Baseball Notes: Cano wins Home Run Derby

PHOENIX - Robinson Cano outslugged Adrian Gonzalez to win an All-Star Home Run Derby that turned into a Yankees-Red Sox showdown Monday night at Chase Field.

Batting last, the Yankees' Cano defeated Boston's Gonzalez, 12-11, in the final after they each hit 20 home runs through two rounds.

Being pitched to by his father, former Houston Astros righthander Jose Cano, the Yankees second baseman won the three-hour contest.

Again underscoring the dangers of trying to catch a ball at a big-league park, a fan standing on a table above the pool deck, Keith Carmickle of suburban Kingman, Ariz., fell over trying to catch a Prince Fielder homer. The fan was grabbed by his brother before going all the way over the railing, where he could have fallen about 20 feet, and was dangling by his feet when he was pulled back up.

Gonzalez hit a ball that wound up in the swimming pool in right field - along with Mike Moon, a 26-year-old fan who caught the ball before falling into the water, where he was surrounded by bikini-clad women.

"I saw the ball, I didn't want to spill my beer and I didn't spill my beer," he said. "I don't really remember what happened. I think I leaned forward, caught the ball, then fell like that [leaning backward]. It was pretty cool."

Gonzalez and Cano were the most impressive hitters throughout, and they eliminated defending champion David Ortiz of the Red Sox and Milwaukee's Fielder (nine apiece) in the second round. St. Louis' Matt Holliday (five), Toronto's Jose Bautista (four), Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks (three) and the Dodgers' Matt Kemp (two) did not get past the opening round.

Texas fan buried. Hundreds of friends, family, and law enforcement personnel arrived in Brownwood, Texas, for the funeral of Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old firefighter who died while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands at a Rangers game in Arlington on Thursday.

The program called for 10 fellow firefighters to carry Stone's casket to a lone fire engine parked in front of the United Methodist church. The procession to a cemetery eight miles away was expected to include dozens of fire trucks, police cars, and other emergency vehicles.

Stone took his 6-year-old son, Cooper, to a game on Thursday night. They stopped to buy the boy a glove, and sat in left field behind Cooper's favorite player, Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton threw them a foul ball in the second inning, but the thrill quickly turned tragic. Stone fell headfirst about 20 feet onto concrete, with Cooper watching. Witnesses said Stone was conscious after landing and spoke about Cooper being left alone. Stone was pronounced dead within an hour; an autopsy ruled the cause as blunt force trauma from the fall.

Pay the piper. Christian Lopez, the 23-year-old fan who came up with Derek Jeter's historic 3,000th hit at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, may face ramifications as American as baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie: taxes.

Experts say Lopez, who got a number of rewards from the Yankees for handing over the ball, may have to pay taxes on his windfall.

"There's different ways the IRS could try to characterize a ball caught by a fan in the stands," attorney Andrew R. Appleby told the New York Times. "But when the Yankees give him all those things, it's much more clear-cut that he owes taxes on what they give him."

The Yankees gave Lopez four Champions Suite tickets for their remaining home games and any postseason games, along with three bats, three balls, and two jerseys, all signed by Jeter. For Sunday's game, the team gave him four front-row Legends seats, which sell for up to $1,358.90 each.

In such gratitude begins tax liability, said Paul Caron, a tax professor at the University of Cincinnati law school. He recalled a 2004 incident in which Oprah Winfrey gave 276 cars to the audience, who were surprised to discover they incurred tax obligations of about $7,000.

A-Rod's surgery. Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee. The Yankees said that the all-star third baseman was operated on in Miami by surgeon Lee Kaplan.

He is expected to be out for four to six weeks.