File this one in the 'No good deed goes unpunished' category. Especially by the IRS.
Christian Lopez, the 23-year-old who caught the home run Derek Jeter hit for his 3,000th career hit, generously gave the ball back to Jeter with little more than a shrug, a smile and a request to meet the future Hall of Famer. The IRS, though, reportedly wants a lot more than that from the cell phone salesman.
The New York Daily News says Lopez will likely end up owing thousands of dollars in taxes thanks to the plethora of high-priced seats the Yankees gave him for returning the ball without asking for much of anything.
"Worse comes to worse, I'll have to pay the taxes," he told the Daily News on Monday. "I'm not going to return the seats. I have a lot of family and friends who will help me out if need be.
"The IRS has a job to do, so I'm not going to hold it against them, but it would be cool if they helped me out a little on this."
Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees really should step up here and pay the taxes for Lopez. He did a wonderful, unselfish thing that not a lot of people would have done, and the Yankees have put him in this situation. They should get him out of it.