Nobody wants to be remembered for being on the wrong side of a record. No player wants to have his name in the history books for being the guy who allowed an opponent to reach a milestone. Except maybe David Price. There’s a fine line between being a good sport and looking like a mush, and Price may have crossed it in order to do Derek Jeter and memorabilia collectors a favor.
On Thursday, Steiner Sports announced that Price has agreed to autograph memorabilia in honor of his giving up Jeter’s 3,000 career hit, which as you know was a homer. If you don’t consider Price a sellout for signing stuff, consider the fact that he has also agreed to include the inscription, “I Gave Up DJ’s 3K.” Perhaps I’m a hater, but that seems like a little much. If Price is doing it for the money, he probably should have taken a page out of Christian Lopez’s book and let the money come to him in other ways. I doubt that he is.
You could certainly argue that Price is just being a sport and respecting one of the game’s all-time greats, but I doubt anyone would have blamed him for having some pride and declining the “I Gave Up DJ’s 3K” part of it. Autographs are one thing — making sure no one will ever forget that you’re the guy who gave up the most important bomb in Derek Jeter’s career is another.
