Sep 18, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Matt Garza (22) reacts in the dugout during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Now here is a tale about a man with his priorities in order. As far as I’m concerned, vacation time should always come before everything, including business.
Matt Garza clearly agrees with my ranking of what truly matters in life. This offseason, Garza failed to meet up with the Angels to discuss a contract because he was too busy being on vacation with his wife. Relaxing is more important than pursuing multi-million-dollar offers.
“They offered, but it was more of a weird situation,” Garza explained to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. “I was on vacation with my wife and I didn’t want to be disturbed, and it was like, ‘Here it is, we’ll pull it in a certain amount of hours.’ I didn’t have a chance to respond, so I just said, ‘Whatever. It is what it is.'”
Garza added, “It wasn’t anything big. It was an offer and I said, ‘I’m on vacation. I’m not thinking about baseball, Dude. Me and my wife are enjoying ourselves.'”
A lot of people might think Garza is crazy, but I salute him. In this world of greed and money-grubbing, where the almighty dollar is more important sometimes even than human life, Garza took a stand.
He wasn’t going to interrupt his beach-time with his beloved just to talk to some baseball team about being paid $50 million. And besides, if the Angels had really wanted Garza, they would have been willing to call him back after he was finished lounging.
They never called him back. The Brewers eventually swooped in and gave Garza $50 million. Just two million less than what the Angels reportedly were willing to pay.
So, Garza ended up costing himself $2 million. But it was worth it. Money comes and goes, but vacation time…that’s forever.
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