Still find it hilarious, even post-LBJ return, how folks will still grind an axe with Thome. Would think folks could still look back and use common sense in all of it- he was right to leave, the Tribe was facing a rebuild, The Phillies offer had more upfront money and the union blessing, and Philly was going to offer his mentor a job right off the bat- the same mentor who was shit-canned late in the season. I forget his name, although he ended up having some success in Philly. Another irony in all of it, too, is how the Tribe was absolutely BLASTED by the fans and media for being cheap with their offer when Thome left, how it was the cheapest thing ever to defer money, blah blah blah... yet after a few years went by, and it was realized what a boondoggle deferred money was for player contracts (And GMs subsequently stopped doing it), the view on the contract changed and those same folks then ty to use it to blast Thome for not signing it. Pretty amusing switch there.
But he said something based on his emotions about how he wouldn't leave, then several months later did. So he is an asshole who can't be forgiven for that. Just sad, I really hope the people who feel this way do not extend that kind of vindictiveness into their personal lives. Kind of doubting that, though.