The Indians must suspend Chris Perez

Hey Chris Perez?
Stop.Talking.
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I wanted to write a post about the Indians falling into fourth place in the AL Central.

FOURTH PLACE, BEHIND THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS in a year during this absurd "Window of Contention."

I wanted to write about how the Dolans simply can't ignore this colossal failure much longer. I wanted to make a point about how firing Manny Acta won't solve all the problems, but it's going to be necessary when a new GM comes in to so he can hire his own manager. And I also wanted to ask the question, when will it be time for the Dolans to cut their losses and just sell the team, if they're losing so much money?

But then everyone's favorite closer had to open his big fat mouth yet again.

If you haven't watched this video of Chris Perez laying into an Oakland A's fan, it's cringe worthy.

You know what? It's actually a whole lot worse than that.

Let me say this--I know the guy who instigated the whole confrontation is a jackass, and I also have no idea what happened before the video started rolling. The guy could have been saying all kinds of nasty things about Perez, his family, the Indians team, his father, his wife--but it doesn't matter. They were both wrong.

Perez is a professional athlete, and--as I've written before--needs to start acting like one. And since Perez refuses to learn anything from his previous experiences with confronting fans, whether it's through the media or through Twitter, the Indians need to start hitting him where it hurts.

His paycheck.

The Indians should suspend Perez without pay effective immediately for six games. That means he doesn't play tonight in Seattle or for the rest of the week.

Tell him to go home to Tampa and think about how he's embarrassed his teammates, the front office, the organization as a whole, the fans, and the city of Cleveland. It's not like the Indians are playing meaningful baseball games anyway. If a save situation comes up, Vinnie Pestano or anyone else in that bullpen can be the closer--I don't care. This type of behavior is undeniably unacceptable, and it's time the organization stopped messing around with him and started sending a message.

Again, Perez is a professional athlete. Do you think this is the first time those fans have tried to heckle an opposing player? I guarantee you it wasn't. Those fans baited him, and Perez swallowed the worm whole.

I mean seriously, going over to those guys and talking about your salary? Saying f-- this and f-- that about eight different times? And then the kicker, "Get your d--k out of your mouth!"

Are you kidding me?

Yes, it's a free country and Perez has a right to defend himself and all that. But remember earlier this season when Miami Marlins Manager Ozzie Guillen opened his fat trap and said how much he loved Fidel Castro? The Marlins suspended him for five games, and with good reason.

To me, this situation is worse simply because of the language Perez used and the manner in which he used it. The precedent has already been set this year for organizations suspending its members for their words. It's high time the Indians followed it.

I've seen this point brought up a couple of different times today, and I think it's worth repeating. When Jackie Robinson broke MLB's color barrier in 1947, can you imagine the types of heinous remarks he had to endure? And how many times have you heard about him lashing out at those racist fans?


Very few, if any at all.

To bring it into a more contemporary time, I wrote a few weeks ago in my previous post about Chris Perez that Colt McCoy handles the hecklers incredibly well. He goes over to the crowds at training camp waiting for autographs, ignores the words of the ignorant, signs his name and says, "Thank you for your support."

I know Chris Perez is a fiery guy who is not afraid to express himself, but at a certain point, he's just got to be reigned in. With the video all around the internet through posts on Deadspin, Bleacher Report, and The Big Lead, the Indians organization has been publicly embarrassed--even more so than they had been with their abysmal 10-26 record since the All-Star break.

Now is not the time to be soft. Suspend Chris Perez.

Now.

~MAS