Twenty-three-year old Christian Lopez became the luckiest person in the Bronx Saturday evening when he caught the home run that was Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit. Only 28 players have ever reached 3,000 hits, and it doesn't seem like any of those balls are on the open market. In addition, only one other player, Wade Boggs, hit a home run for his 3,000. All of those factors lead memorabilia collectors to estimate Lopez's catch as worth at least $500,000, and it may possibly go over $1 million. Mark McGwire's record-breaking 70th home run ball went for more than $3 million at auction.
Unfortunately, Lopez went from "lucky man" to a "future filled with regret" very quickly. The head of security whisked Lopez out of the stands and asked, "What do you want for the ball?" He answered, "be cool to get a jersey or something," and added maybe some bats and balls. It's nice that he wants to be a true fan and "do the right thing," but the Yankees are a billion-dollar franchise. They can afford to at least pay off the $100,000 in student loans that Lopez has from St. Lawrence University. Lest you forget, Jeter is making $16 million a season for the next three years.
On top of everything else, The New York Times is reporting that Lopez may be hit with $14,000 in taxes for the "gifts" the Yanks traded for the ball. It's a situation similar to when Oprah gave everyone in her studio audience a car, and each one later had to pay the IRS $7,000 for it. This is clearly an example of the little man (no jokes about Lopez's weight) getting squished by a corporation and makes, "Be cool to get a jersey or something," the all-time worst quote by a fan who caught a famous ball. It's too bad Lopez didn't just repeat one of the following great quotes until he had time to consider a better asking price.
"I didn't want to spill my beer and I didn't spill my beer. I don't really remember what happened. I think I leaned forward, caught the ball, then fell like that (leaning backward). It was pretty cool."
This one just happened and isn't really famous, but it's hilarious. During the 2011 Home Run Derby, Adrian Gonzalez belted a homer into the right field swimming pool at Chase Field. Twenty-six-year-old Mike Moon caught the ball while surrounded by bikini-clad women and retold the story with hilarious aplomb.
"A lot of people wanted to take pictures. They wanted me with the ball, me with their girlfriends and the ball, or me with them and the ball. One guy came up and kissed me on the cheek. The guy next to me gave me two big bear hugs."
Sociologist and Yankee fan Rick Peterson caught Aaron Boone's home run that won Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series over the Boston Red Sox. Afterward, Boone signed the ball for Peterson and the two took photos together. Class acts, both of them.
"If McGwire had been nice and down to earth about it, I probably would have given it back."
When Phil Ozersky caught Mark McGwire's 70th home run during the 1998 season, Cardinals officials pressured him to hand it over in exchange for a signed bat, ball and jersey. Ozersky said he wanted to meet McGwire first, but was denied. After earning $3.05 million off the ball, he advises everyone who catches a famous ball to do the same.
"I won the lottery.”
Matt Murphy gave the above quote after grabbing Barry Bonds 756th homerun. It's a ball he earned. One bystander described the dog pile for the ball as "... a mess. Bodies on top of bodies, four layers deep for five minutes." A Mets fan, Murphy had stopped in San Francisco during a layover on his way to Australia and went to the game on a whim. He did not give the ball back to Bonds.
"Truly Sorry."
Steve Bartman became infamous in Chicago after screwing up the Cubs chances of going to the 2003 World Series. He tried to grab a foul ball and screwed up Moises Alou's chance to catch it. The lifelong Cubs fan became a villain in his own city and offered the above statement. Even that cursed ball fetched $113,824.16 at auction.