During the 2002 season, Cleveland Indians slugger Jim Thome told reporters they would have to “rip the jersey off his back” to take him away from Cleveland. Clevelanders cheered. In 2010, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Lebron James told NBA TV that his goal was to “bring a championship to Cleveland, and I won’t stop until I get it.” Again, Clevelanders cheered.
What followed both glorious uproars was disappointment and resentment. Thome left Cleveland for the Philadelphia Phillies and Lebron famously took his talents to South Beach. On first blush, it seems like Thome and Lebron are the same, that the grudges of Cleveland fans would keep both men persona non grata in the city that nurtured their stardom, but their situations are worlds apart.
The difference isn’t based on TV specials or MVP awards, but revolves around the organizations left hanging. Lebron left a Cavaliers team that Dan Gilbert had positioned into a big spending organization. New practice facilities, expensive contracts, and constant upgrading of the player and fan experience. The Cavaliers front office made some personnel mistakes along the way, but they always tried and never shied away from a deal because of money issues. Dan Gilbert was pumping money into the Cavs at a rate most of us will never comprehend, and all he wanted in return was to win an NBA championship.
Lebron left nightly sellouts and money on the table to play in Miami. All the personal reaction aside, Lebron signing with Miami cost him the full support of a burgeoning organization and money. Cleveland fans will likely never welcome Lebron back because his motivation to leave was personal. It had to be, a player can’t cost himself money and do that much damage to his national image and still maintain that the decision was based purely on business.
Jim Thome’s choice came from a completely different place.
The Cleveland Indians ownership and front office are notorious cheapskates who bemoan their small market status as a reason why the team can never pay players enough to stay in Cleveland and compete.
The Indians finished 74-88 in 2002 and fired manager Charlie Manuel after 86 games. For Thome, staying with the Indians would leave him to finish his prime years in a lineup that only managed to post a .249 batting average, but finish in the bottom five in every major offensive ranking aside from home runs. The writing was on the wall for Thome, especially after the club parted ways with sluggers Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle in nearly identical situations in the years of their free agency.
The Indians offered Thome a five year; $60 million contract to stay with the team that drafted him in the 13th round of the 1989 draft. All the hope in Cleveland couldn’t change the reality that a six year, $85 million offer to play for a young, up and coming Philadelphia Phillies team was the only possible choice that made sense for Thome to make.
Cleveland fans support Jim Thome because he never stopped supporting us. Thome never said anything other than how much he loved Cleveland and its fans, even when we spent the years after his trade to the rival White Sox booing him as lustily as we could.
Thome smiled in the on deck circle and signed balls for little kids before games. Thome loved us; he just had to make a difficult business decision.
Sources: All Stats provided by Baseball-Reference.com
Follow Josh on Twitter and at More Than A Fan.