Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Fan who returned Jeter ball may owe IRS for Yankees’ gifts

By ELLIOTT HARRIS eharris@suntimes.com July 12, 2011 7:38PM

Remember that New York Yankees fan who caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th career hit — which happened to be a home run — and received some goodies in exchange for the ball?

There might be a catch to that catch.

Christian Lopez didn’t auction the ball off. He simply returned it to Jeter. In appreciation, Lopez received three bats, three balls and a jer sey, all autographed by Jeter. Lopez also received four box se ats at Yankee Stadium’s president’s box for the rest of the season .

Lopez, who owes $150,000 in student loans, also may owe $14,000 to the IRS for the gifts the Yankees provided.

‘‘I’m just waiting for the IRS phone call,’’ Lopez, 23, told ABCNews.com on Tuesday. ‘‘I’m not going to let something like the IRS stand in my way from
enjoying myself. For right now, I’m going to enjoy everything I can. ‘‘I don’t have any regrets. The tickets were a great gesture by the Yankees. I’m positive they didn’t think about the repercussions of it.’’

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