[Exhibitman]

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.