Pulling a Meche

My hat is off to Gil Meche, who decided to retire from baseball at age 32 after fighting with shoulder problems that significantly deteriorated his game.  Unlike most players, (ahem Brett Favre) Meche decided to end his career, instead of being told it was over.  Some athletes (Michael Jordan, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Roger Clemens, just to name a few) have a hard time deciding when to hang ‘em up and even then that is not a guarantee that they will stay away from the lure of a comeback.  What impresses me the most about this situation is that Gil Meche turned away $12 million dollars to effectively sit on the DL and collect his paycheck.  Meche would have had to undergo shoulder surgery and at best maybe fill a spot in the bullpen at some point in 2011.  More likely, he would sit out the season and see how things felt for 2012. 

You simply cannot tell me that the Kansas City Royals, with one of the league’s lowest payrolls, are not looking at Meche like a Roman god.  Looking at potential player salaries and other additions still to be made to the roster, with Meche on the payroll, the Royals would be tied with $48 million.  For you (un)math majors, that means Meche would be 25% of the payroll.  Now with him off the books, it is unknown as to whether the Royals will use any of that money to move forward. (Who are we kidding?  Of course they will…..not!) They will at least have the option. 

In today’s modern world of “me” first sports, it is nice to see that genuine people still exist.  Do not get me wrong, Meche has made plenty of money during his career – approximately $50 million.  But he could have easily have taken the Royals paycheck and enjoyed his year of trying to come back sitting at home.  At the end of the season, he could have smiled and said he was finished.  This was an old school mind who wanted to play the game and when he ultimately could not, he would walk away.  With player hold outs and contract disputes constantly making headlines, Meche’s retirement all but slipped through the cracks.  You may not see another athlete do this again in our lifetime.  I cannot recall a moment that it had previously occurred.  In fact, I am sure Mo Vaughn is still on the Mets payroll.  (I mock the fact that Vaughn received $47 million from 2002-2004, but only played the 2002 season and a brief part of 2003).  After his forced retirement due to  a bum knee, he could have easily pulled a “Meche” (I kind of like the sound of that) and given the Mets at least some of the money back that he had not earned. 

I certainly cannot expect all athletes to view this as an epiphany and alter their thoughts in terms of contracts.  Owners are just as guilty as players in regards for looking out for #1.  With sports being a multi-billion dollar industry, $12 million spent on a hope and whim that an athlete will be able to compete at some point in the future is a drop in the bucket.  Of course that bucket does not belong to everyday people, who view a hard day’s work as an accomplishment.  If the Royals are interested in donating a part all of the $12 million, www.Chris-retirement.com would love to be the beneficiary.