By now you've probably heard of the ridiculous story involving now former Major League Baseball player Adam LaRoche. For those not in the know, LaRoche retired and opted to forgo the remaining 13 million dollars on his contract after the Chicago White Sox asked him not to bring his 14-year-old son to work with him every single day. LaRoche vaguely announced his retirement via Twitter, attempting to paint it as him being a family man who chose his son over his passion. But in recent days, other things have come to light about the situation that paint it in quite a different light.
This whole thing began early in the week when the White Sox asked LaRoche to scale back how much time his son, Drake, spends in the clubhouse. According to LaRoche, his son has been in the clubhouse with him 100% of the time for years now, and with at least two other teams, and he and the White Sox had an agreement saying Drake's presence was always welcome. Obviously it wasn't in LaRoche's contract or he would've taken up matters with the MLB. It sounds like it was a verbal agreement or, more likely, a, "Sure, he can be here sometimes" that LaRoche took to mean the kid could be there all the time. If that's the case, whoever promised him such a thing has every right to change their mind. The odd thing is the team didn't ban the kid altogether, they only asked that he be in the clubhouse maybe 50% of the time, rather than 100%. But LaRoche retired anyway. Most people I've discussed this with, and most comments I've seen on articles about the topic, are rightfully critical of LaRoche's choice, as well as his parenting methods. He basically up and quit because his employer told him something he didn't wanna hear. What a luxury to have, right? Yes, one is blessed to be able to do what they love as a job, but you have to remember that it is still that - a job. The majority of us are not allowed to bring our children with us to the office, no matter what the office looks like. LaRoche was afforded a luxury by his teams, given an inch that he stretched into a mile by bringing the kid to work everyday. I highly doubt he would have retired if this had happened years ago with one of his previous teams. I think he believed the Sox would come crawling back to him once he left, they are a somewhat desperate team who hasn't won in a long time, but it didn't quite work out that way. He and his teammates are attempting to paint him as some noble family man, but the majority opinion seems to be that he's a spoiled idiot who pitched a fit when he could no longer get his way.
This is what's concerning to me - Drake only gets an education three-ish months a year. He attends traditional school in the winter months but spends the rest of the year with dear old dad in the clubhouse, where his father claims he will learn more valuable lessons than he ever could in school. He gets absolutely no schooling for most of the year, only having to pass a few standardized tests to appease the powers that be. How is that legal for the school he attends? He's obviously not finishing the curriculum, so how can they move him up each grade when he's only doing a quarter of the work? That's not fair to him, and not to the other kids who have to do all the work to complete each grade. Sports locker rooms are like eternal frat parties, I would not want my son in one of those for any length of time at such a young age. He's not learning much that will benefit him in adulthood, unless he becomes an MLB player himself someday. Not to mention, dad just taught him that it's perfectly acceptable to be a quitter when you come across a rule you don't like. Also concerning is that the LaRoche family have a younger daughter who does attend school full time. What is this set-up teaching her? That she gets fewer perks because she's not a boy? The upside being the daughter will be educated, but what will this do for other parts of her life? Obviously I'm not saying she should be in the locker room with a bunch of men, but I'm a big believer that you treat your kids equally, regardless of their gender. Women have difficult enough in life down the road, they don't need to made to feel less than by their own fathers. We know from eons of experience what that does to our daughters. I'm also disturbed by how LaRoche said he "told" his wife he'd be taking the son on extended clubhouse excursions, as if the boy's mother had no say in the matter. But then, maybe she didn't.
Hopefully this story dies down soon because I can't take some of the people applauding this idiot for his decision. Most people aren't in the position to turn down $13, nevermind 13 million. and he did just that for a ridiculous reason. As with so many athletes today, LaRoche isn't role model material, not even to his own kids apparently. I hope that 13 million doesn't come back to bite him, or his children, in the ass. I feel sorry for Drake, the kid deserves better than what he's getting from his father.
