The Bernstein Brief: Jimmy Rollins Could Say More About Role With White Sox
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Former White Sox infielder Jimmy Rollins sure sounded candid in his descriptions of the confused clubhouse last year, but something important was missing, particularly when he talked about the sudden retirement of Adam LaRoche.
LaRoche walked away from the game because the organization asked him to curtail his bizarre practice of having his son around the team all the time. Other players found it unsettling and distracting, and management eventually realized that this was untenable and outside of proper workplace protocol.
Rollins claimed to be unaware on the day it occurred.
"The funny part was like, when Adam came in, I had just went to the bathroom," he said. "So I didn't hear anything, and I came out, and they're like, 'He's retiring.' I'm like, 'Why is everybody so sad? You celebrate a guy retiring.' He had a great career and he made his decision. Then I found out why, and then chaos."
Rollins would've been celebrating because he was said to be one of the veteran players who voiced displeasure -- completely correctly -- about LaRoche to his bosses. He was no innocent bystander caught off-guard.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Bernstein and Goff Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.