Fans making statement to sports leagues

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Barry Bonds, Conor Jackson, Derek Jeter, ESPN - New York, Mark McGwire, New York Yankees, Oakland A's

Conor Jackson hit the first grand slam of his career last night as the A’s defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 9-1 in Oakland. After the game, reports say all it took for him to get the meaningful memento back was an autographed bat and ball for the local fan who retrieved it.

Yankees fan Christian Lopez after recovering the Jeter 3,000 ball.

This comes a week after Christian Lopez, a 23-year-old Yankees fan, stumbled into 15 minutes of fame as New York’s Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, a home run, rolled to him beyond the outfield in Yankee Stadium.

Many expected Lopez to see the dollar signs of a capitalist, holding the Yankees and Jeter over the fire for a hefty ransom. Why not? It happened during the home run surge a few years ago with Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds and the fans who caught their respective moneyballs.

But Lopez, much like that fan last night, decided to see the stars of a young fan, appreciating the game, the athlete and the special experience.

From ESPN New York’s coverage of the event: “Mr. Jeter deserved it. I’m not gonna take it away from him,” Christian Lopez said. “Money’s cool and all, but I’m 23 years old, I’ve got a lot of time to make that. It was never about the money, it was about the milestone.”

Lopez did receive gifts from the Yankees, but that even brought out more angst from one sports writer who believes the team exploited the generosity of the fan.

As sports fans, maybe it is up to us to show the leagues, bickering over how best to split the millions of dollars they make because of the fans, what it is to be a good person who respects the game and its lifeblood, the fans.

I’ll never ask for his autograph or a picture with him, but I am a fan of Christian Lopez and the A’s fan that looked out for Jackson last night in Oakland.

Celebrate the game. Enjoy the community. Live the experience.

Larry being Larry: A Mets fan applauds Chipper Jones

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Atlanta Braves, Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, ESPN, Green Monster, Manny Ramirez, New York Mets, SportsCenter

On the same night that the Baseball Hall of Fame moved Manny Ramirez’s bust into permanent storage, Chipper Jones cemented his place as a Cooperstown resident. With former Braves manager Bobby Cox in the stands, Jones reached the 2,500 hit plateau all for the same organization, and all (hopefully) without the juice.

Let’s take a quick look at Larry’s resume (whoops! That’s the Mets fan in me). A career .306 hitter with almost 500 doubles, 1,500 RBIs, and 436 HRs. A six-time All-Star and 1999 NL MVP. The 1995 Rookie of the Year and 2008 NL Batting Champion. A 1995 World Series Champion and 11-time Division Champ.

Over the next few days, Manny Ramirez will get most of the publicity for his off-the-field antics, his steroid use, and now his forced retirement from the game. Chipper may get a 30-second hit on today’s AM SportsCenter and nothing else. While he’s never sold a grill on eBay, quit on his team, urinated in the Green Monster, or used a cell phone on the field, Chipper Jones has respected the game and played it like the Hall of Famer that he will be. Even fans of the New York Mets should realize that.

He’s just Larry being Larry.

Additional coverage:

MLB.com: A Milestone for Chipper: Hit No. 2,500

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Chipper reaches 2,500 hits (David O’Brien’s Atlanta Braves blog)

Mannywood Ending

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Barry Bonds, Chicago White Sox, Manny Ramirez, Tampa Bay Rays

Unfortunately, I’m not in the least bit surprised by today’s news of Tampa Bay Rays OF Manny Ramirez retiring.

Last baseball season I wrote about Ramirez – Manny being Manny – and my dismay that people expected a contribution to the Chicago White Sox playoff push.

I’m not going to kick him when he’s down.

What I will say is that he is a tragic Hollywood drama waiting to be made. One that will sum up the steroid era of baseball possibly better than any other player, because he was embraced and engaging even if moody and bad-mouthed at times. He has not really been seen as the “evil” person Barry Bonds is painted as.

Sorry to see this Manny, but it is just another example of what Major League Baseball allowed to happen to their sport.

(Getty Images)