I'm sure a lot of you already know the story but it still strikes me as this strange controversy all its own.

Quick rundown: LaRoche would have his son with him close to 100% of the time. He had his own locker, hung out in the players' clubhouse, took part in on-field drills, and traveled for away games. This was actually a stipulation in LaRoches' contract prior to signing with the Sox.

At some point Ken Williams asked him to tone it down a bit..which he didn't. Drake LaRoche standing on the mound in the middle of infield drills would lead to the climax of the story: Williams, infuriated by this sight told LaRoche the privileges would be revoked. He promptly retired leaving 13 mil on the table and the White Sox players enthusiastically supported him and publicly voiced their anger towards Ken Williams.

EDIT: The clubhouse was actually somewhat divided over this. Chris Sale and Adam Eaton supported LaRoche. Not sure about the rest.

Source: LaRoche told #WhiteSox yesterday he would take a “couple of days” before making final decision on retirement.

More from Rosenthal:

Just talked to ‪#‎White‬ Sox president Ken Williams. Here is what he told me about LaRoche: "There has been no policy change with regards to allowance of kids in the clubhouse, on the field, the back fields during spring training. This young man that we're talking about, Drake, everyone loves this young man. In no way do I want this to be about him. "I asked Adam, said, 'Listen, our focus, our interest, our desire this year is to make sure we give ourselves every opportunity to focus on a daily basis on getting better. All I'm asking you to do with regard to bringing your kid to the ballpark is dial it back.' "I don't think he should be here 100 percent of the time - and he has been here 100 percent, every day, in the clubhouse. I said that I don't even think he should be here 50 percent of the time. Figure it out, somewhere in between. "We all think his kid is a great young man. I just felt it should not be every day, that's all. You tell me, where in this country can you bring your child to work every day?"

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What’s up with the White Sox? Seems like the most interesting news & headlines come from this franchise.

Adam LaRoche hit 12 home runs in his 1 season in Chicago.

Daniel Palka has 17 in 50 fewer games.

And he doesn’t even have an annoying kid who he’s denying an education to.

Would anyone be opposed if we signed him to a short term deal to upgrade 1B for a year or two before Bell is ready?

This was my reply on another thread but I think it deserves more contemplation:

You don't have to hate him but I find it pretty despicable that a father would throw away a Major League Baseball career over his boss telling him to cool it with the kid thing.

If he really was looking out for his family he would keep his job and collect $13m.

Further he should do anything possible to keep his son in a situation where he was still involved in Major League Baseball. Retiring under such auspicious circumstances suggests otherwise.

All these things considered this boils down to a power play to get his ass out of the shitty situation his poor play gotten him into.

AND HE IS LEVERAGING HIS CHILD TO DO SO!!!!!

So yes he deserves every bit of hate headed his way.

Unfortunately he can't really lose. Either he retires and no one pays a mediocre MLB player mind anymore or he gets his trade.

Boo on you Adam LaRoche. Boo on you.

Also boo on any MLB player (Bryce) that would insult an MLB fans intelligence to suggest this is a family over money issue. Baseball is the Thinking Americans game. It's insulting to think the average MLB fan wouldn't see through this ruse.

Everyone may not agree with the way he chooses to raise his kids or his political views, but this decision took balls.

@AdamKilgoreWP: Source: The Nats have agreed to terms with Adam LaRoche on a two-year deal.

Hey I'm back! Wow that was a long time without posting. Didn't even fulfill my promise to post one player per day for a week. In punishment, I'm going to do my best to post one every day until either I run out or the Hall of Fame announcement saps me of my drive. To begin with, I picked a guy who's been on the frontpage a couple times lately despite not having played baseball for five years. I am nothing if not a trend chaser. Enjoy!

Adam LaRoche

Bill James Hall of Fame Monitor: 16

Career bWAR (12 years): 14.2

Stats: .260/.336/.462, 111 OPS+, 1452 H, 255 HR, 608 XBH, 882 RBI, 752 R

League Leading Stats: Sacrifice Flies (9, 2012)

Awards: Gold Glove (2012), Silver Slugger (2012), NL Wilson Defensive 1B of the Year (2012), NL Player of the Week (September 7th, 2014)

Teams Played For: Braves (2004-06, 2009), Pirates (2007-09), Red Sox (2009), Diamondbacks (2010), Nationals (2011-14), White Sox (2015)

Believe it or not, there is more to Adam LaRoche than how he retired. Most of the discussion surrounding him concerns that specific instant, and don't worry, we'll get to that. While he certainly was a , there's one thing many people forget: Adam LaRoche played baseball. He did it for a while, too. 12 years, if you can believe it. Did it pretty well even. At least, well enough to stick around for a length of time that a building in Cooperstown would say is worthy of qualification for entry upon a piece of paper that they send out to some people once every year. And yet, despite that, Adam LaRoche did not appear on the Hall of Fame ballot this year. Perhaps the Selection Committee, like a manager who complains about a player's kid being in the dugout forgetting just how much he loves his children and might leave if tension arose, missed something.

LaRoche's career began after he was drafted as a first baseman by the Marlins in the 18th round of the 1998 draft. Wait, sorry, he didn't sign, I meant to say it began when the Marlins drafted him again in the 42nd round of the 1999 draft. Oh no, I've messed up again, because he didn't sign then either. Then the Braves in the 29th round of the 2000 draft, where he signed. Poor Marlins. After putting up some OPSes like .888 in Rookie ball, then .918 two years later in A+, then .856 the next year between AA and AAA, the Braves figured he was pretty good. So did Baseball America, who put him at #73 on their top prospects for 2004. He made the Opening Day roster, and in his first game (the Braves' second of the season), he got his first two hits. A single off Steve Trachsel, then a double off Grant Roberts that scored Andruw Jones and J.D. Drew. Those hits came in the same inning, which saw the Braves score 11 runs, and eventually win the game 18-10. Now that's how you start things off. LaRoche's rookie year would go relatively well, getting into 110 games, batting .278/.333/.488 with 13 homers, and tying the major league record for doubles in a game in just his 23rd start (it's 4 for all seventeen of you that care). He even had a great, albeit short, playoff performance in the NLDS against the Astros. He hit an RBI double in Game 2, tying it in the 8th. Rafael Furcal's walkoff home run three innings later tied the series at 1 apiece. He then had another game-tying extra-base hit in Game 4, in much more dramatic fashion. Down 5-2 in the 6th, Adam LaRoche hit a 3-run dinger off Chad Qualls, driving in Joneses Andruw and Chipper. A Russ Springer RBI single in the 9th tied the series again at 2-2. Game 5 would go the Astros' way, and LaRoche's first postseason would be brought to an end. Even with his playoff heroics, a 108 OPS+, and 1.1 bWAR, plus a rather weak rookie class, he didn't appear on a single NL Rookie of the Year ballot. Apparently, if you begin your season in a platoon with a 46-year-old Julio Franco, the voters think you're worse than someone named . Still, LaRoche had, for the foreseeable future, secured his position at first base with the Atlanta Braves. I'm sure he was happy about that, especially since he had a 2-year-old son at home.

The next two years, LaRoche showed what he was about: good at hitting, not at fielding. Over the 2005-06 seasons, he combined for a line of .273/.338/.510 with 52 home runs, 168 RBIs, and a 116 OPS+. Maybe not Albert Pujols, but still good enough to stay in the lineup. Especially on May 28th, 2006, when he hit two long balls in a game against the Cubs. Helped set the Braves franchise record for most team home runs in a game with 8. He also had another great postseason in 2005, when he went 4-for-8 with a double and a grand slam in the NLDS against his good friends the Astros. They won out in the end, but his bat was still a very good reason to keep him at first. His glove, though, tried to put him out of it. His 3.3 oWAR over the two years was neatly balanced out by his -3.9 dWAR. No other play sums this up better than when he fielded a grounder from the Nationals' Nick Johnson, and lazily walked over to first to tag him out. By the time he reached the bag, Johnson was safe, LaRoche was getting booed, and manager Bobby Cox was ready to sit him on the bench for the rest of the game. While 2006 would actually turn out to be LaRoche's best season in Atlanta so far, it was also the first time in 15 years that the Braves didn't win their division. Even worse, they didn't even finish above .500, only winning 79 games by season's end. Because of that, they decided to shake things up, and in January of 2007, Adam LaRoche was traded with minor leaguer Jame Romak to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Brent Lillibridge and Mike Gonzalez. Atlanta's first baseman most of that year was a gentleman named Scott Thorman, who was not very good. They then traded for Mark Teixeira at the deadline, giving up people named Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who have all played in the World Series, something the Braves have yet to do since trading LaRoche. Oh yeah, back to him, he's a Pirate now. I'm sure his son, who turned 5 soon after he was traded, was thrilled that his dad was now a swashbuckler instead of an adjective. How'd it go?

LaRoche's time in black and yellow was remarkably unremarkable. Two-and-a-half years, hitting .265/.340/.469 with 58 homers, continued below-average play at first, and a team that couldn't win 75 games in a season if their lives depended on it. Exactly two things of interest happened during LaRoche's tenure as a seafaring Pittsburgher. One, he was the very first player to ever have a home run taken away via replay review on May 13, 2009. Two, he was teammates with his brother Andy for almost a year, doubtless showing him how great it was when his family was in the clubhouse. The bloodline stretching from third to first was severed on July 22, 2009, when LaRoche packed his bags, and headed East to Boston. He'd been traded for shortstop prospect Argenis Diaz and name-I-definitely-didn't-expect-to-show-up-in-this-story Hunter Strickland. 9 days and 6 games later, the Red Sox realized "wow, this LaRoche guy is making $7 million this year, and that Casey Kotchman kid in Atlanta isn't even making $1 million. We'd pretty much be using them the same way, so are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Right before the deadline passed, LaRoche changed teams again, becoming a Brave for the second time and starting at first base in Atlanta once more. Apparently the scene change really helped, because he finished the year batting .325/.401/.557 as a Brave, knocking 12 home runs and batting in 40 runs in just 52 games. All that gave him an OPS+ of 151, which would've been the 5th highest in the NL that year if he'd done it over the full season. He'd finish the year with a total of 2.0 bWAR just in Atlanta, which was great, because he was a free agent after that season. I'm sure his 7-year-old son was very excited for his dad's big payday.

After MLB Trade Rumors named him , somewhat surprisingly, LaRoche was still unemployed in January. The Diamondbacks took pity on him, and made him the fourth-highest paid member of their squad on a one-year, $4.5 million contract with a $7.5 million second-year option. Then the team lost 97 games, LaRoche's .261/.320/.468 was his worst hitting season since 2005, and a new career high 172 strikeouts certainly didn't help. 100 RBIs was a new best, though, so he had that going for him. He got downgraded to just the after Arizona didn't pick up his option. The Nationals said "aww, that stinks that you didn't get that $7.5 mil. Want $15 mil over two years instead?" And he said "yes." Thus, in 2011, Mr. LaRoche went to Washington. And he suuuuuucked. In his first 43 games as a National, LaRoche hit .172/.288/.258, going an anemic 26-for-151 before a surgery for the labrum in his left shoulder ended his season. Hopefully he could pick it up the next season. Wouldn't want to disappoint that 9-year-old son he had, now would he?

At a glance, Adam LaRoche's 2012 season isn't exactly out of the ordinary for him. .271/.343/.510 with 33 homers and 100 RBIs seems about what you might expect. None of his rate stats were career highs, he'd already had 100 RBIs, and 33 homers was only one more than his previous best season. It's only impressive if you look at the context. In 2012, offensive output had cratered. LaRoche's 100 RBI total was the 8th highest in the National League. His 33 home runs was the 4th highest number that year. His total of 69 extra-nice-extra-base hits was the 5th highest. His 291 total bases was the 7th most. That was crazy, because even as it was ordinary LaRoche hitting, he had never before placed in the top ten of any of those categories. At a time when offense was hard to come by, Adam LaRoche's status quo was extraordinary. His 3.2 oWAR was by far the best he'd ever put up in a season. Best of all, his defense took a step forward as well. His Total Zone Runs at first base in 2012 was 14, the most he'd ever put up in his career by a long shot. His 0.0 dWAR was the highest among NL first basemen that year. No, I'm not kidding. To add on to all of that, LaRoche was a member of a Washington team that won 98 games, the first time since moving from Montreal that they'd achieved anything resembling success. And LaRoche led that team's offense in home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits, walks for some reason, and total bases. Thus, despite his offense being solidly within the realm of his previously shown ability, Adam LaRoche's output at the plate and in the field was amazing when compared to anybody else in the National League. In short, Adam LaRoche was the tortoise, and the standard NL first baseman was the hare. And for him, slow and steady won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, and an NL Wilson's Defensive 1B of the Year. Even won a tie with David Wright for 6th place in National League MVP voting . His team also made the playoffs, and he did hit two solo home runs, but I feel like Nationals fans would be completely fine if I didn't say anything else about the 2012 NLDS. Washington were very grateful for LaRoche's contributions, and signed him to a two-year, $24 million contract with a 3rd year option. Not before he got named the , though. He'd regress to the mean over those two years, putting up just 3.0 bWAR. .248/.347/.429 is pretty good, 46 home runs and 154 RBIs is nothing to sneeze at, and a 113 OPS+ thanks to 97 extra-base hits is quite acceptable. He also didn't do as well in the field with -2.1 dWAR, and went 1-for-18 in the only Division Series his team made it to during that time, which I'm also fairly certain Nationals fans would be perfectly fine with me ignoring. At the rate of roughly $8 million per Win Above Replacement, LaRoche gave Washington exactly what they paid for, and for that, they thanked him, did not pick up the option, and bid him farewell. That 12-year-old son of his must have been really happy with how dad had been doing, but where would he be going to school that next year?

After his fourth straight time being named one of the top 50 best free agents by MLB Trade Rumors (), LaRoche signed a two-year, $25 million contract with the Chicago White Sox. After a lackluster 2015 that saw career lows across the board (apart from his injury-shortened 2011), he was ready to bounce back in 2016, putting his all into spring training to show he was still worth his contract. Then his 14-year-old son, Drake (have I mentioned him?), who had often accompanied him in the clubhouse, got on the nerves of Chicago's executive vice president, Kenny Williams. "Name one job in the country where you can bring your child to work every day," Williams would eventually say. At some point, an ultimatum was issued where Drake was to exit the clubhouse, never to return. LaRoche, who valued his family, said no. Williams insisted, and in response, Adam LaRoche retired from baseball, leaving $13 million on the table in the process. This situation was memed on from one side of the MLB to the other. LaRoche was called everything from a traitor to his team to a man who had clearly set his priorities in order. Williams was both villainized and praised, sometimes by the same people. White Sox ace Chris Sale and star Center Fielder Adam Eaton defended LaRoche's decision. GM Rick Hahn dodged the question, and team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said he had complete faith in his front office. The world was turned upside down, because as far as everyone was concerned, this was the strangest reason someone had retired they had ever heard. What they didn't know, and wouldn't for a couple weeks, was that Adam LaRoche, during the offseason, had . It turns out, LaRoche did retire based on the treatment of young people, but it went far deeper than anybody understood at the time. But hey, at least it gave us , which I am mourning as it passed on when Flash died.

Adam LaRoche's career isn't unique from a numbers standpoint. His stats aren't actually too far off from someone like , but the story around them is one-of-a-kind. From the fluke 2012 season that wasn't actually a fluke, to playing on a team for nine days, to how his career ended, nothing was predictable when it came to The Rock. (wait that's his nickname? I could've had so many wrestling puns! Oh well.) Despite his inability to stand out statistically, LaRoche has no trouble getting his name out there in all kinds of other ways. Those ways do not include appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot, which, if I'm being honest, he didn't deserve. Sorry Dwayne LaJohnsone. (Okay maybe I should be glad I didn't know that was his nickname)

LaRoche would visit the Hall in a Washington Nationals cap for his 430 hits, 82 homers, and Silver Slugger/Gold Glove combo with the team. He'd go hand-in-hand with his son Drake LaRoche, who is turning 19 next month. No I don't feel old.

We're at a dozen now. Here are the other doughnuts if you're hungry.

Didn't think there would be a hitter that would make miss Adam Dunn. Why the fuck would the Sox give so much money to a 35 year old?