A loyal fan, but . . .

What would you do?

Personally, I think the New York Yankees fan — Christian Lopez — who "gave'' back the ball Derek Jeter hit for No. 3,000 is, shall we say, crazy.

Jeter, of course (it's New York, who hasn't heard?) hit a home run for career hit No. 3,000 Saturday against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium.

Lopez, a 23-year-old upstate New York resident, decided to give Jeter the ball.

 "I was taking a picture, hoping he would hit it, and the next thing I know, it's in the air and I see my dad diving across a crowd of people,'' Lopez said. "My dad missed it, because he has awful hands. The next thing I know, I just saw the ball roll in front of me and I jumped on it. It was instinct.

" I was like 'Whoa this it, this is my chance!' I played football ... and I've gotten a couple of fumbles and I've been at the bottom of the pile a couple of times."

As soon as he emerged with the ball, security whisked him away to meet the Yankees and press.

Some experts estimated that the 3,000th run ball could earn six figures, maybe even a quarter of a million.

Here's Lopez.

 "Mr. Jeter deserved it. I'm not going to take it away from him. He's worked so hard for 15 years or so."

So in exchange,  Lopez is receiving season tickets and a other autographed gifts and a chance to meet his hero.

And a bunch of noteriety.

Which is all fine and good but in the long run, wouldn't a six-figure check look just as good?

— Paul Christian