Memorabilia collector ‘overwhelmed’ by Kris Bryant’s generosity

It’s his offseason, but Kris Bryant just hit another home run — and saved a fan $850 in the process.

Mike Kennedy, 37, a sports memorabilia collector in Las Vegas, was interested in buying a Bryant game-used bat on eBay but wanted to make sure it was legit. So he sent Bryant, 22, the Cubs’ top prospect who hit 43 homers in the minors last season, a message on Twitter asking him to verify it.

Bryant tweeted back that he didn’t need to buy one and he would send him a bat. Kennedy thought he was kidding and told Bryant it was expensive. “I wouldn’t expect you to do that but I appreciate it,” Kennedy wrote.

When Bryant, a Las Vegas native, found out the price, he offered to send Kennedy a bat instead.

“850 bucks?! That’s ridiculous! I’ll send one to you. DM me your address!” Bryant tweeted.

As you can see from the photo, Bryant delivered on his promise – and then some: He signed it with a personal message. Kennedy said he received the bat Thursday.

“Even now that I have the bat in hand, it’s still hard to believe Kris did that,” Kennedy wrote the Tribune in an email Saturday. “I’m really overwhelmed by his generosity. I think it just really shows (he’s) a great guy and what class and character he has.”