Baseball player quits..."I don't deserve $12 million..."

[katty]

more:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/sports/Baseball-Player-Quits-Says-I-Dont-Deserve-12M-114712809.html?dr

Okay, Gil Meche hasn't been great since signing a big contract with the Kansas City Royals. But not many players would feel so badly about their performance that they would walk away from a guaranteed $12 million.

Meche announced last week he will retire, giving up the payday due on the last year of his deal. Meche has always been known for his integrity, according to The New York Times, but this move left the baseball world stunned. Meche said he just didn't like the idea of not earning his keep.

“When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it,” Meche told the paper from his temporary home in Lafayette, La. “Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.”

[FSogol]

1. Gil Meche for Congress! n/t

[gateley]

50. Agree! nt

[Enrique]

2. wow, it's not from the Onion

:wow:

[petronius]

48. I triple-checked that myself - hard to believe

This guy has a huge load of integrity - almost makes me feel bad for sitting here with DU and a glass of wine in prime working hours (but not bad enough)... ;)

[sabrina 1]

3. Sounds like a really decent guy. Not many would do that.

He has a conscience, a rare commodity in today's world of greed ~

[GoneOffShore]

4. Thought the headline was from The Onion!

[gratuitous]

5. Well, it's not like he was playing in the Major Leagues

After all, it was just the Royals.

Disclaimer: Royals fan since they got their franchise in 1969.

[DrDan]

7. I loved following the Royals back in the George Brett days

used to take the kids and sit in the cheap right field seats - next to the Royals bullpen. Great way to spend the hot KC summer evenings.

[EFerrari]

10. My step mother loved the Royals and she was not an effusive person.

And it seemed like every time she turned the radio on, they started losing, lol, so she had to find all kinds of ways to hear the plays and get scores that didn't involve the radio. :)

[Seedersandleechers]

24. I was there too. General admission $1.50

Probably sat next to you on one of those hot balmy summer nights. :toast:

[DrDan]

37. exactly - $1.50 per seat - nachos with extra peppers . . . . great times

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Me too

Then I found out what a Republican George Brett is and that has ruined my good memories.

[DrDan]

38. I don't want to hear that - I still have fond memories of him

Met a ML ump at a Christmas party a year or so back. He had some great stories about George. I guess he was one of his favorite players as an ump. I do remember him on base - always chatting away with the umps.

Repub? - no way - don't believe it - he just has to be a good, solid D.

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. Rush Limbaugh is one of his best friends

He's a repub.

[DrDan]

42. oh no . . . . . LA LA LA. . . . . I don't want to hear this

Guess it must have been from the time pigboy was an employee of the Royals.

[ret5hd]

6. See kids...THAT's integrity.

[Safetykitten]

8. No that's stupidity. Take the money and give it to charity.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. No, it's INTEGRITY...

in your world, you take something you didn't earn just so you can give it to charity? What a pile of dog-squeeze. He didn't feel his performance was worth the money being paid and he bowed out...good for him.

sP

[Safetykitten]

18. He was obviously worth it to get offered it. Then give it back to mult-millionaires?

Yes, very nice. Wonderful and heart warming, returning a 12 million dollar check to millionaires.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hannah Bell]

23. "worth it" = lol

[CanSocDem]

30. PERSONAL integrity.

Is what I would call it. It's a lofty concept (integrity) put into practice at a personal level. Rare indeed.

.

[Safetykitten]

32. Very true. He is quite an individual, make no mistake.

[ret5hd]

13. And over here, kids...THAT's the opposite of integrity.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. +1 and then some... n/t

[Safetykitten]

16. And the KC club is not getting tax breaks? Give the money back to the community.

Some homeless shelter in KC could REALLY use 12 million I would venture a guess.

[ret5hd]

17. Just go rob 'em then. Same diff.

I'll wait over here till you get back.

[Safetykitten]

19. I'm right here.

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. The taxpayers just paid to redo their stadium

[Hannah Bell]

15. no, it's a near-extinct form of integrity.

[Johonny]

46. integrity is getting hurt on the job and having to give up your job and pay check?

I understand why Meche doesn't want to pitch anymore with a bad arm. It's pitching that injured him. Had the organization integrity they'd pay him what they owe him on the guaranteed $12 million. I don't fault the injured on the job, but I don't praise companies that injure people than have them retire, rather than honestly put them on injured reserve/can not play.

[bluestateguy]

11. I'll take his place for the last year of his contract at 10% of the pay!

I'll do it for $1.2 million.

[Hannah Bell]

12. wow. rare.

[newtothegame]

20. I'm a huge baseball fan an I remember about that contract the day it was signed.

It was supposed to be a sign of the new Royals...alas, no such thing.

Great franchise with a storied history and a beautiful ballpark, but absolutely rotten ownership for about 2 decades.

I personally am not a big WalMart hater like I know a lot of my fellow DUers are, but the family's ownership of this team has been a nightmare for KC and for baseball in general.

P.S. George Brett was the man.

[hfojvt]

21. from the sound of the Royals Fans

they'd be happy to keep him on for $800,000.

Maybe he could just re-negotiate his contract instead of quitting.

I kinda don't see how anybody would be worth $12 million even if he went 25-0 with a .7 ERA.

But that's just me.

[WinkyDink]

25. What? No punch-line? Let's get him to the 2012 SOTU address! Heh.

[Demstud]

26. I couldn't do that -nt

[cbdo2007]

27. If they all based their pay on actual performance - all the Royals players owe us money!!!

haha, Royals suck but I do like the new stadium upgrades

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. The Royals can't win for losing

LOL

[IDemo]

31. This should have a few Wall Street banksters howling with laughter n/t

[treestar]

33. He earned it. They made the deal to pay it to him, if they aren't

using him efficiently, that is on them. The pay is to be available. The guy doesn't even understand what he contracted for. He is dumb enough to be Sarah Palin. Just an example proving that it's not necessarily the smarter you are the more money you make.

[Johonny]

49. I agree to a point

He has integrity, it's no fun to pitch hurt and get boo'd night in/ night out. It's the Royal's that lack integrity. He clearly got hurt on the job, never recovered and is being labeled retired by them, when an organization with integrity would step in and allowed him to go on injured reserved for the remaining year.

[quinnox]

34. Reminds me of the NBA player who walked away

from a 36 million dollar contract and retired early at age 30, Brian Williams. A couple of years later in a tragic and bizarre story, he was murdered by his brother while sailing the south pacific.

[Bunny]

36. And what about Pat Tillman?

He walked away from a big NFL contract to go fight for his country, and look what happened to him. Sometimes it's not all about the money.

I saw a tv show on the story of Brian Williams. Very strange indeed.

[JonLP24]

39. He also turned down a larger contract from the Rams

to stay with the Cardinals. This was before joining the army.

[Balbus]

35. I wonder who he would say does deserve $12,000,000 for playing a game.

[Johonny]

47. baseball is a billion dollar industry

who should make the money generated by the industry? the unionized workers or the carpet bag owners? I never paid to watch a sports owner yet. Screw cheap owners that watch players to play hurt until they quit the game. Had the Royal integrity they'd pay their injured player, rather than allow this to be labeled a "retirement". The guy was great, then overworked, then injured, he never recovered from that and had to retire from his job. The big winner the owner who saves 12 million. Wow I'm depressed and sad for the player.

[Gaedel]

54. Great?

While i admire what he did, I looked up his stats at baseball-reference.com.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mechegi01.shtml

1. I really cannot see how the Royals thought he was worth $55 mill over five years based on his performance with Seattle. He seemed to be pretty much a middle of the rotation pitcher. His ERA was always above 4.00.

2. In two years as a starter for KC, he made 34 starts a year and pitched just over 200 innings each year. He was hardly overworked.

3. In 2009, he was injured after 23 starts, though given the jump up in H/9 and BB/9, he was probably injured and trying to pitch through it.

4. 2010 probably convinced the team (and Gil Meche that he was finished).

5. He could have sat on his butt right through 2011 and collected "dead money" from KC, but felt that the honorable thing to do would be to retire.

6. The "millionaires" that run the KC Royals will not pocket that money, but now have enough room in their "payroll budget" to go out and sign some live talent.

[Forkboy]

40. Bobby orr once gave his salary back to the Blackhawks because he felt he didn't earn it.

Cool to see someone else do it.

[sarcasmo]

43. He never earned that kind of money. The royals had to pay that kind of money to keep him.

[Broderick]

44. I want his rookie card

Anyone got it?

[femrap]

51. Holy Crap....

there's a man in the US who still has integrity and a conscience???? Good for him!!!!!!!!

[patricia92243]

52. Stupd to actually quit. He could have donated that money to many worthy causes, if he didn't want

to keep it.

[MilesColtrane]

53. Meche is a mensch

Thank you sir, for a rare display that money isn't everything.

Better to have a clear conscience when you reach your final day on Earth rather than millions in the bank.

*slow clap*