THE YANKEES SHOULD NOT HAVE BENT OVER

(Photo Credit: AP)

"...I would be simply 'outraged' that the Yankees wouldn't allow me to take my reward and give it all away to an inner city charity of even to a school in Miami to build a baseball field for under-privileged kids. I'd make it hard on the Yankees, because the Yanks shouldn't be withholding anything."  

--Casey, from NOT PAYING AROD FOR HIS MILESTONE LOOKS BAD FOR THE YANKEES.

That's a portion of what I wrote when it came to the Yankees and ARod's milestone and how I would feel if I was Alex Rodriguez and they withheld my "bonus" milestone money.  Here's the reality.  Brian Cashman reads BYB and the Yankees understand that Alex Rodriguez is in fact marketable now and the idea of donating money to a charity is an amazing thing to do. All true.  I've always said  that the Yankees could come out looking good here, where as before, they looked like jerks, failing to acknowledge that ARod, while suspended for PEDs for a full season, was not a murderer, he just made a really stupid, STUPID mistake. Milestones are big... instead of ignoring it, they should have stepped up and taken some of that milestone money and donated a large portion to charity... bottom line.

Now here's an interesting twist, and I'll tell you why I don't like it... and while it's not the same thing as what BYB would have liked to have seen them do.

It's being reported today by the New York Daily News, "The Yankees announced they will hold a press conference before Friday night's game vs. the Rays at the Stadium where ballhawk Zack Hample will hand over the ball to A-Rod. The Bombers will make a $150,000 donation to Hample's favorite charity, Pitch In For Baseball, in exchange for the ball's return.

In addition to the check for the charity, ESPN is reporting that Hample will also receive "some memorabilia, tickets and other perks from the Yankees."

Now here's the part that you didn't see coming.  While the idea of charity is wise, I find Zack Hample to be a sneaky scoundrel.  Why? Because let's face it... any decent individual would hand the ball over, probably receive some nice items by the Yankees anyway for doing a good deed.  Not Hample. While the idea of charity is good... we're on the borderline of extortion here.  Hample is a guy that thinks he's doing the fans a favor. He said after the home run happened, "I'll give him the finger and a dummy ball... That man deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan."  He later deleted that Tweet.  My point is, what the hell are the Yankees doing even messing with this guy? He's bad news, he's a bad business man and while the idea of a charity donation is a nice gesture, pretty much demanded by Hample, the guy is out for himself and his press.

Yes, the Yankees should have donated to a charity, but the Yankees should have donated the money for ARod bonus to a charity and let to ball die with Hample.  Who cares?

Next comes what they do with that milestone money. That's the real story here. I'd be curious to see what happens with that... stay tuned.

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