The Price Of Humility

by I. M. Ahore, staff writer

At the end of last season, Albert Thornley had his swagger back.

The fifteen year veteran third baseman had been picked up by the Springfield Puzzle Pieces after an injury to young star Scott Jones.  The vet jumped into the breach to have his best performance in three seasons in only 42 games including 10 HRs and his first triple in three seasons.  All signs pointed toward Thornley landing a spot with the club for the next season.

“Then I got greedy,” Thornley said.  “I thought that even at 38 I should be paid like I was 28.”

Thornley asked the club for $9 million a year…more than any other position player on the team.  The response from the team was quick and swift.

“My agent called team owner Jason Wert,” Thornley said, “and when he said the price tag was nine million the response was ‘good luck wherever you play next year.’  No negotiation or counter offer.  I think they felt insulted by the request.”

“We sure were,” team owner Wert confirmed.  “Siro Bustamante is a two time Nolan Ryan award winner and considering the way some team owners can’t help but vote against our players first time around a likely second ballot Hall of Famer.  So for this guy to get ten homers and then demand more money than Bustamante was seriously crazy.”

Thornley hit the free agent market and waited for the offers to come in.  The phone didn’t ring.

“We didn’t get a single call,” Thornley said.  “My agent placed calls everywhere and the response was that no one wanted to pay me millions of dollars and that if Springfield didn’t even make a counter offer something must have been wrong.  There WAS something wrong but it wasn’t my playing ability.”

Thornley remembers the night he realized the problem.

“Opening day arrived and I was miserable,” Thornley said.  “My kids went off to school and I was sitting in my den watching the [Jacksonville] Blayze beat Minneapolis and didn’t notice my wife had come into the room and was just sitting there looking at me.  When I saw her, she said we had enough money to live for the rest of our lives and that there would be enough time to sit in the den watching baseball when I couldn’t play anymore.”

Thornley took the message to heart and began to work harder in the gym to get in shape.  He anticipated trying to latch on with a team near the All Star Break who needed help down the stretch.

“Then I saw Jones go down,” Thornley said.   Puzzle Pieces’ All Star third baseman Scott Jones had been tripped going around second base and suffered an injury that would be shelving him at least a month.

“I swallowed my pride and called Mr. Wert’s home number after the game,” he said.  “I said that I saw what happened and that I knew they could use my help.  He asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted the same as my previous request minus one zero.  Wert laughed and said he would see me tomorrow.”

Jones is scheduled to be back in a few weeks but Thornley is confident he will get playing time.

“I know that I can find a spot on the field,” Thornley said.  “This time, I’m playing for the fun as well as the wins.”