Posted on 07/12/2011 7:46:22 PM PDT by Graybeard58
Remember that New York Yankees fan who caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th career hit — which happened to be a home run — and received some goodies in exchange for the ball?
There might be a catch to that catch.
Christian Lopez didn’t auction the ball off. He simply returned it to Jeter. In appreciation, Lopez received three bats, three balls and a jersey, all autographed by Jeter. Lopez also received four box seats at Yankee Stadium’s president’s box for the rest of the season .
Lopez, who owes $150,000 in student loans, also may owe $14,000 to the IRS for the gifts the Yankees provided.
‘‘I’m just waiting for the IRS phone call,’’ Lopez, 23, told ABCNews.com on Tuesday. ‘‘I’m not going to let something like the IRS stand in my way from enjoying myself. For right now, I’m going to enjoy everything I can. ‘‘I don’t have any regrets. The tickets were a great gesture by the Yankees. I’m positive they didn’t think about the repercussions of it.’’
IMHO,
I would just give Derek the ball and refuse any and all gifts.
I DO NOT WANT TO GENERATE ANY TAX REVENUE NEEDLESSLY TO FEED THE BEAST IN WASHINGTON DC.
obama needs the money for another round of golf
obama needs the money for another round of golf
No, but an AA guy’s 100th HR ball doesn’t have value. As a fan at a baseball game, one of the implied contracts that you make with the ball club is that if you catch a baseball, it’s yours to keep. It’s not like the NBA, where if a ball goes in the stands, they retrieve it. Because the guy effectively “owned” the ball once he caught it, why is it less than ethical for him to ask for something in return for the ball? Why is giving the ball away for free the “right thing to do?”
>>Why is giving the ball away for free the “right thing to do?”<<
We all attune our moral compasses according to our understanding of what is right.
I think giving the guy who hit the ball back to him since it is of significance is the right thing to do and certainly the class thing to do.
Your compass may turn a different way.
Let’s look at a scenario which might illustrate my point better. Suppose that there were two winning tickets sold to the weekly lottery. The first ticket was a gift from his parents to a recent college graduate with student loan debt of $150,000. The other ticket was purchased by the owner of a small private school for underprivileged kids. The total jackpot was for $1,000,000. The day after the tickets were sold, a story appeared in the local paper that said that the school would have to close, because they had over $900,000 in debts that they couldn’t pay, and the administrator announced that even after applying the $500,000 that they won in the lottery, repayment of the remaining debt was being demanded immediately by the creditors. The administrator announces that the school had hoped to win the lottery payout, but since they had to split it with someone, they only got half of what they needed, and therefore they’d have to close their doors for good.
As a result of this story, people in the community became outraged. They demanded that the college grad with the other winning ticket had a moral obligation to give his ticket to the school - that doing so would be the only ethical thing to do, because that ticket was so significant to the school.
Are they right?
Growing? What’s taking you so long. I was tired of this crap 36 years ago when I was 16.
I suspect that if it were a player on an opposing team (let's say, a member of the Red Sox, the main Yankee rival) who notched a milestone hit at Yankee Stadium and the same fellow caught the ball it in the bleachers, the guy would heartily laugh at the mere suggestion that he give the ball away. ....especially if he knew its worth (about a half million dollars on the collector market). That thing would be on eBay before 7th inning stretch. Yes, that's speculation on my part, but one based on decades of observing people who idolize certain athletes. And the guy in question has admitted to being a HUGE Jeter fan(atic).
Those who think he'd give the ball away to a David Ortiz or a Kevin Youkilis or some other hated Red Sox player are laughably naive. His offering to Jeter wasn't "class" -- it's sports idol worship taken to a ridiculous extreme.
Don’t worry. All IRS agents are Yankees fans. It’s a requirement.
Go Red Sox!
Wow, if that’s the case that is just sad. Get a house (or a makeover), and then it goes some months later? Darn.
Totally agree with you. The guy 'earned' the ball when he caught it. The value of the ball was almost $500K. That is a life changing amount for most people. Is the ball important to Jeter? Yes, it is. However, the ball is also important to others. The guy did not steal the ball, he did not step on a 3 year old's head to catch it ...he caught it fair and square. I also do not see why it is the 'right thing' to give it back to Jeter. It is like winning a lottery organized by (say) Donald Trump, and giving the winnings right back to him. Even that example is better (because one could say Donald was doing it for charity) ...in this case Jeter, a person who through his skill has made a lot of money, was given the ball by someone who is way underwater financially. As important as the ball is to Jeter, the guy caught it fair and square and I honestly do not see what is so 'right' or 'classy' about giving it bad. I would almost say it is foolish (and definitely financial folly of the highest order). What would be right/classy would be to pay for the groceries of the old lady down the corner whose pension cannot quite it make it through the month, or returning a parcel with an iPAD2 that was delivered to you in error, or returning extra change that you were inadvertently given by a cashier. You did not deserve the extra money, it came to you in error, and it is the right/classy thing to return it (no matter how much it may have been). However, returning a ball worth $500K that came into your possession fair and square, when you have debts of $150K, and returning it to a person who makes over $20 million a year, is honestly financial folly.
What would be ironic is if the chap has been praying every night for a miracle to happen to take care of his student debts, and the miracle (literally) lands on his lap ....and he promptly gives it back and gets back to praying for a miracle. There is a Sunday sermon in this story, and it is not about doing the 'right' thing.
Same reason the guy couldn’t figure out how to get grants from the schools he attended.
:’)
Lopez received three bats, $17.12 on Amazon
three balls $17.09 each on Amazon
and a jersey, $62.14 on Amazon
all autographed by Jeter. Sharpie Marker $0.55 on Amazon
Tax that, IRS thugs!
Lopez also received four box seats at Yankee Stadium’s president’s box for the rest of the season - hire the guy at minimum wage to provide company for guests in the box seats. Let the IRS tax the $15 a game in income.
The IRS is a foreign owned corporation and collection agency for the Federal Reserve, also a foreign owned corporation. Neither have any Constitutional basis for existance.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
“Why the government feels it deserves a piece of the action of something that occurred between two private people is the entire problem in this country today.”
Well, it’s called “income” in the eyes of the IRS and we all know how “the one” feels about sharing (er, taking) the guberments share. The guy should have quietly returned to ball to Jetter and let the chips fall. It was a good deed on his part but unfortunately, in the eyes of the gubberment, they want a “piece of the action”.
And the same reason he called Jeter a "Latino" in the post-game press conference. (Jeter's dad is black and his mom is white.....nothing Latino about him). Lopez (the guy who caught the ball) said something like "this means a lot to me, Jeter and I both being Latinos." ...lol.
But if Jeter pays the $14k — that will be taxed as well as a gain for the recipient. Taxation is out of control.
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