What would you have done with Jeter's 3000 hit HR ball?

It's nice that the fan that caught Jeter's 3000th hit, gave it back to him for basicly nothing.  I thought that was big of him.

I definitely would have given it back but I may have asked the Yankees for something more.  Maybe season seats and a ball signed by Jeter.

I commend Lopez for doing what he did but I think the Yankees need to step it up and give him something big.  That ball could be worth $100K or more.  Maybe they will... Maybe Jeter will...  We'll see.

What would you do?

He got 4 reserved box seats to the remaining Yankee home games, 3 balls, 3 bats and 3 signed jerseys. I also heard that the ball could be worth upwards of 250K. Is that a fair trade, I'm not sure. BUT that guy will FOREVER be linked to Jeter's 3000th hit and he will be on that highlight forever. I think thats pretty cool.

Hard to say what I would of done. Did the guy HAVE to give the ball back, no. He caught it and it was his ball. BUT did he do the right thing? I think so. I would like to think that I would of done the same and getting 3 bats, balls and jerseys signed by DJ is pretty neat. Being linked with his 3000th hit is even cooler and I think the tickets to the Yankees game was a nice jester....

I would have asked for lifetime season tickets. That way he can go to any game, or sell some (or all) of tickets if he wants. It's the gift that keep on giving. And giving. And giving. And giving....

I would have definitely given it to Jeter.  I still have my homerun balls from my HS baseball games and whenever I see them I remember the exact moment, and all of the emotions that were in each of those swings. Now, if I get that kind of feeling from a simple homerun, I couldn't imagine the goosebumps somebody would get from looking at the ball from such an incredibly historic event that they were involved in. I would have simply taken whatever they offered right away, no way would I have held out and tried to nitpick a reward from them.

No way I would have given it back for free (or whatever was first offered, which seems to be the case).  Jeter earns $20 million a year.  The Yankees owners are worth billions.  The whole "it's so honorable he gave it back for free" thing is such bull.  Yeah they gave him some stuff worth what, maybe $30k?  If Jeter's not willing to match the $250k or so that some rabid rich Yankees fan probably would've paid for it then that just means he doesn't really care about it that much.  Obviously he should give Jeter first option to buy, but that's it.  The guy who sounds like he's making $30k/year tops should feel ZERO guilt about cashing in, even if the guy who makes $20 million/year would rather (incredibly selfishly) get the ball back for peanuts.

Buying tickets to that game was like buying a lotto ticket.  Everyone knows home run balls are the property of whoever catches them.  The 3000th hit was a homer, and catching it is basically like winning the lottery.  How would you answer if the question was whether some guy who works in a cell phone store, makes $10/hr, and won some big time lotto should give the ticket and the winnings to a hedge fund manager with $1 billion in the bank just because that hedge fund guy had some superstition about always playing the lotto with his mother's favorite numbers or something but was unable to get a ticket that week because of some sad personal story, and the cell phone guy happened to win with those numbers randomly generated by the lotto ticket selling machine?

This situation seems no different to me than something like that.

I think I might be coming around on this. I might just give him the ball for free. I definitely wouldn't ask for anything.

yea it would be hard to ask for anything but I think he should of given him a decent sum of money. Its like winning the lottery catching that ball. Jeter makes millions a year doing what he loves to do. Giving the guy 250,000 for the ball as a gift would be nothing to Jeter. It would be like us giving someone 50 bucks or 100 bucks but it would help that guy out in his life big time. Article said he had alot of debt with college funds etc.

If I caught that ball, I would have to hire an agent and play hard ball to start negotiations or just put it up for sale on the SandTrap Marketplace forum.

I wouldn't have taken the first offer, I would have countered and I guarantee that Jeter's reps or the Yankees would have countered because that is the nature of the business. I think the guy could have received lifetime season tickets or could have sold the ball for 200K to a private individual. I don't think I would go for the private sale, I would want Jeter to have it, but I would want to be recognized for the effort with a little signing bonus.

Hate to break it to yall but lifetime season tickets to yankee stadium anywhere but the bleachers cost way more then the 250k the ball may have fetched. Decent seats for even 25 years would cost more then 250k.

I would have given it back, no strings attached, and just hoped that the Yankees and Jeter would have done the right thing by me.

I would have carved you suck in it, spit on it and handed it to the closest idiot (Yankee fan).

Even being a huge Yankees fan my whole life, I'd find it very hard to just give that ball up. Granted, he got some sweet stuff signed by Jeter but still, that ball could go for hundreds of thousands on the open market. I'd ask for lifetime season tickets at Yankee Stadium or at least for season tickets for 10+ years.

i would have said great swing and congrats Mr. Jeter feel free to make me an offer!!

If I was Lopez I'd have done what he did given the circumstances.  Using 20/20 hindsight and seeing how the Yankees used the memorabilia from the game to cash in for themselves I'd have kept it and sold it to the highest bidder.  The guy was pressured into handing over the ball and under normal circumstances I'd say he did the right thing, but the Yankees and Jeter know they got away cheap.

The Yankees should at least come back and offer him two lifetime seats since they really cost the Yankees nothing, plus they make money on concessions off of whoever sits there.

Even being from Boston I think I would have given it back to Jeter. He is the one player on that team that I respect (maybe Rivera as well). I still remember the game where he dove into the stands to catch a foul ball while our beloved Nomar was sitting on the bench taking his Midol. He's always played the game the right way so I have to give him props for that.

i fully agree with the bolded points...that being said the moment the ball went over the fence it was public property and the lucky guy who catches it hit a baby lottery. There is no way under god's green earth i would give that back for free...you are talking about a person (jeter) and organization (Yankees) and MLB in general. There is more money to piss awat in that gruop then you could possibly imagine...a couple hundred K is hardly a rounding error and it is a nice little lift to my pocket!!

I would have pee'd on it, and tried to flush it down the toilet. Probably would have over-flowed my toilet so I would have sent Jeter my plumbing costs.

I would have done the same- I knew that most of the time the team makes an offer of signed memorabilia, along with a photo-op. This was done when Mark Teixera it his 300th HR a week or so ago. Granted that was a bit less of a momentous occasion, but for Teixera it was pretty memorable. I think it would be enough to be linked with the event forever- such as Sal Durante catching Roger Maris' 61st. But, as is the case of having to take the bad with the good- Apparently the IRS will be after the young man for taxes on the gifts. They consider them 'income'. He could owe approx 13-15K in taxes.