Gil Meche

I bet no one saw that coming.  No, it’s not a headline from The Onion.  Last week, Kansas City Royals pitcher Gil Meche announced his retirement from baseball, giving up the $12 million paycheck due on the final year of his deal.

The baseball world was shocked by the news.  Meche, 32, said he just didn’t feel like he was earning his pay.

“When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it,” Meche told the New York Times. “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.”

Meche has made more than $50 million playing in big leagues, most of which came thanks to the five-year, $55 million deal he inked with the Royals when he left the Seattle Mariners back in 2007.

“This isn’t about being a hero — that’s not even close to what it’s about,” Meche said. “It’s just me getting back to a point in my life where I’m comfortable. Making that amount of money from a team that’s already given me over $40 million for my life and for my kids, it just wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Meche put together an 0-5 record last year with a 5.69 ERA. In his four years with the Kansas City Royals, he won 29 games and lost 39.

He said he regrets nothing has no regrets and is now looking for a new home in the area where he grew up.

“I want to get back to what I remember as a kid, the way of life here in Louisiana,” Meche said. “We tend to think we live a little differently down here. It’s a lot of culture, a lot of French culture. Everywhere I’ve been in the country, for some reason, this is the place I can’t get away from.”

Image: By John H. Kim on Flickr (Original version) User UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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