Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Christian Lopez, the 23-year-old guy who caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, then decided to give it back to the Yankees captain, is finally getting the respect he deserves. True fans developed a mini crush on a guy who'd give up a chance at selling the historic memento for oodles of dollars. And then came the nasty IRS, slapping him with a $14,000 bill for accepting swag from the Yankees organization. And boy should Lopez be glad they did.
The IRS just cemented his status as a hero for true Major League Baseball fans. And it's earned him his own fan club ... in this case some pretty powerful people. Mitchell Modell, CEO of Modell's Sporting Goods, and Brandon Steiner, CEO of Steiner Sports (the company that lost out big time when Jeter's ball failed to go out on the memorabilia market), have pledged $25,000 each to help the cellphone salesman pay off his student loans. Miller High Life has promised to pay his tax bill. And Topps, the trading card company, is making a Christian Lopez card AND letting Lopez weigh in on the look of its next Jeter card.
So much for the screwed over fan, huh? I can't help hoping the IRS sees the lesson in all of this. Sure, they were just "doing their jobs" when they smacked Lopez with a mega bill for the gifts from the Yankees (and dang did he get some sweet swag), but some things truly have no value.
Christian Lopez didn't walk into Yankee Stadium to do a job. He didn't expect "income" out of going to a baseball game. He got lucky. Derek Jeter hit a rare homer for his 3,000th hit, and it landed right in front of him. And then he did the right thing. He COULD have made money off of it, made some income, but he didn't. Christian Lopez went out of his way NOT to make money off of Derek Jeter's accomplishment. And the IRS should have recognized that.
You can't put a figure on being a "real fan," the kind of guy who understands that a man's memories are more important than a $250,000 pay day from some collector. But it does earn him a lot of respect.
Are you happy to see some big names stepping in to thwart the IRS?
Image via YouTube
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
