Former Giant Carlos Rodón relayed an interesting story on Thursday that involved some good samaritan deeds.
The now-Yankee told reporters that he was Venmo’d by fans, mostly as a bit to get him to sign with the team in free agency.
He did, signing a six-year, $162 million deal, but cost him his beard as part of the worst tradition in sports. Rodón obviously wasn’t interested in, nor did he have an need for the money, so he put it to good use.
He said he and his cousin, Ethan, live in rural Indiana on the border of Illinois, and frequently go hunting across the border.
On their drive across, they noticed a kid getting off a school bus and going into an old, decrepit house. They both resolved to do “something nice for that kid one day.”
After a couple years, they passed the location of the house again, but saw it wasn’t there. He almost kept driving but his cousin stopped him.
“This year we’re gonna go hunt over there and we’re driving by, I’m like, ‘Ethan where there’s this house at? Like this house is in the middle of this cornfield.’ And I’m like, I don’t see it,” Rodón said. “It was burnt down. I drive past because I’m just oblivious sometimes.
“He’s like, ‘No, stop. Turn around.’
“We get out, talk to the kid. We got all that money from Venmo. We took that money we got and we did something nice for the kid over there… we did a nice Christmas for him. And my cousin did a few other things for the family.”
Rodón went on to thank the people who Venmo’d him because it was put to good use.