency of their treatment [of players who are tardy].''
The day before Everett was suspended, infielder Chris Stynes and Martinez both were tardy. Stynes said yesterday he was 30 minutes late and was fined.
Team sources indicate the Red Sox will attempt to trade Everett after the season.
''It probably would be better if they traded him, for him and the organization,'' said outfielder Dante Bichette, who has defended Everett this season.
''I think he'd be in a better frame of mind to go somewhere else. I think it would be better for him and his family, because there's so much negative around here. Everybody needs a fresh start once in a while to wipe the slate clean and start over.
''He's a good person. His emotions just get away from him sometimes.''
Duquette said he ''hadn't heard'' that Everett made racist allegations toward Kerrigan.
Meanwhile, several team sources confirmed that Martinez was extremely agitated after Kerrigan told him injured players also had to be dressed and be on the field during Saturday's workout.
One source said Martinez ''began screaming, ripped off his jersey, and said, `I'm outta here,' and waved goodbye to his teammates.'' Another said Martinez threw the jersey onto the field, came out in street clothes, shook hands with teammates, and said goodbye.
The next day, Martinez met with Duquette, and the team subsequently announced the player was being placed on the 15-day disabled list and was allowed to go home to the Dominican Republic. He took a flight home Thursday.
Kerrigan, as he has all week, downplayed the incident with Martinez.
''Pedro and myself, we can have an argument and then it's over,'' Kerrigan said. ''We can yell at each other and it's over.
''Pedro and I had a great talk in here Tuesday. Pedro sat in here, and we talked about a half-hour. It was mostly about his commitment to his offseason conditioning program, about how he plans to come to Fort Myers [Fla.] in November and December, and that he plans to come to spring training a week early. I told him I'd be there right with him.''
Ramirez, who hit his 41st home run last night, has been dogged by reports all season that he is unhappy in Boston, reports that agent Jeff Moorad gave some credence to last month when he said Ramirez is still going through a transition period.
One team member said yesterday that during one of the workouts this week, Ramirez expressed a desire to leave the club for the rest of the season.
''He talks about how unhappy he is quite a bit,'' the team member said. ''He doesn't have many friends, it's not a pleasant clubhouse, he's not used to losing. He's a nice, sensitive kid who's emotional, and he's not handling this all very well.''
Ramirez, who came to the ballpark yesterday wearing a multicolored, tie-dyed T-shirt, denied again that is unhappy.
''I just come to work every day,'' Ramirez said. ''I don't talk to anybody because I know how things are here. I just keep quiet and do my work.''
By Gordon Edes and Bob Hohler, Globe Staff,
9/22/2001
Dan Shaughnessy and Tito Stevens of the Globe Staff contributed to this report
This story ran on page G1 of the Boston Globe on 9/22/2001
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company