maly, too: Stewart Suspended 10 Games Without Pay

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Stewart Suspended 10 Games Without Pay

Chicago Cubs third baseman Ian Stewart is serving a 10-game suspension without pay for violating the loyalty cause in his contract, according to a team official. The 10-game suspension, which came after he ranted on Twitter on Monday about his status within the organization, began Wednesday.

Stewart was answering questions from fans online late Monday and was asked whether he would return to the Cubs soon. He responded "probably never" before following up with: "I said that be because the cubs are done With me....there (sic) going to let me Rott (sic) in AAA all season and then non tender me after."

He later added: "I meant they might as Well release since I have no shot of a call up....let me Sign elsewhere."

Stewart also tweeted that he didn't expect to return to Chicago because he believes Cubs manager Dale Sveum doesn't like him and he makes the calls. Sveum disagreed with that notion Tuesday.

"I was all on board bringing him back and giving him another chance to prove what he could do at the big league level and with the Cubs, and obviously it didn't work out," Sveum said, according to CSNChicago.com.

Stewart, 28, was traded to the Cubs in 2011 and re-signed with the team this offseason. Last year, Stewart hit .201 with a .292 on-base percentage while hitting five homers and driving in 17 runs. He was limited to just 55 games because of a wrist injury, and staying healthy has been problematic. He was slowed down during spring training by a left quad injury this year, keeping him off the Opening Day roster. After a rehab window closed in May, the team chose not to promote Stewart and instead optioned him to Triple-A. Stewart is hitting .168 with five homers and 20 RBIs in Triple-A.

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Tuesday the two sides are talking about working out a way for Stewart to leave the team while giving the Cubs salary relief. Stewart has a one-year, $2 million deal.

Epstein also said Stewart had his chance to be a free agent and the team has received great production thus far at the hot corner.

"He had the right to elect free agency and he chose not to," Epstein said earlier this week in reference to Stewart having that option after the team didn't promote him following the rehab stint. "Currently, we have the second-best production out of third base in the league. We are getting really good defense at third base, too.

"If that were to change and Ian would excel at the Triple-A level, we would consider calling him back up here. In the meantime, we are very happy with our production at third and Ian is working on trying to figure out Triple-A pitching."

Stewart's agent, Larry Reynolds, issued a statement saying he believes it would work out best if the Cubs were to release Stewart. Stewart tweeted that he wouldn't just ask for his release, writing: "why would I quit? I'm making 2 mill in AAA like u would give that up by quitting."

"I have spoken to both Ian and Theo regarding Ian's tweets last night. Ian is very apologetic for venting his frustrations with his situation in that manner," Reynolds said in the statement. "He has apologized to the Cubs organization and does not want to be a further distraction. With that being said, if the Cubs don't have Ian in their plans, I feel it is in the best interests of both parties for the Cubs to release him and end this relationship."

The Cubs have used five players at third base this season, with Luis Valbuena making the majority of the starts, including Friday's series opener against the Mets. Valbuena is hitting .235 with six homers and 18 RBIs this year. Cody Ransom, Brent Lillibridge, Steve Clevenger and Alberto Gonzalez have also started games at third for the Cubs.

Stewart, a career .232 hitter, has since apologized for his tweets.

"I let my frustrations get the best of me and in no way want to be a distraction," he tweeted.

[ESPN.com].

JOLTIN' JOE GOT IT STARTED

When Ron Maly was a kid in Cedar Rapids, he wanted to enter an essay contest, and he did. He wrote about Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees being his favorite baseball player. For finishing second in the contest, Ron won a Louisville Slugger baseball bat autographed by DiMaggio. Ron later wanted to be the first person in his family to attend college, and he was. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Iowa, and did what all political science majors do. He became a sportswriter. He had, after all, covered high school football, basketball and baseball games for the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he worked parttime during his university days. Ron wanted to sit in the press box and write about an Iowa-Minnesota football game, and he did. It happened while he was the sports editor at the Albert Lea [Minn.] Tribune, and the game was at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Ron wanted to cover a World Series, and he did. Also when he was working for the Albert Lea newspaper. Ron wanted to cover Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Orange Bowls, Cotton Bowls, Holiday Bowls, a Freedom Bowl, a Sun Bowl, a Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournaments, and he did those things after he moved to Des Moines. Ron was a four-time sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa [the years were 1977, 1978, 1994 and 1996]. In 2006, he was named a charter member of the University of Iowa's media Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box. A photo of the plaque that's displayed in the press box is displayed above this story. Following Ron's retirement from the newspaper business, a publisher asked him if he wanted to write a book about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa, and he did. The hardback version of "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" was a best-seller, and so was the revised, softback version. Now he's been asked by his publisher to update the book for a second time. He's in the process of doing that at the present time. Ron considers being asked to update a best-selling book for the second time to be the supreme compliment, considering the Hawkeyes won just four games in the 2012 season. When Ron isn't working on books, he's busy traveling and spending time with his family. Indeed, he attends the athletic, theatrical and musical [both vocal and instrumental] events in which his six grandchildren participate. He also writes about anything that interests him for his many websites. Every chance he gets, Ron proudly wears his America Needs Farmers T-shirt.

The Hawkeyes' Rich Football Tradition, Revisited

I mentioned a while back that I was in the process of updating my Tales from the Iowa Sidelines book. Updating it for the second time. The original hardback edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines [pictured at the right] was published in 2003, during the 10-3 season, when coach Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team had a 10-3 record that included a 37-17 victory over 15th-ranked Florida in the Outback Bowl and after the Hawkeyes went 11-2 in 2002. That book was a best-seller, so the publishers came to me again in 2005, a season that finished with a breathtaking 30-25 victory over No. 11 Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, 2005. Because buyers had cleaned out the the shelves in the bookstores, the publishers wanted to know if I'd do an updated version of the book. I agreed, The revised, soft-cover edition [pictured at the left] was published in 2005. Warren Holloway, who teamed with quarterback Drew Tate on a miraculous 56-yard touchdown pass to win the Capital One Bowl, was featured on the cover. That book, too, turned into a best-seller, So I had reason to feel very good about my years as a published author. It's not every day that a the original version is a best-seller, and so is the updated version. Then, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from a senior editor at the publishing company last fall, wanting wanted to know if I was interested in doing a second updated version of the book. It came at a time when things weren't going well for the Hawkeyes in the 2012 season. They lost their last six games and finished with a 4-8 record. Frankly, the thought of doing a revised edition of the book during a 4-8 season seemed to be a stretch. "Maybe producing a revised edition in a year or two would be a better idea," I told the publishers. "We'd like to do it now," I was told. "Let me think about it," I said. After a few days of thought, I accepted the idea. I talked myself into the idea that this was the supreme compliment--being asked to do a second book update during a 4-8 season showed strong confidence by the publishers in me and in the Hawkeyes' football program. So I got back into the business of interviewing players and coaches again, going to postgame press conferences, weekly press conferences and a scrimmage in West Des Moines. After a press conference in Iowa City, I did a one-on-one interview with coach Kirk Ferentz, and mentioned to him that I was in the process of doing a revised edition of my two best-selling books. I congratulated him on the excellent things he had done for Iowa's football program--all of which contributed to the success of my books. "I think Coach Fry had more to do with it," he told me, bringing up the name of Hayden Fry, his one-time boss at Iowa and a man who brought Iowa's football program back from the dead in the 20th century. That's modest Kirk Ferentz for you. Even though the 2012 season wasn't something Hawkeye coaches, players and fans will recall with any special feeling, Ferentz has a 14-year record of 100-74 at Iowa that includes two 11-victory seasons [2002 smd 2009], two 10-victory seasons [2003 and 2004], plus he's been the Big Ten coach of year in 2002, 2004 and 2009, and national coach of the year in 2002. Indeed, Ferentz has done some wonderful things at Iowa City, and I fully expect his success to continue. I've concluded my writing for the second update of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, and the senior editor has furnished me with an early look at the book. Not only are the Kirk Ferentz years included in the updated version, but so is the stuff I previously wrote about Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen, Ronald Reagan, Ozzie Simmons, Ossie Solem, Randy Duncan, Alex Karras and lots of other legends from Iowa's rich football history. I expect the book to be in stores soon. I hope you like it.