3000

I don't normally comment on current events here.  I try to steer clear of it because the opinions are so diverse and usually passionate.   I definitely leave politics alone.  That's not to say I'm without my opinions...  because I've got 'em a plenty.  Boy, do I.  And they are vehement and whole-heartedly believed in.  Which is really the reason why I don't bring them up.  I just won't do it. 

But when it comes to sporting current events, I give myself a little more leeway to voice my opinion.   So here it is. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opinion 1.  That man is just all kinds of FINE.  F-I-N-E.  Fine.   So there's that.  

Opinion 2 has to do with the ball he hit last night for his 3000th career hit.  Now for you un-sports knowledgey people out there I'm going to throw some names out there that you can't help but recognize: 

Babe Ruth

Mickey Mantle

Lou Gehrig

Jackie Robinson

Reggie Jackson

Joe DiMaggio

Roger Maris

Unless you live under a rock you've heard of some, if not all, of these players.  All Yankees.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no Yankees fan, but Derek Jeter being a Yankee is in some pretty good company with these former players.   None of them.  NONE achieved 3000 hits.  And no, Derek Jeter's not on the juice, so don't go there with that.  It's just not true.  He's just hugely talented.

So his hit last night wasn't just a hit.  It was a homerun.  Caught by a 23-year-old in the stands named Christian Lopez who loves the Yankees and has loved Jeter for years.  Security was on him in a second and he was taken down to the office and was asked what he wanted for the ball.  The kid said, "I just want to give it to Jeter."  There are two firey arguments going on over this.  The one side is raking this kid over the coals.  Calling him every insulting name in the book for someone of low intellect.  The kid is in debt up to his jugular with student loans and that ball?  Easily worth a quarter mil.  But he believed last night and still today believes that Jeter is the right person to own that ball.  And he did get to give it to him.  People are FIRED UP that he didn't sell the ball.  Even offer it to Jeter...  but as a sale, not as a gift.   The other side of the debate?  Raking the people over the coals who are raking this kid over the coals.   They think it's a reflection of a better time, a more neighborly time... when people were more about each other and less about the almighty dollar and think what this kid did was honorable and the people freaking out over it are just showing the greed so ingrained in us now.  

Where do I fall in this debate?  Squarely in the middle.  Yes, what the kid did WAS honorable.  Absolutely.  There would have been nothing "wrong" with him keeping and selling the ball either.  Not one thing.  But to say that this kid is an idiot or stupid or an arse for giving the ball to Jeter?  Cut him some slack.  I don't think he should be vilified for doing a good thing.  A NICE THING.  Yes, he did a nice thing for a guy that could buy and sell all of us a million times over.   A guy getting paid something like 2o mil a year to PLAY A GAME.  But still, a nice thing is a nice thing regardless of circumstance or who the giver or receiver is.   In this case, actually, maybe it's even nicer.

I do personally hope Jeter does something for the kid.  Pays his student loans off or something.  The Yankees organization gave him box seat season tickets for the rest of the season.  Not even a whole seaseon, just half, but the kid is happy with it.  So good for him.  But I do hope Jeter tosses him something on the side. 

So for those out there just ravaging this kid...   leave him be.   And for those flipping out over those that are ravaging the kid... calm down.  There's no right or wrong in this situation.  It is what it is and the kid did what he thought was right.  And I don't know him, obviously, but I'm proud of him.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="437" caption="Atta boy, kid. Well done. It's not everyday you meet your idol."][/caption]

 

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