There are moments in sports that are special and historic. There are moments that happen spontaneously and others that build up to the moment. They are those "where were you?" moments. One of those happened over the weekend. Derek Jeter, shortstop and captain of the New York Yankees (a team which I cannot stand but I respect him), had his 3,000 hit. Going into Saturday's game, he had 2,998 hits so it was only a matter of time before he got to 3,000.
Going against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and starting pitcher David Price (who's originally from Middle Tennessee), Jeter got hit 2,999 in the first inning to set up his next at-bat and a shot at 3,000. I caught wind of it via Twitter and turned on my PS3 to watch it happen live on MLB.tv I somehow expected a hit. What I did not expect was a home run. Sure enough, Jeter hits a home run into left center field for his 3,000 hit. That was only the 2nd time out of 28 men to reach the milestone that it was done via home run (the other was Wade Boggs). Jeter ended up going 5 for 5 and winning the game.
To me, the cool part of the story came out later. Christian Lopez, a 23 year old cell phone salesman, was the one who ended up with the ball. He got the tickets for his birthday from his girlfriend. As soon as he got the ball, he was whisked away by security to the Steinbrenner's suite. When asked what he wanted in return for the ball, Lopez said nothing and was willing to give the ball to Jeter for free. Lopez did end up getting stuff, including season tickets in the Legends section (which is some big time stuff) for the rest of the season including playoffs, a couple of signed bats and jerseys from Jeter, spent some time in the YES Network booth and got to meet Jeter in person.
It's a cool act that Lopez did. There are a lot of people who have said he should have held onto the ball and sold it. There have been some who have even called him a moron for doing this because he doesn't make a lot of money at his job and has a lot of debt from school.
Personally, I definitely don't think he's a moron. I think what he did was a pretty stand up act. He looked out for someone else's interest ahead of his. It's a good reminder that those of us who follow Jesus should put others' interest ahead of ours. Lopez was rewarded anyway for his selfless act. For followers of Jesus, our ultimate reward is in heaven but we also get to enjoy benefits of serving Him now.
Hat's off to you Mr. Lopez. You made this anti-Yankee fan stand up and salute you.
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