Gil Meche Mensch
Posted on 01/27/2011 10:28:29 AM PST by since1868
Updated 10:19 AM EST, Thu, Jan 27, 2011
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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.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcwashington.com ...
Thats what I always believed.Just like any sales job.
Which makes me think, a professional athlete does not really work a job.
Gil Meche Mensch
I am reminded of what my wife always told our kids:
“You dont get extra credit for doing the right thing.”
This guy did the right thing. Good for him, but should we really be surprised? That is where the true shame is.
Will a Mr. Albert Haynesworth please report to a white courtesy phone?
If you dont think this is a job, you have never known a professional athlete.
They work as hard during the off season as they do the preseason. And with no job security.
What if your job was in front of millions of people, and newspaper columnists made their living criticizing every move you made?
We could debate a lot of points about pro athlete salaries, but do not mistake what you see on TV or at the park as the work they are doing. It is only the very tip of the iceberg.
His employers should thank him since they were too stupid to know they were paying him too much.
This is all over the news. I think it is great but not ready to name him a Saint over this. He did a good thing that most wouldn’t.
It is sad that some are ridiculinmg the man for having integrity.
I am not ridiculing the man for having integrity.
I am saying that our society is so messed up that someone displaying integrity is considered news. That is where I am pointing the finger.
Few and far between in this age. What America SHOULD be all about and isn’t.
This is the mark of a honest person.
bookmark
Well I think he probably wishes he earned it.
He’s a guy who cannot look himself in the mirror and be right with himself if he doesn’t think he has earned it. It’s his own conscience and self-worth.
I am glad there are people that listen to their consciences like this. But face it, he couldn’t live well if he didn’t do this. It was obviously bugging him real bad. It’s the only thing he could have done to make it right and make his personal life, liveable.
“Someone has to get the money”
False assumption. If their costs go down so can their fees.
I got a kick out of Roger Goodell who is the head of the National Football League. They are in negotiations with the players union and if there is a strike, he said he’d take a salary of only $1.00. What I find hillarious is that he earned $10 MILLION last year so even if they are on strike for a year, his average salary over the 2 years is $5,ooo,ooo.50
Gee thanks Roger for taking the sword....
Oh I didn’t mean you,but other posters, were ridiculing him;should have addressed the comment differently.
I believe that Bobby Orr did something similar. He was finally let go from Boston and Chicago decided to give him a chance. But, his injuries prevented him from playing and he gave back the money they had payed him.
My husband agrees with you. You have a real good year, you get a real good paycheck.
I didn’t realize that the Royals paid their players!
;-)
Only 44 workdays until the Tigers take on the Yanks.
ping
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