Major League Baseball under scrutiny from IRS

derived from www.nypost.com


IRS IS OUT TO CATCH BASEBALL'S 'FOUL TIPS'
CLUBHOUSE PROBE AMID 'ROID WOES
By LARRY CELONA
OFF BASE: Workers in the locker rooms of the Yankees (above) and Mets — including confessed steroid distributor Kirk Radomski — can make thousands in tips from good-guy players like Derek Jeter.




July 2, 2007 -- Fence-swinging feds have launched a probe of Major League Baseball clubhouse workers for allegedly pocketing huge, under-the-table tips from players, sources have told The Post.
The IRS has notified MLB of the sweeping investigation, which will examine gratuities paid to the anonymous baseball gofers working in all 30 American and National League locker rooms.
Investigators are playing hardball with about 150 clubhouse employees, the sources said.
A source also revealed that some of the locker-room guys have met independently with George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator spearheading MLB's steroids probe.
The clubhouse-tip investigation - although separate from Mitchell's probe - gained momentum from the guilty plea of former Met clubhouse worker Kirk Radomski, who admitted earlier this year to providing players with steroids.
Investigators stepped to the plate last year after noticing that hundreds of MLB players - who are not accused of any wrongdoing - are annually claiming thousands of dollars in tips to clubhouse workers as tax deductions.
But similar income citations are not being made on returns of clubhouse employees, the sources said.
Federal tax sleuths believe the gap between deductions and nonreported tips could range from $100,000 to over $1 million per clubhouse crew. That means the clubhouse workers could each rake in tips as much as 10 times their salaries.
The probe goes beyond cash and includes free tickets and autographed memorabilia that has sold on secondary markets, such as eBay.
Each MLB team has at least one adult employee running the home and visiting clubhouses, often with the title of equipment manager. The teams usually employ a handful of other workers - often boys and young men in their teens and early 20s - as "clubbies," making $15,000 to $20,000 a year.
The Mets and Yankees each employ about five to seven clubbies whose duties run from managing equipment to doing laundry.
They take care of the dirty uniforms and shoes, clean the clubhouse after games, and tend to a host of logistical issues, such as getting players to sign pre-arranged autographs on memorabilia.
But clubbies have been occasionally seen running nonbaseball errands for players, such as fetching takeout food and dry cleaning, and warming up cars after games - all for generous tips from the wealthy athletes.
Members of playoff teams have also been known to quietly slip their favorite clubhouse guys a share of postseason loot that's supposed to go only to players.
The minimum wage for MLB players is $380,000 this season, although the average Yankee and Met makes much more.
larry.celona@nypost.com