So I missed a lot of the discussion yesterday, but some dude, Christian Lopez, caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000 hit and gave it back to Jeter and the Yankees for a handful of autographed memorabilia, plus suite tickets for the remainder of the season. That earned him quite a bit of praise from some corners, especially those corners in which people worship Jeter — spirit of the game, right thing to do, thinking with his heart not his wallet, stuff like that.

But then came the inevitable backlash: Well wait just one minute, if this guy is so magnanimous, why didn’t he sell the ball — valued up to $300,000 by some — and donate the money to charity? You’re a (presumably) hard-working, taxpaying American, and a house just landed on your lap, and you’re just forking it over to the Yankees and Derek Jeter? And now we’re going to parade you around like a hero for that?

Now it turns out the guy could have to pay taxes on the season tickets, which just straight-up sucks. That’s the type of thing you should be thinking of when you make a deal like that, but unless you’re an accountant or a tax attorney, there’s just no way. Especially in the heat of the moment and all.

He did provide a pretty great quote, though: “I’m not going to let something like the IRS stand in my way from enjoying myself.”

Anyway, I’m wondering what you’d do if you were in this guy’s situation. Hell, I’m wondering what I’d do if I were in this guy’s situation. I don’t fault him for his decision; I think, especially given the emotions of the day, handing the ball over does seem like a decent thing to do even if it does equate to giving more money to the Yankee Empire.

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