Jeffrey Maier Glove Sold At Auction for $22,705

[OFFNY]

(I get your point on accepting free tickets..but Yankee tickets aren't cheap and this kid was a local hero-if the tables were turned, you would have done the same, don't kid yourself).[/Quote]

Are you kidding ???

How dare you put words in my mouth, and make this particular assumption about me? Who do you think you are?

Never in a million years would I accept free tickets under similar circumstances.

On this board, Weams in particular knows me well, and knows enough about my character that I would NEVER do such a thing.

[Rene88]

Are you kidding ???

How dare you put words in my mouth, and make assumptions about me? Who do you think you are?

Never in a million years would I accept free tickets under similar circumstances.

On this board, Weams in particular knows me well, and knows enough about my character that I would NEVER do such a thing.

My point is you shouldn't be making a personal attack at Maier's parents. That is over-the-top. Just because you don't know the guy, doesn't mean it is right to sling mud at him and his family.

I don't know if you would or wouldn't personally accept free tickets, but many would.

[OFFNY]

My point is you shouldn't be making a personal attack at Maier's parents. That is over-the-top. Just because you don't know the guy, doesn't mean it is right to sling mud at him and his family.

I didn't "sling personal attacks" at his parents.

My comments were based on Maier's parents' childish behavior after the fact (which I documented.) They were disingenuous and avoided the issue like a child would, and it was as clear as day to all, including the New York sports radio hosts that were doing the interview.

There was nothing unusual or cheap shot-like about what I said about Maier's parents.

[Beef Supreme]

You know who we can blame that all of us will agree on? The Yankee ownership and management for tacitly encouraging their fans to interfere with games.

[OFFNY]

I don't know if you would or wouldn't personally accept free tickets, but many would.

That's not what you said.

You specifically said:

(I get your point on accepting free tickets..but Yankee tickets aren't cheap and this kid was a local hero-if the tables were turned, you would have done the same, don't kid yourself).

You asserted that I would take the tickets if I were in the same situation, going so far as to say, "Don't kid yourself."

You were presumptuous in making that assertion.

[OFFNY]

Beef Supreme said:

 

Nice job, OFFNY. I have nothing to add -- just wanted this entire post to get double exposure. :-)

 

o

 

I still remember watching that game when it happened.

I actually didn't see the first 6 or 7 innings of the game. Just by coincidence, I turned it on about 10 minutes or so before Mattingly hit the "home run."

On the back page of the NY Daily News the next day, there was talk of McKenzie (the 16 year-old kid who reached over the railing) possibly going down in Yankee lore. However, because of the fact that the Yankees did not catch the Blue Jays and did not make the postseason at all that year, the incident has become not much more than a footnote that is only remembered (mostly) by those of us who saw it, and had a rooting interest in it.

I remember being annoyed when it happened, but what really pissed me off was Mattingly watching the replay in the post-game interview, and making the comments that he made (followed up by meeting the kid, giving him an autographed baseball, and posing for a picture with him in the Yankee Stadium locker room the next day.)

 

o

[SeaBird]

You know who we can blame that all of us will agree on? The Yankee ownership and management for tacitly encouraging their fans to interfere with games.

That is wrong. It's amazing how a story morphs over time. The Yankees did not condone, endorse, or approve of what Maier did. He was not rewarded by the team.

NEW YORK — Yankees manager Joe Torre was surprised and somewhat saddened Thursday to see on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'' that the hosts were interviewing Jeffrey Maier, 12, of Old Tappan, N.J., whose attempt to catch Derek Jeter's fly ball in the eighth inning Wednesday night was the turning point in the Yankees' 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Orioles in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

What Torre didn't know at the time was that Maier already had appeared on "Good Morning America'' and had turned down a $1,000 offer from "Geraldo'' so that he and his parents could accept an offer from the New York Daily News to attend Game 2 Thursday and sit in the newspaper's box behind the Yankees dugout.

There also was a standing offer for Maier to appear on "Late Show with David Letterman.''

Maier received the attention for sticking his glove over the right field wall and preventing the Orioles' Tony Tarasco from making a play on Jeter's fly ball. The ball bounced off Maier's glove and over the wall, and umpire Rich Garcia ruled it a game-tying home run.

"They're glamorizing the wrong thing,'' Torre said. "I'm not saying that if I was a 12-year-old kid I wouldn't be anxious and do the same thing, but it's not the right thing to do, it's not the right thing to glorify. Sure, as it turned out, it was a call that went our way. During the course of the year, you get calls that go your way and some that go against you. We were fortunate in this case. But to glorify what he did, I don't think it's the right message to send out.''

"I'm sure at Oriole Park at Camden Yards we are going to have a lot of 12- year-olds with gloves leaning over the fence,'' Baltimore manager Davey Johnson said. "It's a natural thing. Every kid wants to catch a ball. I remember as a 12-year-old in Orlando, Fla., going to Washington Senators exhibition games. I wanted to get a ball. I got one, too, a ball over my head that I caught barehanded. That's when I knew I was big league material.''

The Yankees sought to distance themselves from the incident. Team publicist Richard Cerrone said the Yankees denied a request by the boy's father, Dick Maier, to use Yankee Stadium as a backdrop for a TV interview.

"I made it very clear to him that, in our view, even though the umpire didn't rule that, he likely interfered with the ball in play,'' Cerrone said, "and there was nothing the Yankees could do or should do to condone or reward that type of behavior.''

Cerrone said that security at the Stadium had been tightened because it was Roberto Alomar's first appearance since his spitting episode with umpire John Hirschbeck. Asked why Maier was not ejected, Cerrone said, "In the ruling of the umpire at the site, he did not interfere with the ball, therefore he would not have been ejected. If interference had been called, he or anyone else that had done that would have been ejected from the stadium.''

http://articles.courant.com/1996-10-11/sports/9610110234_1_jeffrey-maier-dick-maier-yankee-stadium

[weams]

Mr. Maier, don't you think that it's wrong for your kid to be rewarded for interfering with a crucial play in a post-season game?" Mr. Maier responded by saying "Why can't my kid go to the game ?" Francesca and Russo didn't let his lame answer get him off the hook. they kept at him: "Mr. Maier, that isn't the point. Your kid can go to the game like everyone else, but why should he be rewarded with free box seat tickets for interfering with a play? Other parents' kids should be able to go to the game. They didn't do anything wrong. Why shouldn't they get free tickets? You're his parent. What exactly are you teaching your kid by accepting this "reward" for interfering with a play in a post-season game?" Mr. Maier simply repeated his nonsensical "Why can't my kid go to the game?"

I am sure that I just take the whole thing out of context. If I were a better man I'd get over it.

[Beef Supreme]

That is wrong. It's amazing how a story morphs over time. The Yankees did not condone, endorse, or approve of what Maier did. He was not rewarded by the team.

NEW YORK — Yankees manager Joe Torre was surprised and somewhat saddened Thursday to see on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'' that the hosts were interviewing Jeffrey Maier, 12, of Old Tappan, N.J., whose attempt to catch Derek Jeter's fly ball in the eighth inning Wednesday night was the turning point in the Yankees' 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Orioles in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

What Torre didn't know at the time was that Maier already had appeared on "Good Morning America'' and had turned down a $1,000 offer from "Geraldo'' so that he and his parents could accept an offer from the New York Daily News to attend Game 2 Thursday and sit in the newspaper's box behind the Yankees dugout.

There also was a standing offer for Maier to appear on "Late Show with David Letterman.''

Maier received the attention for sticking his glove over the right field wall and preventing the Orioles' Tony Tarasco from making a play on Jeter's fly ball. The ball bounced off Maier's glove and over the wall, and umpire Rich Garcia ruled it a game-tying home run.

"They're glamorizing the wrong thing,'' Torre said. "I'm not saying that if I was a 12-year-old kid I wouldn't be anxious and do the same thing, but it's not the right thing to do, it's not the right thing to glorify. Sure, as it turned out, it was a call that went our way. During the course of the year, you get calls that go your way and some that go against you. We were fortunate in this case. But to glorify what he did, I don't think it's the right message to send out.''

"I'm sure at Oriole Park at Camden Yards we are going to have a lot of 12- year-olds with gloves leaning over the fence,'' Baltimore manager Davey Johnson said. "It's a natural thing. Every kid wants to catch a ball. I remember as a 12-year-old in Orlando, Fla., going to Washington Senators exhibition games. I wanted to get a ball. I got one, too, a ball over my head that I caught barehanded. That's when I knew I was big league material.''

The Yankees sought to distance themselves from the incident. Team publicist Richard Cerrone said the Yankees denied a request by the boy's father, Dick Maier, to use Yankee Stadium as a backdrop for a TV interview.

"I made it very clear to him that, in our view, even though the umpire didn't rule that, he likely interfered with the ball in play,'' Cerrone said, "and there was nothing the Yankees could do or should do to condone or reward that type of behavior.''

Cerrone said that security at the Stadium had been tightened because it was Roberto Alomar's first appearance since his spitting episode with umpire John Hirschbeck. Asked why Maier was not ejected, Cerrone said, "In the ruling of the umpire at the site, he did not interfere with the ball, therefore he would not have been ejected. If interference had been called, he or anyone else that had done that would have been ejected from the stadium.''

http://articles.courant.com/1996-10-11/sports/9610110234_1_jeffrey-maier-dick-maier-yankee-stadium

You are off-point. The organization does not separate its fans from the field. The fans have a notorious history of interfering with balls in play (ask Nelson Cruz). So they build a new stadium with the exact same built in problem. They have yet to do anything to prevent their fans from interfering with balls in play. That is ''tacitly encouraging'' fan interference.

[SeaBird]

You are off-point. The organization does not separate its fans from the field. The fans have a notorious history of interfering with balls in play (ask Nelson Cruz). So they build a new stadium with the exact same built in problem. They have yet to do anything to prevent their fans from interfering with balls in play. That is ''tacitly encouraging'' fan interference.

What a silly rebuttal. Tacit encouragement indeed. Do you really think team ownership sat down with the new stadium architects and said to make it easy for fans to interfere with balls in play?

Bottom line is if a fan interferes he/she is ejected. Google "fan interference at a baseball game" videos and you'll see it's not that rare nor is it confined to one particular stadium. Should the playing fields at MLB parks be constructed in a cage?

[Palmoripken]

I no longer hate Maier. He's no longer 12 and I'm no longer the angry 9 year old boy I was that fall evening. But what bugged me then and still bugs me is how he was treated as a hero. We hear about how the Yankees are "class" and all that crap and I just have to laugh since they venerated a kid that helped them to a pennant by breaking a rule and Yankees fans and personale know damn right that if the shoe had been on the other foot, they and especially the Steinbrenners would be crying bloody murder. It's also frustrating to think that home run marked the beginning of their dynasty for that era and after the following year we began a run of fourteen consecutive esasons. So yeah I don't hate Maier anymore but it does bug me that after nearly two decades he's still using this as a moneymaker. That said, I hope it was an O's fan who bought it and exorcised whatever sports demons out of it.

[Beef Supreme]

What a silly rebuttal. Tacit encouragement indeed. Do you really think team ownership sat down with the new stadium architects and said to make it easy for fans to interfere with balls in play?

Bottom line is if a fan interferes he/she is ejected. Google "fan interference at a baseball game" videos and you'll see it's not that rare nor is it confined to one particular stadium. Should the playing fields at MLB parks be constructed in a cage?

Your point failed to address mine, thus it is not a rebuttal. The word ''tacit'' means implied or indicated as by an act or by silence. Your defense of the organization is that they did not reward interference. Apples and oranges. The organization continues not to address the problem, even going so far as to design the problem into their new stadium. It would be silly to think you or I could speculate on a discussion between the MFY and stadium architects; at no point did I offer such conjecture, nor did I imply it. However, the refusal to address the problem speaks for itself: the MFY tacitly encourage fan interference by refusing to make any change to address fan interference, basically ensuring future fan interference.