Reminded of Maier again.

[24fps]

An excerpt from a story by Jack Curry of the New York Times the day after the game:

The New York Times

The Yankees were delirious, and Jeff Maier was delighted.

''It's unbelievable,'' Jeff said. ''It's pretty cool.''

Darryl Strawberry soaked in the evening's strange events, the start of what is expected to be a riveting series, and mused, ''They'll be talking about this one for a long time.''

''Do I feel bad?'' asked Jeter. ''We won the game. Why should I feel bad? Ask them that.''

Asked if New York's third one-run victory in the post-season was tainted, Andy Pettitte, the Yankee starter who gave up four runs in seven decent innings, snapped: ''Ain't nothing tainted about this as far as I'm concerned. We're up, 1-0. Nothing else matters.''

No comment necessary.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/10/sports/winning-with-a-boy-s-help-yankees-make-no-apologies.html

[OrangeJerseys]

An excerpt from a story by Jack Curry of the New York Times the day after the game:

No comment necessary.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/10/sports/winning-with-a-boy-s-help-yankees-make-no-apologies.html

This. Exactly this.

[SeaBird]

Well, he was a real creep and a bully to the the 12 year-olds that was was counseling at baseball camp in 2002. That was 5 and-a-half years after the fact.

That goes a long way with me. As far as I'm concerned, he's a swell guy ...... and so are his parents, who didn't have the cojones to admit how inappropriate that it was for them to accept box seats to the next game from the team owner as a "reward" for what he did out there in the outfield stands that night.

Sorry, but your facts are incorrect. Neither George Steinbrenner nor the NY Yankees "rewarded" him and his family with tickets. The Yankees wanted nothing to do with him and did not condone his behavior. The tickets for Game 2, near the Yankees dugout, were given to the family by the NY Daily News. The evening of Game 2, Maier was also invited to appear on the Letterman show but he chose to go to the Yankees game instead. The Daily News paid for everything. They also drove him around the city in a limo; dined him at the "All Star Caf?" (owned by Ken Griffey, Jr., Wayne Gretzky and several other pro athletes) and paid him to write a column about Game 2 for the paper.

The day after Meier's interference the New York Yankees disowned him. "The Yankees have nothing to do with this young man,'' Richard Cerrone, the team's director of media relations, said yesterday. Had interference been called, he would have been ejected from the stadium.

Joe Torre had this to say: "I just think they're glorifying the wrong thing. This kid reached over. I'm not saying if I was a 12-year-old I wouldn't have done the same thing. But it's not the right thing to do, not the right thing to glorify. To glorify what he did I don't think is the right message to send out.''

http://articles.philly.com/1996-10-11/news/25663479_1_yankees-security-bernie-williams-derek-jeter

[Number5]

The wrong name lives in infamy here.

Maier was a 12-year-old kid reaching for a ball. Richie Garcia made the despicable call. He was looking straight up the wall and absolutely could not have possibly missed the fact that the kid reached over. It later came out in 2002 that Garcia was a heavy gambler that had his hand slapped for gambling and owing money to bookies and having trouble repaying his gambling debts. Wiretaps proved this from 1989 -- the same time frame that baseball was busy banning Pete Rose for life. The reason Garcia and another umpire, Frank Pulli, were given merely two years probation was that there was no proof that they had bet on baseball. Please note that, at the time, there was no proof that Pete Rose had bet on baseball either. Rose, Pulli, and Garcia all claimed that they had not bet on baseball, but the two umpires were taken at their word. Faye Vincent and Bart Giamatti, however, believed that Rose did bet on baseball.

Regardless of what sports MLB umpires may or may not have been betting on to become deeply indebted to bookies, the very fact that they were so indebted is absolutely sufficient grounds for immediate dismissal and a permanent ban. The very idea that men that owe huge gambling debts are allowed to umpire is unbelievable. Of course anyone owing money can be influenced by the people they owe money to. For umpires to be found to be in this situation is far, far worse than a manager, or even a player, since the umpires clearly have more opportunity to wrongly influence the outcome of a game than anyone.

Remarkably, Garcia was made an umpiring supervisor in 2002. In 2010, he was FINALLY fired as a result of numerous highly questionable calls made under his watch in MLB in 2009.

I will never be convinced that Garcia's call was an honest mistake. It was just too obvious of a call, and he was standing at the wall, looking directly up at it. There is no way that he can claim he did not see the boy reach out and catch the ball. No way. Garcia, Vincent, and Giamatti are directly responsible, and it is at least as much of a stain on baseball as the Black Sox Scandal, in my view. That it continues to be swept under the rug and that, somehow, the boy involved in the play is the one vilified for Garcia's despicable act still sickens me. Garcia should have never been the umpire involved in the play. He should have been fired years earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Garcia

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/mar/09/sports/sp-bbnotes09

http://business.highbeam.com/3972/article-1G1-83634788/exumps-tied-illegal-gambling

Sorry for the rant, but this happens to be a very raw nerve for me.

[OFFNY]

Well, he was a real creep and a bully to the the 12 year-olds that was was counseling at baseball camp in 2002. That was 5 and-a-half years after the fact.

That goes a long way with me. As far as I'm concerned, he's a swell guy ...... and so are his parents, who didn't have the cojones to admit how inappropriate that it was for them to accept box seats to the next game from the team owner as a "reward" for what he did out there in the outfield stands that night.

Sorry, but your facts are incorrect. Neither George Steinbrenner nor the NY Yankees "rewarded" him and his family with tickets. The Yankees wanted nothing to do with him and did not condone his behavior. The tickets for Game 2, near the Yankees dugout, were given to the family by the NY Daily News. The evening of Game 2, Maier was also invited to appear on the Letterman show but he chose to go to the Yankees game instead. The Daily News paid for everything. They also drove him around the city in a limo; dined him at the "All Star Caf?" (owned by Ken Griffey, Jr., Wayne Gretzky and several other pro athletes) and paid him to write a column about Game 2 for the paper.

The day after Meier's interference the New York Yankees disowned him. "The Yankees have nothing to do with this young man,'' Richard Cerrone, the team's director of media relations, said yesterday. Had interference been called, he would have been ejected from the stadium.

Joe Torre had this to say: "I just think they're glorifying the wrong thing. This kid reached over. I'm not saying if I was a 12-year-old I wouldn't have done the same thing. But it's not the right thing to do, not the right thing to glorify. To glorify what he did I don't think is the right message to send out.''

http://articles.philly.com/1996-10-11/news/25663479_1_yankees-security-bernie-williams-derek-jeter

Thanks for the correction about it being the NY Daily News rewarding him with the tickets, and not George Steinbrenner and the Yankees.

But even thought the tickets were given to him by the NY Daily News and not Steinbrenner and the Yankees, my point about his parents remains the same (in regard for accepting the tickets, and their weasling answers when confronted about it by Mike Francesca and the Mad Dog Chris Russo on their radio show 2 days later.)

And also about him being a 17 year-old punk who bullied the 12 year-old kids that he was supposed to be counseling here:

http://deadspin.com/5922164/the-second-time-they-met-jeffrey-maier-didnt-dare-mess-with-tony-tarasco

[OFFNY]

The wrong name lives in infamy here.

Maier was a 12-year-old kid reaching for a ball. Richie Garcia made the despicable call. He was looking straight up the wall and absolutely could not have possibly missed the fact that the kid reached over. It later came out in 2002 that Garcia was a heavy gambler that had his hand slapped for gambling and owing money to bookies and having trouble repaying his gambling debts. Wiretaps proved this from 1989 -- the same time frame that baseball was busy banning Pete Rose for life. The reason Garcia and another umpire, Frank Pulli, were given merely two years probation was that there was no proof that they had bet on baseball. Please note that, at the time, there was no proof that Pete Rose had bet on baseball either. Rose, Pulli, and Garcia all claimed that they had not bet on baseball, but the two umpires were taken at their word. Faye Vincent and Bart Giamatti, however, believed that Rose did bet on baseball.

Regardless of what sports MLB umpires may or may not have been betting on to become deeply indebted to bookies, the very fact that they were so indebted is absolutely sufficient grounds for immediate dismissal and a permanent ban. The very idea that men that owe huge gambling debts are allowed to umpire is unbelievable. Of course anyone owing money can be influenced by the people they owe money to. For umpires to be found to be in this situation is far, far worse than a manager, or even a player, since the umpires clearly have more opportunity to wrongly influence the outcome of a game than anyone.

Remarkably, Garcia was made an umpiring supervisor in 2002. In 2010, he was FINALLY fired as a result of numerous highly questionable calls made under his watch in MLB in 2009.

I will never be convinced that Garcia's call was an honest mistake. It was just too obvious of a call, and he was standing at the wall, looking directly up at it. There is no way that he can claim he did not see the boy reach out and catch the ball. No way. Garcia, Vincent, and Giamatti are directly responsible, and it is at least as much of a stain on baseball as the Black Sox Scandal, in my view. That it continues to be swept under the rug and that, somehow, the boy involved in the play is the one vilified for Garcia's despicable act still sickens me. Garcia should have never been the umpire involved in the play. He should have been fired years earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Garcia

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/mar/09/sports/sp-bbnotes09

http://business.highbeam.com/3972/article-1G1-83634788/exumps-tied-illegal-gambling

Sorry for the rant, but this happens to be a very raw nerve for me.

Good info and comment.

Thanks.

[Redskins Rick]

Regardless, the situation is what it is, a very black moment in Oriole history and goes deeper than just a 12 year old doing something that he should, things like Garcia should have never been allowed to be an umpire and allowing it to happen, is far worse than Rose betting on his team to win, like the Black Sox situation, the integrity of the game is at stake and baseball covered it over and pretended it wasn't what it appeared to have been.

[The Wedge]

After a number of years have passed I harbor no hard feelings towards the little punk either. (:laughlol:) but I honestly blame the umpire more than a 12 year old kid. I also blame the Yankees for not having an offset to keep the fans from getting that close. It seems to me they are promoting fan interference. That is what irritates me the most.

This is the exact reason why Davey Johnson played the rest of the game under protest. He couldn't do so otherwise (as it was ultimately a judgement call by Garcia, and you can't protest an umpire's judgement call). If I recall, a similar incident had occurred near the same spot very recently, and Johnson and the Os were assured by Yankees brass that steps would be taken. They obviously weren't, and hence the protest. Not like said protest made any difference.

[gpolee]

The wrong name lives in infamy here.

Maier was a 12-year-old kid reaching for a ball. Richie Garcia made the despicable call. etc.

Nope! Both were wrong. Both names will and should live in infamy.

[gpolee]

Regardless, the situation is what it is, a very black moment in Oriole history and goes deeper than just a 12 year old doing something that he should, things like Garcia should have never been allowed to be an umpire and allowing it to happen, is far worse than Rose betting on his team to win, like the Black Sox situation, the integrity of the game is at stake and baseball covered it over and pretended it wasn't what it appeared to have been.

Rose bets on his team and risks injuries to pitchers so he can win a bet, maybe ending some pitchers' careers. That's the worst thing ever in the history of baseball.

[gpolee]

See, but it needs no forgiving. Because it was never a mistake.

It's fine if you don't like dog and pony show. I'm not saying I do, either. I'm just saying he really isn't doing anything wrong. And if it were an O's fan doing the same, we would not be having this debate.

Bull! If you believe Maier did not know he was interfering and cheating, you are gullible. If you believe "it was never a mistake," you are just wrong. He knew exactly what he was doing at the time - cheating, interfering, breaking the law - and was proud of himself for doing it. Unless your father told you to catch the ball even if it means interfering with the field of play (which I feel certain he did not), then you should know what he did was wrong. He was 12, not 5. He was a baseball player. There are messages at each game warning fans about interference. It wasn't the first game he attended. Trying to tell us now that Maier is deaf?

[Redskins Rick]

Rose bets on his team and risks injuries to pitchers so he can win a bet, maybe ending some pitchers' careers. That's the worst thing ever in the history of baseball.

So betting on baseball games, and making umpire decisions to help the outcome of the game isn't worse than Rose?

As bad as Rose was, and he was bad, I think Garcia is even worse for baseball. IMO

[Bahama O's Fan]

This is the exact reason why Davey Johnson played the rest of the game under protest. He couldn't do so otherwise (as it was ultimately a judgement call by Garcia, and you can't protest an umpire's judgement call). If I recall, a similar incident had occurred near the same spot very recently, and Johnson and the Os were assured by Yankees brass that steps would be taken. They obviously weren't, and hence the protest. Not like said protest made any difference.

How many games in baseball history have been reversed because they a protest was won?

[gpolee]

Like any Baltimore fan would have done differently if it was the opposite scenario? No, the City of Baltimore would laud the guy like a hero just like New York did. And he'd obviously never take it back.

Put yourself in his shoes - you'd have done the same and acted the same. Guarantee.

Baltimore has a sour grapes complex that it needs to seriously get in check, because it's a bad look. Get over it. Stop judging people based on how they decide to live their law-abiding lives and by what team they choose to support. You don't know this guy. You don't know his family, or if he leads a good life. What we know is that he caught a ball and pissed us off a million years ago.

It's embarrassing that we still care. It really is. It's sad.

WRONG! You lose that "guarantee" (sic). I would not have done that at any age. 99.9% of people would not even consider it! What is sad is your tenacious defense of a minor who committed a crime.

And I call bullsh*t on this too: "the City of Baltimore would laud the guy like a hero just like New York did." Not even a scumbag like Marty Bass would have kissed his ass.

btw: the least effective 3-word phrase in the English language is "get over it."

[Redskins Rick]

How many games in baseball history have been reversed because they a protest was won?

I found this' date=' posted in 2010 and list 14 times it has happened, which isn't a lot.

Most famous, was probably the pine tar one.

[url']http://www.retrosheet.org/protests.htm[/url]