Philadelphia’s Jim Thome hit a pinch hit, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th yesterday against the Rays.Before Thome went to the plate, Phillies’ closer Jonathan Papelbon told him he would give him $5,000 if he hit a walk-off home run. Papelbon wrote the check in the club house. Everyone thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Quick back story: Coming into the 9th inning, the Phillies had a 6-4 lead over the Rays. During the top of the 9th, Phillies’ closer Jonathan Papelbon blew a save opportunity, giving up two runs on 3 hits and a walk. Papelbon’s salary for the 2012 season is $11,000,058. Five thousand dollars is about 1/2200 of Papelbon’s salary.

If you make $100,000 a year at your job, 1/2200th of your salary is approximately $45 dollars. $100,000 a year is a pretty damn good salary for a normal person. If $40,000 a year is around the average median income in America, 1/2200th of that is $18. So, basically, Papelbon offered Thome a twenty to hit a homer. I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m not impressed by this. If Papelbon wanted to put real stakes on the at bat, he should have offered to let Thome marry his mom.

Was this post and all those numbers and words really just an excuse to make a Little Big League reference? You betcha.