[BarkingToad]

I've been inspired by this boy. He did the right thing. He is a man.

I just finished organizing my ebay store. All of my belongings, including my Michael Jordan PSA 10 rookie card, are going up for auction and all proceeds will be given to the Icon - Derek Jeter. God Bless him.

Nice, and I'll start the bidding at $100 on the Jordan rookie to help the cause.

[upscope]

I've been thinking about it and the more I think about it the more I think he should have taken a couple days to think about it??

[slatter]

I'm not sure how giving the ball back and doing what the guy thought was right is in any world "unethical."

[rthoughton]

ethics only apply to what Jeter and the Yankee organization do at this point. That kid was trying to be cool. Thought maybe Jeter or someone would be his friend or some shit. Truth is...tbd.

[floridagolfer]

The kid lives with his parents and has solid six figures in student loans. The bare minimum this ball is worth is 250K, and it could go to one million.

Jeter is the only Yankee to get 3,000 hits with the club, and it was only the second homerun ever on a 3,000 hit ball. The ball would go for half a million over 50 percent of the time. That is what those who deal in these things are suggesting.

The ball is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it. Until someone writes a check for $500,000, it's worth what any other baseball is — about two bucks.

[scottie2005]

Last time I checked, rich people weren't much happier than the general population. Kid did what he thought was right. I wouldn't have done it, though.

[HeeeHAWWWW]

Not everyone in the world thinks money is the most important thing. Surprisingly some people think doing the right thing, and not being a tool is actually worth more then money.

Yeah, I can see this line of thought gaining good traction in these forums.

[legendmatt34]

Hes just another stupid Yankee fan.. What do u expect?

[PaperTrail07]

bottom line---the kid got 1/2 peer preassured and cracked====he 100% should have kept and sold the ball---i

[PaperTrail07]

and I read from the gifts he is going to have to pay 15,000 in taxes on them hahahahahahahahha

[LGHT]

This kid makes all us new Yorkers look stupid

Look?

[balls2wall]

What this guy did was FAR FAR worse than what Bernie Madoff did. You guys have no clue, as usual.

I am basically in agreement with the point of your thread, but the more you keep spouting off at the mouth and bashing everyone the more I think that you are the one that has no clue.

Comparing this to Bernie is apples and oranges. This is not even in the same ballpark with what he did on any level.

[balls2wall]

Holy cripes are you stupid.

I mean, not just stupid. Really stupid.

With that limited skull of yours, you have somehow concluded that because the kid gave a baseball back that potentially could have been worth 500K---that is somehow the worst ethical decision in the history of mankind?

I will go slowly for you. The ONLY one potentially harmed in this kid's decision is him and his immediate family. A genocidal madman---say, Adolf Hitler-----murdered millions of people----because of their faith. His decision cost the lives of millions of people, and yet---you somehow think a kid who gave up millions of dollars for his family is somehow more ethically challenged.

I have a question for you Sherlock.

Do tell, Pat Tillman walked away from a million dollar NFL career to be killed in Afghanistan.....where does his decision rank?

How about Len Bias? He o'd without ever making a single dime of NBA money---we are talking millions upon millions----and his family never saw a dime of it----

Or, Brian Taylor. The Yankees #1 draft pick in the 1990's who blew out his arm in a bar fight and never got to see a dime.

Or how about Ricky Williams? He lost 4 million in NFL salary alone because of his enjoyment of weed.

The list goes on and on------and yet you single out this kid.

I can't wait for your well thought-out response.

By the way. I do want to offer congrats to you. You have posted the dumbest thread in the history of SBR, and, that took an awful lot of skill considering the morons who have graced us.

couldn't agree more

[JBT]

LOL @ being upset with the guy Who gives a ****?

[young chad]

Well, first off I think the guy who started this thread, was probably sitting next to the kid that caught the ball lmao.

With that being said, while I don't think giving a baseball to someone who hits it is necessarily a question of "right or wrong" or "ethics"...I do think, making it seem like some sort of "obligation" to give it "back" is stupid. It wasn't Jeter's ball, if that's the case, fans should give every home run/foul ball back to the person that hit it, perhaps they want to collect every homer they ever hit as a personal shrine. Hell, what if the pitcher wanted the ball? What if he was like "Hey I'm the guy that threw Jeter's 3,000 hit, I got the ball right here to prove it"....does he become entitled to it? What about the catcher that called the pitch that caused the ball to get hit? Anyone could make an argument that giving them the ball is the "right" thing to do. But honestly the kid caught it, and it's solely up to him to decide what he wants to do with it.

Of course, in the heat of the moment perhaps he wasn't thinking about "value" though someone probably shoulda whispered in his ear "dude you're rich". When you factor in the information surrounding his life "job, debt etc" you think "DUDE, YOU'RE RICH...GOD IS FINALLY PAYING BACK YOUR SACRIFICE"

Maybe, just maybe he doesn't hate his job...maybe he doesn't mind his debt...I dunno, I know what I woulda done, and it would've had me in a new job and debt free lol..but we're all different.

People here are arguing the value of the ball, but the bare minimum I've heard is 30k, and some people on this board are like "oh it wasn't 250k, it was only gonna be worth 30k"..well I'm sorry, but I wouldnt pay 30k to shake Jeter's hand! Hell, if it was worth 1k..I woulda kept it until I could sell it..

Crazy part is that he probably would've got to meet Jeter regardless, he definitely would've gotten interviews regardless, and Jeter is one of the richest men in sports, and the Yanks are one of the richest franchises, if they wanted the ball, 250k is chump change to both...Jeter alone is worth over 100million...250k is like 25 dollars to one of us..dude could've sold the ball for 250k...paid off his 100k debt, took his girlfriend somewhere ballin for vacation, put down 100k on a house, took off work for a year, and STILL paid 30k to shake Jeters hand if it was important...

At the very least, he could've paid off his debt, took his girlfriend out, and bought every little "consolation" prize the Yankee's gave him..and not had to pay an additional 15k in taxes on them...smh

[evo34]

It is not moral to throw away your family's future in order to shake Derek Jeter's hand. That is what you punks don't get. This guy will have kids at some point and they might not be able to afford college. He has his own 100K plus in student loans he owes on. It is no different than this guy emptying out his kid's college fun in order to buy Derek Jeter's Home Run ball at auction, so that he can give it to Jeter and shake his hand. That is what he did. Same exact result. It is far more immoral to destroy the ones you love and throw away their future in order to suck up to Derek Jeter, than it is to scam other scammers like Bernie Madoff did. You guys don't get it. The Madoff losers all thought that Bernie was cheating the system and front-running trades. They wanted in on it. It was too good to be true, and they wanted more and more. What this guy did was FAR FAR worse than what Bernie Madoff did. You guys have no clue, as usual. For the Watney comment. 5Dimes is in the business of taking money off of players. They take players from the United States and they know that is illegal. I am in the business of taking money off of sportsbooks. They put up the line. I bet. So, we are playing the exact same game. For you to even suggest that betting Watney in last year's PGA is immoral means that you should be monkey stomped in from of your pitiful family. You are the king of losers if you think that betting a golf linethat is favorable is immoral....lol. This guy that caught the ball could have helped out his whole family for a long time. Instead he chose to help out a billion dollar organization and a 100 million dollar man. You ******* clowns still don't get it!

It was your bitching and moaning about it and feigning like you didn't who he was that was immoral. Classless? Pathetic? Are those better words? Perhaps. You got rightly bitchslapped by Tony and the entire board. Fun times.

[Glitch]

i think a lot of us initially interpreted "worst ethical decision" improperly including myself.

not saying it was unethical (even though later he did clarify that the kid f*cked over his whole family). he was originally saying it was intended to be ethical and was a terrible decision.