Indians’ fiasco is case study in carelessness
Come on guys, really? Chicago has some of the best restaurants and nightlife in the country, but as much as you might want to believe you can take on the city and win, it remains undefeated.
Unlike you, Chicago isn’t going to wake up in the morning having to deal with any of the fallout from the night before.
Over the weekend, the Windy City showed off its power of temptation yet again by bringing Cleveland’s baseball team to a screeching halt.
Specifically, starting pitchers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger.
The two went out on the town Saturday night, tried to sneak past MLB’s security at their downtown hotel, and, yep, were caught red-handed.
Normally, you could shrug it off – but not this season.
Not in the middle of a pandemic. Not when one careless move can bring down your entire team.
Just ask the Marlins and Cardinals.
The Marlins are back playing after being out eight days, but the defending NL Central champion Cardinals haven’t played a game in two weeks and don’t know when they’ll return to action.
Fully aware of the seriousness of coronavirus, and knowing you have a starting pitcher on your staff who’s a leukemia survivor – Carlos Carrasco – how can you dare be so reckless?
“This one kind of hurts,” said Cleveland’s Terry Francona, returning to manage the team for the first time since missing eight games with a gastrointestinal issue, which along with his hip and back ailments have led to five or six hospitalizations since February, on Tuesday. “We talked about it as a team today. We will deal with it as we always do. We care about each other, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get disappointed with each other, or mad at each sometimes. Not being vindictive, how do we make it better so it doesn’t happen again?”
It’s the ultimate responsibility to every single Cleveland player and staff member to ensure everyone’s safety, relying on everyone to do the right thing.
“They hurt us bad,” said Adam Plutko, who serves as one of Cleveland’s representatives to the MLB Players Association. “They lied to us. They sat here in front of you guys and publicly said
things that they didn’t follow through on.”
Cleveland President Chris Antonetti put both players on the restricted list to isolate them from the rest of the team. They were to undergo COVID-19 tests on Wednesday and won’t be permitted to rejoin the team until at least Friday.
Plesac and Clevinger went out together after their 7-1 victory over the White Sox. Plesac, who grew up 45 minutes from Chicago, just won his first game of the season that afternoon and wanted to celebrate.
Plesac, 25, put out a statement Sunday night apologizing for his actions and then doubled down on his remorse on his Instagram post.
“Life can throw some crazy things at you,” he wrote, “but how you respond is the testament. What you think is harmless can actually have consequential outcomes…and the lesson learned is this: The most important thing we can do is take care of EACH OTHER. Putting others first, and having the character to understand why there is a greater impact if we are selfless.”
Clevinger, 29, issued a statement of his own Tuesday. “In Chicago, I made the mistake of violating the protocols but the biggest mistake of all was not immediately coming clean to my teammates,” Clevinger said. “I owe them better . ...
“There is no excuse for my actions, and I can only take responsibility and learn from my mistakes.”
Certainly, for a team battling to regain supremacy in the American League Central, and with the pitching talent capable of taking the Indians to the World Series, they can ill afford self-inflicted blunders.
If you get beat on the field, fine. If you beat yourself off the field, inexcusable.