The guy feels good about what he did, yet he's being criticized for it. How does the saying go-no good deed goes unpunished. Yes, I get it; the Yankees and Jeter are blood suckers out for the last buck any way they can get it. So all of us then are to stoop to that level. That's fine and I'd certainly be the last person to criticize anybody for doing that. In fact, I am so incensed about what tickets/parking/hot dogs/you-name-it cost that had I been in that fan's position I question whether I would have been so magnanimous. But he choose to take a different path, the high road I might call it. And I think he should be commended for it. Who knows, maybe the example he sets might encourage others to reciprocate in kind.

Corey, no one is really criticizing the kid. What he's doing is really stellar; it's the Yankees (and all of MLB) which have turned a kids game into the money-obsessed machine it has become. Even in the days of skin-flint owners they still permitted real doubleheaders which cost them a day's gate receipts. Now? They don't exist anymore due to greed. I just think that the idea of giving the kid a few signed jerseys is sort of laughable when you see how the Yankees will fleece their fans by selling them $30 hats emblazoned with "DJ3K" on them. Why can't decency be a two-way street? For once?

Jeter should have done what Maris did- refuse to accept the ball and tell the kid to sell it and make his life a little easier. I heard he has 100K in student loans he hasn't yet paid back. That's a lot of debt for a kid in his twenties. Yes, he did a very nice thing and we shouldn't criticize him. I blame Jeter for taking it for nothing.

That kid probably can't even afford the taxes on the "generous gift" the yankees gave him. They are scumbags, IMO, they did take advantage of hero worship... I think there may be a little hero worship on this board too.

Edit: I'd like to add that Jeter already had his 3000 hit bat and jersey. He didn't need to take the ball from that penniless kid, he should be embarrassed... I know I would.

A few observations:

I don't think it is a "high road" to give Jeter the ball. My feeling is that the fan--a young guy with debts just starting out in life--is a schmuck for handing over a very valuable windfall to a multi-millionaire celeb rather than taking the money and getting a leg up in his life. His decision to give it away for a pittance makes him a fool, not a role model. That said, I don't think he was taken advantage of to the degree that some suggest. The guy went through a rugby scrum to get the ball and was whisked away by security so the team could lean on him to give it up. Unless he is a complete pinhead [which is possible] he had to know that the ball was very valuable. He wasn't coerced, he made a deal.

As for Jeter, I don't feel he is getting a fair shake from either side in the discussion. While I don't condemn Jeter for not writing a check unsolicited, I also don't lionize him simply because his public persona isn't that of an avaricious, nasty pig. I agree that Maris did the right thing in 1961, and that it would have been nice for Jeter to make a heavy financial gesture to the fan, but we don't know what went on behind closed doors. For all we know a check was offered and rejected. I think we assume the worst because of history. This is the era of grab what you can get, everyone for themselves, all business all the time, and Jeter has never been other than a creature of his era. He sells his signature for big money that he doesn't even really need rather than, say, signing stacks of photos and responding to fan mail with free autographs, ransoms the team for as much money as he can, etc. It only seems natural that he'd act like that in every other facet of his business life.

As for the Yankees, again, my feelings are mixed. The Yankees realized the value of the item and gave the kid something expensive in return, but it didn't cost them squat. Now, if the Yankees also gross up the items to pay the poor bastard's income taxes on the ticket package, that would be more impressive than handing over some empty seats for the rest of the season.

I also have to point out that what many here assume that Jeter and the Yankees did is exactly what I do every day at the National and as often as I can on Ebay and auctions, which is try to make the best deal I can on something I want. Taking down a mischaracterized item on Ebay for a pittance or getting a rare variation for a common price because the seller didn't know what he was selling is the same idea, just on a different scale. If I'd pulled off a trade like the one Jeter made I'd post it here and be congratulated on the great deal.

I'm sorry, I love all you guys and were all great help in our hobby. But this is a joke what you guys are saying. Say the guy asked for $25000 and jetted paid. Would he still have ripped this guy off. No because jeter pretty much paid what the guys wishes were. Why should he have to offer more when it wasn't asked for?

The only joke is how this fan was treated.

Brock, I received an email from Steiner today with about 398 different "Jeter 3000 hit" items for sale, all ridiculously priced. The Yankees and Jeter have no respect for themselves or their fans with such BS. Why do they expect it from the fan?

The Yankees will charge what the market will accept...pure capitalism. Don't be mad because Yankee fans are stupid. :D And yeah, while I think the gesture by that kid was noble, I think he's rather stupid for not fleecing the Yankees right back. If I'd caught that ball it'd be on the auction block right now.

So David, say there was an item on ebay that you wanted to buy and it was listed at $1,200. But you knew it was worth $2,000. So you bought it at $1,200, aren't you technically ripping that seller off then. I'm sure you've bought a item under market value. Now you can't say that the seller came up with the price so it's not ripping him off. The guy came up with the price that you wanted nothing for the ball.

It looks like he's going to get his own Topps baseball card, a 2009 WS ring, and I'm sure people from the board with be happy with, at least 25K from Steiner Sports! Link

Wouldn't it be a nice postscript to the story if, at the end of the day, enough people come forward to reward the kid for his action that he ends up getting more than he would have if he had auctioned the item? Maybe there is a moral to this story?;)

Who'da thunk it? Even Steiner has more class than Jeter or the Yankees!

Well, Steiner and Miller are doing it for PR purposes but I agree, at least they're doing something. And it's not like the Yankees would be doing anything for the kid for reasons other than good PR. Pitiful.

PS -- On my radio show on Saturday I'm going to discuss this issue: did the Yankees and Jeter handle the kid correctly? 10-noon EST on 970 AM in NYC or www.am970theapple.com. At least I'll get some intelligent callers on the issue instead of Ruth from the Bronx who I have to hang up a lot on because she's nuts.

Modells has also kicked in $25 K. The story is getting better all the time...

Has Jeter kicked in yet?

+1

Now that's funny!

Brandon Steiner will be a guest on my show tomorrow from 10--noon EST on 970 AM in NYC and www.AM970theApple.com. This should be interesting.

Do you podcast the show?