MLB STUCK IN A FAMILY FEUD

Kid debate anything but child’s play

IN OUR HOT-TAKE world, you’re a kid-hating monster if you suggest that slugger Adam LaRoche perhaps has overstepped his bounds by bringing his son to work every day.

And if you side with LaRoche, a dad who obviously loves Drake, his 14-year-old, you have no respect for the other 24 players on the White Sox and their jobs and the sanctity of their workplace.

But why can’t there be a middle ground here? W hat would be so wrong about reducing Drake’s time with the club, if that’s the way the team — the employer — wants it? Ken Williams, the White Sox president, didn’t tell LaRoche his son was banned.

Of course, now there are media reports that the White Sox agreed to this every-day arrangement when they originally signed LaRoche before last year. Is it fair to want to change it now?

Sox players are mad enough to have discussed boycotting Wednesday’s Grapefruit League game over it all, according to ESPN.

This is not “between good and evil,” as ex-Met Blaine Boyer, a friend of LaRoche’s, put it to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. It’s much more gray than that and maybe there’s much more to this whole story than what we’ve seen so far

Let’s get this out of the way now — LaRoche can do exactly as he pleases and walk away from the game over this. He’s a 36-year-old man who has made nearly $72 million in his career — earned every penny in this big-business game that generates a lot of money.

And part of the reason that LaRoche can afford to retire and give up $13 million contract is that baseball has been such a good business for him.

Which brings us to a dose of reality. While you’ve seen a lot of players offering public support for LaRoche by say ing that spor ts should be fun, that part of its essence is the bond it helps create in some families, sports at the Major League level isn’t solely “fun.” No one who swings a bat for a living and gets paid millions can reasonably argue otherwise.

Baseball is a billions-dollar business and lucrative careers — on the field and off — are at stake. Can’t imagine Williams, who asked LaRoche to “dial it back” on the amount of time Drake spends around the team, did it solely for the purpose of separating father and son.

Let’s make this clear, too — whatever happens is not about Drake, who White Sox players apparently adore, as did LaRoche’s teammates on other clubs. The kid sounds like a gem — he cleans other players’ spikes — and gets testimonials from LaRoche’s teammates..

“We can say we enjoyed Drake LaRoche in the clubhouse and everything he brought in the clubhouse,” Sox outfielder Adam Eaton said, according to CSNChicago.com. “He brought perspective. He helped out and around. He wasn’t a burden by any stretch of the imagination. He wasn’t a big problem last year.”

“Everyone loves this young man,” Williams told Rosenthal on Wednesday. Drake has his own locker in the clubhouse. He gets homework in advance from school so he can make road trips, according to the Chicago Tribune. LaRoche has called his son the Sox’s “26th man.”

Still, what would Williams do if other players wanted their kids to have all-access? And were some players uncomfortable, maybe, about watching their mouths or what they could do in the clubhouse if Drake were around?

Yes, a major-league clubhouse is not your average corporate office. And the players are not 25 corporate drones — closerer to 25 kings. There are plenty off peoplepeople looking to make sure theyhey are happy and, in most cases,s, bringing their kids into the clubhouse, bhouse, does that. It’s precious time.me

As LaRoche has said regarding his own dad, Dave, a former pitcher, the memories from the unique chance last a lifetime. Drake’s already got some. He could still make more, albeit on a more limited basis.

Still, what would (Kenny) Williams do if other players wanted their kids to have all-access? And were some players uncomfortable, maybe, about watching their mouths or what they could do in the clubhouse if Drake were around?

Anthony McCarron

There’s no question that seeing kids around the Yankees over the years — Joe Girardi throwing batting practice to his son, Dante, on the green outfield grass of the Stadium after a Sunday afternoon game — offer warm, fuzzy images.

Girardi says Yankee kids generally leave once their dads have to get to work before games. Seems reasonable. Are Yankee sons there every day, all day? No.

This is also not a referendum on LaRoche as a dad.dad Bravo for him for wanting his son around. Not to get too deep, but if every father on the planet felt the same way, well …

But now that LaRoche’s proposed retirement has shined a light on this flap, the middle ground seems gone.

LaRoche, perhaps, lost it when he brought Drake every day for all these years.years The White Sox and LaRoche’s other clubs let him lose it when they didn’t say something before now.

Hopefully, it’s not too late to find the middle ground here and get Drake back in the clubhouse — sometimes.

Adam LaRoche has said he would retire after being told his son Drake (l.) was spending too much time with the ballclub, prompting White Sox to threaten to boycott exhibition game.