Thursday, October 21, 2004
Tavarez: Cuddly, Cheat or Crazy?
Julian Tavarez is probably loving it.
Turning himself into the center of attention for the Houston Astros by saying they’re not that special and then firing a pitch near Jeff Bagwell’s head.
Turning himself into the center of attention for the umpires by causing both benches to be warned Sunday.
Turning himself into the center of attention for the Cardinals medical staff by breaking his hand in a childish fit of rage.
Turning himself into the center of attention for his manager by drawing what is believed to be an unjust fine for his wild pitch.
And yes, turning himself into the center of attention for adoring Cardinal fans by pitching masterfully in the NLCS Game Six on Wednesday.
Well, I don’t love it. In fact, I really don’t care how well Tavarez pitches Thursday evening or hopefully, over the next ten days. I would rather see Scott Rolen or Jeff Suppan or anyone else become the Game Seven hero. Almost, but not quite, even Jeff Bagwell or Craig Biggio would be preferable.
I cannot accept the fact that Tavarez is really a Cardinal, despite the uniform he wears. Instead, I view him as a mistake. In fact, I despise the fact that he plays for them and hope that can be corrected in the off-season. And, it has almost nothing to do with the exorbitant contract that Walt Jocketty gave him.
I just don’t believe this man deserves to be a Cardinal. And, the problems he’s caused this season are just the tip of a very large iceberg.
Julian Tavarez Carmen is no child. He is 31 years old and has been in the majors for over ten years now. There is a long list of Tavarez’ former teams, most of whom grew weary of him for some very good reasons. He has a considerable history of disciplinary actions having been taken against him, many of which involve throwing at opposing hitters.
Let’s look back on some specific, selected actions from the past. Perhaps MLB and its disciplinarian Bob Watson are unfairly picking on an innocent, misunderstood man or more likely, Tavarez is a complete lunatic and probably worse.
So, you decide for yourself. Is the man cuddly, crazy or a cheat? Or, is he all three?
Cuddly - 1995
20-year old Julian Tavarez first appeared in 1993 and his big break on the major league scene came as the fireballing hurler played a key role for the 1995 American League Champion Cleveland Indians. The Dominican captured the fancy of America because the only English word he knew was “chicken”. Soon enough, Tavarez learned the language so well that he would conduct interviews himself.
Crazy - 1996
It didn’t take long for things to go wrong. Tavarez apparently selected the wrong role model in Cleveland. In 1996, defending teammate and one of the most disciplined players ever, Albert Belle, led Tavarez to his first suspension. It was for body-slamming an umpire. Of course, from Julian’s perspective, it was an unfortunate accident.
Belle was angry at getting hit by a pitch. He took it out via a forearm to Milwaukee Brewers’ second baseman Fernando Vina’s face. After Belle and Tavarez spoke between innings, Tavarez threw behind Brewers’ catcher Mike Matheny, who charged the mound.
In the melee that followed, umpire Joe Brinkman grabbed Tavarez from behind and was thrown to the turf. Tavarez insisted he didn’t know it was an ump, but still served five games.
Crazy – 1998
By now, Tavarez had been shipped to the San Francisco Giants. In a September, 1998 game, Tavarez took exception to a ball four call by throwing his glove to the turf and yelling at the home plate umpire. He flung his cap toward home plate and headed toward the ump, wildly gesturing. Manager Dusty Baker had to pull Tavarez away from his chest-to-chest bumping of the ump, Sam Holbrook. A three-game suspension ensued.
Crazy – 1999
After allowing six runs in an outing against Oakland, Tavarez drilled catcher Mike Macfarlane in the back with a pitch. As Macfarlane was lying on the ground in pain, Tavarez stared down A’s manager Art Howe until Baker had to come out and remove Tavarez from the game.
Crazy - 2001
Tavarez had been waived by the Giants and passed through Colorado before moving on to the Cubs. He quickly fit right in, fighting with Giant Russ Davis, and inciting a bench-clearing brawl - during a spring training game! Tavarez took a flying kick at Davis, who had charged the mound after taking exception to what he felt was Tavarez taunting him after a strikeout. Five more games on the pines for Julian.
Crazy – 2001
Before Tavarez could serve the above suspension, his Cubs team had an April series in San Francisco. The Giants fans gave him a hard time and instead of turning the other cheek, Tavarez yelled back. Among his on-the-record comments about his former teams’ fans was a John Rocker-esque declaration that “they are a bunch of a-holes and faggots.” Bud Selig called the comments “reprehensible”. Tavarez justified it in his mind by complaining that the fans threw eggs at him. The only additional punishment meted out was that Tavarez was ordered to undergo sensitivity training.
Cuddly – 2001
On the bench in Chi-town, Tavarez poured rubbing alcohol onto a towel, which he wiped on his head in an apparent attempt to remain cool. However, he may have gone too far when he slipped behind no-nonsense manager Don Baylor and shoved the smelly towel under Baylor’s nose. Tavarez was soon traded to Florida.
Cuddly – 2002
In a close game while pitching for the Marlins, Tavarez stepped into the batters box against Colorado’s Mike Hampton. Oddly, the right-hander came up as a left-handed hitter. He swung and missed at the first pitch before moving to the other side of the plate, from where he promptly blooped an RBI single.
Crazy – 2003
Now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tavarez came out of the bullpen to escalate a fight that was in the process of cooling off between Tampa Bay’s Marlon Anderson and Tavarez’ teammate Jason Kendall. Tavarez admitted to throwing punches, but accused an unidentified Tampa player of choking him from behind. Seems like it is a bad idea to come up behind him. A three-game suspension ensued.
Crazy – 2003
Still angry over an incident where they feared a Tavarez pitch had broken the arm of first baseman J.T. Snow, Giants manager Felipe Alou mentioned what to that point had been an unspoken assumption – that Tavarez has a history of beaning ex-teammates.
Crazy – 2003
After Tavarez hit him with a pitch, Atlanta Braves outfielder Gary Sheffield glared while slowly walking to first. He carried his bat the entire 90 feet and only gave it up upon reaching the first base bag.
Cheat - 2003
In a signal of problems to come, later last season, Alou strongly intimated that he knew that Tavarez was wearing a cap with pine tar on it. Alou did not publicly press the matter, however.
In closing
Upon signing with the Cardinals in the 2003-2004 off-season, Tavarez spoke fondly of his time in Pittsburgh. He made it clear he preferred to stay there, but the Cardinals offered twice the salary. If it were up to me, I’d eat the difference and ship him right back there.
In my book, Julian Tavarez doesn’t deserve to be a Cardinal.
