Accused child-beater, dinosaur-revisionist and all-around ticking time-bomb Carl Everett of the Chicago White Sox shares his memories of his Red Sox tenure with the Chicago Sun-Times’ Doug Padilla.
Carl Everett never will say that his tenure in Boston was demoralizing, but he still sports some serious scars.
Everett continues to say that the old management regime in Boston had problems with minorities. That’s how he saw it when he played for the team in 2000 and 2001, but he denies the situation demoralized him.
”You can’t insult my manhood,” Everett said Friday. ”This place here was full of lies. It’s always been that way for minority players. That’s just how it’s always been.”
”I [was] a focus player, and when you come to this town and you’re different than everybody else … Manny [Ramirez] is different, I’m different. A Jim Rice was different. That’s how it’s always been.”
No matter what the Red Sox tell you, Everett says, it was his idea to leave town. He claims to have told then-general manager Dan Duquette that if he was still on the roster for the 2002 season, he just wouldn’t suit up. He was traded to the Texas Rangers in December 2001 for pitcher Darren Oliver.
”It’s always been a joke,” Everett said.
”It was a terrible organization when I was here. I don’t know how [principal owner John W.] Henry runs it, but when I was here, it was a terrible organization.”
And even though management has turned over in recent years, Everett says there still are people around who made his life difficult.
”Well, you still have some of those old people over there; the trainer for instance,” Everett said. ”I don’t know about some of the other people, but the trainer was part of the mess. He was garbage. The head trainer, Jim Rowe, he was part of the mess over there. A big liar. All around, when I was here, it was a terrible organization.”
Everett said that earlier Friday, for the fourth consecutive year since he has been out of Boston, some local reporters came to the visiting clubhouse to talk to him.
”I don’t know nothing about that place now,” Everett said. ”I don’t care to know about that place. I play for the White Sox. The Red Sox mean nothing to me. That page has been turned so long ago.
”That’s why they keep coming over here bothering me. They send one guy over every year to get something out of me. It ain’t gonna change. I didn’t talk when I was here. I never talked when I was a player over here, so what makes you think I’m going to talk as an opponent? Come on now. Bad reporters … across the board. That’s why they keep trying to sneak in. I’m not gonna give you anything.”
Carl’s White Sox nearly overcame a 4 run 9th inning deficit last night against Curt Schilling, who might be every bit reliable a closer as Braden Looper.