'Because I'm not worth it': Baseball pitcher gives back $12m annual salary he didn't feel he had earned



Injury-plagued star made only nine starts - and didn't win a single game

Kansas City star: Royals starter Gil Meche walked away from the $12m million remaining on his contract

A baseball pitcher has handed back the $12million he earned last year because he ‘didn’t feel he was worth it’.



In a rare show of humility from a top sportsman, Gil Meche gave the cash back to the Kansas City Royals after what he admitted was a miserable performance.



The star signing was on three times more than anybody else on the team but only made nine starts all year without scoring a single win.



He said: ‘This isn’t about being a hero - that’s not even close to what it’s about.



‘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, 32, signed a five-year $55million contract at the start of the 2007 season with the Royals - at which point he was considered a prize catch.



Initially he played well but by 2009 his body began to fail and last year, the final year of his contract, he became plagued by an injury to his right shoulder.



The temptation would be to work the system and sit it out until the end of the contract.



Meche said that, when he looked back at the season he had had, there was no way he could take the $12million.



He told the New York Times: ‘When you don’t want to play ball, it’s no use. If it’s not in my heart to keep playing, to keep pushing to pitch, I had to do what I had to do. Next month may be a funny feeling from what I’m used to, but I’m really content with it.



‘It got to the point where I wasn’t going to lie to myself and say, "I’m going to be healthy, I’m ready to roll, I can’t wait to get going".

Good old days: The Royals enjoyed major success in the 80s, but in 2010 finished with a 67-95 record, in last place in the division for the sixth time in seven years

‘None of those things were true. Last year when I left for Kansas City, I said all those things, and I thought I’d be able to do it.



‘Once I got home after the season, I just didn’t have it in my heart to keep playing. I think I did the right thing with the feeling I was having about pitching. It wasn’t fair to the team or my teammates to go back.’



The divorced father of three now plans to spend more time with his children aged seven, five and three.



His decision drew praise and bewilderment from bloggers and commentators.



'Wow! What a courageous decision, and what refreshing moral fibre Mr Meche possesses'

Jim Duquette, the former Mets general manager, said: ‘It’s just so odd and so rare. There was no way that we would have ever had a conversation like, "Hey, Mo, listen, you’re not able to play, so you should retire".‘



On one newspaper website, Dee Luthur from Newton, MA, added: ‘WOW! What a courageous decision, and what refreshing moral fibre Mr Meche possesses.



‘I do not know him, but I am extremely proud of him. I will make sure my six young nephews know who he is, and that his behaviour is to be emulated. Bravo, young man.’



Meche’s decision has parallels with that of train conductor Keith Fitzhugh who rejected the chance to play American football in the NFL to carry on doing his regular job instead.



The 24-year-old from Hampton, Georgia, said he was flattered by the offer from the New York Jets but could not risk losing a steady pay cheque, which the Jets could not guarantee, to support his family.