Self Respect

Self Respect

February 1, 2011

In today’s newspaper I came across a very interesting article.  It was titled, Pitcher Spurns $12 Million, to Keep Self-Respect.  Imagine that, there’s actually someone out there who would pass up $12 million in order to retain their own self-respect.  We don’t hear too many stories like that, especially during this difficult economy.  In fact, we usually hear the opposite. Take for instance the bonuses being handed out on Wall Street.  Not much self-respect there.  The very same people who brought us to the brink of financial collapse……well, enough about that.  I’m sure we’ll all tired of that story.

Now, back to the pitcher who values his self-respect: Gil Meche is a 32-year-old right- handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.  Or, should I say, he was a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.  Gil Meche announced his retirement today.  The article goes on to quote Meche, “When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it.”  He goes on, “Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad.”  He felt bad.  How about that?  Now here’s a man with a conscience to go along with his self-respect.  Apparently those two virtues are symbiotic.  I am sure some people would consider Gil Meche a fool.  After all, the usual battle-cry sounds like this: Take all you can.

To highlight the fact that Mr. Meche was playing against type, the reporter cites a couple of examples where players continued to take all they could even though they were unable to play. In 1998, Lenny Dykstra took $5.5 million from the Phillies even though he had played his last game in 1996.  Mo Vaughn took $15 million from the Mets in 2004 despite an arthritic knee that had ended his career the year before.  Now that’s more like it!  That’s what we expect, Take all you can.

Mr. Meche, who had undergone two shoulder surgeries and felt he could no longer pitch effectively, goes on to say, “This isn’t about being a hero.  Making that amount of money…..it just wasn’t the right thing to do.”  How refreshing!  I am sure that this lesson in humility and honor will not be lost on his three children.  I know it wasn’t lost on me.

Gil Meche made a decision based in part on his own core values.  How many times in our own lives are we challenged with difficult decisions?  Do we always rely on our core values to assist us in making sound choices?  I guess we have all been guilty, at one time or another, of compromising ourselves for financial benefit.  However, it is more important than ever for us to set the example for our children, our friends and our colleagues.  Let’s challenge ourselves to make the right decisions for the right reasons.  Let us lead by our actions.  And when we’re challenged as to why we didn’t compromise our values in order to gain some benefit we can say, just as Gil Meche said, “It just wasn’t the right thing to do.”