Adam Laroche Told Teammates I Am Choosing My Son Over You Guys

There were many columns and tweets offering opinions on the subject, but LaRoche stayed quiet. Not anymore.

The man who left the White Sox spoke at length with ESPN about retirement and the whole situation that occurred with his son and the team. He also explains why he left $13 million on the table, and why he won’t try to recoup it.

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First, what the hell happened with his kid?

And for the $13 million? Will he file a grievance to try and get the money back?

“I never took it for granted,” LaRoche said. “One, I get to play a game. Two, I get paid an absurd amount of money to play a game. Three, I can have my son with me while I’m doing it. I was pinching myself all the time, wondering, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ And I always knew it could get shut down at any point. You could have a manager who just flat doesn’t like it. You can have players complain – Hey, we’re tired of having a kid around. There’s a chance we could have other guys see Drake and think, ‘I’ll bring my kid too.’ Obviously we can’t turn this into a day care. I get it.”

“I’m not saying this is the way everybody should raise their kid,” LaRoche said. “I’m saying I was given the privilege to raise my kid this way by some awesome teams and managers and GMs. Can every parent do it? No. But can we spend more time with our kids? Sure. I feel like I’ve spent as much time with Drake as you can, and if he were to die tomorrow, I guarantee you I’d be looking back and saying I wish I spent more time with him.”

“No,” he said when asked by the reporter. “I did it. I made the final decision. And I can understand how people look at the $13 million. One, how stupid does somebody have to be? Or how selfish? Suck it up for six months, right?”

The entire interview is worth a read as it reveals a lot more about LaRoche’s character and will help you understand how a man could walk away from so much money and his profession. One thing is clear throughout the entire interview — LaRoche is doing just fine not being in the dugout.