Good Guy Report

This is a Chicago Cubs story that even non-sports fan can appreciate.

Mike Kennedy is a collector of sports memorabilia. One of the things he's been collecting are items related to minor leaguer Kris Bryant. Bryant, a third baseman, is not only the top prospect of the Chicago Cubs, he is the #3 prospect in all of baseball, and was recently named the Minor League Player of the Year. So, he is clearly an up-and-coming Big Deal.

I saw a story about how Bryant had saved a fan $850, and I was intrigued, so I check it out. It seems that the fan, Mike Kennedy, had the opportunity to buy a bat for $850 that had been used and signed by Bryant. But concerned about whether it was a fake, he reached out and sent a tweet to the ballplayer, who actually responded. Very nice, though of course that's not the story.

Knowing the general topic of the story -- Bryant saving a fan $850 -- I figured that the point was how nice it was that Kris Bryant replied to a fan and warned him off buying a fake. Very nice...though, no, that's not the story either.

Here are the first two tweets of several, but they tell the story by themselves --

That's right -- the $850 that Kris Bryant saved a fan is because he told him not to spend the money on some memorabilia, but that he'd just sign a bat and send it to him!

I should note that Bryant is just 22.

I've seen Kris Bryant interviewed often, and every time he's come across as a smart, thoughtful, gracious, poised, and extremely personable guy. After one interview, on the MLB Network, the studio hosts all turned to one another and, almost in surprised, commented how impressed they were. So, noteworthy though it was, having seen Bryant enough, I can't say I was surprised by the story

And by the way, just to let you know that he did follow through, here's the bat --