It was one of those made-for-TV moments. Not only did New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter get his 3,000 base hit, but the young man who retrieved the home run shot returned the ball to the future Hall of Fame hitter.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the ball would have been worth upwards of $200,000 on the open market.
“Mr. Jeter deserved it,” 23-year-old Christian Lopez said afterward. “I’m not going to take it away from him. Money’s cool and all, but I’m 23 years old; I’ve got a lot of time to make that.”
Nice guy.
Yet we wonder how many professional athletes would walk away from such a windfall.
Lopez did leave with some autographed Yankees’ memorabilia and half a season’s worth of Yankee tickets.
Still, $200,000 could have put a couple of kids through college or been a really good downpayment on house in the New York market.
And Jeter, who will make more than $200 million over his career, certainly wouldn’t have missed it.
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.
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