Fan interference at World Series brings back Maier memories

There’s fan interference, and then there’s grabbing an outfielder’s glove and ripping the baseball out of it with help from a friend. That’s a whole other level of intrusive, as well as dumb.

The media loves to shine a spotlight on these people, as ESPN.com did Tuesday night with tremendous enthusiasm. Editors drool over it. Reporters are ordered out of the press box and into the stands for an exclusive interview. Or in the case of the two imbeciles in the Yankees jerseys sitting in the front row for Game 4 of the World Series, race to a bar across the street and give the guys their 15 minutes of fame.

You pay an exorbitant price for tickets and get ejected in the first inning. Such a brilliant move. The decision came down to doing that or using a toaster oven as a bath toy.

Jeffrey Maier was too young to drink in 1996, and he wasn’t tossed out of Yankee Stadium after reaching out to deflect Derek Jeter’s fly ball into the stands in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series as Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco camped under it at the wall.

Neither one caught it. Get the story straight. Maier knocked the ball into the seats for the tying home run and was treated like a hero, including appearances on national talk shows. The Daily News made arrangements for Maier to sit behind the Yankees dugout for the World Series.  

The Orioles lost in 11 innings on Bernie Williams’ home run. Umpire Richie Garcia, who blew the call, signed autographs the following day. Not a great look.

“Let’s hear Richie Phillips, head of the umpires’ union, talk about the dignity of the umpires now,” Ken Rosenthal wrote in a Baltimore Sun article after Game 2.

Garcia admitted after watching the replay that he made the wrong call but contended that the ball would have hit the wall. Orioles manager Davey Johnson hit the ceiling and earned an ejection.

Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "I think it's glorifying the wrong thing." Good for him.

Asked about Maier, Garcia said, “He was 12 years old and trying to get a ball. If I was 12 years old, I’d try to get a ball, too.”

Bring a friend. It’s easier.

The two clowns who went all WWE on Mookie Betts as the Dodgers outfielder tried to corral Gleyber Torres' fly ball were banned from attending last night’s game, but the Yankees reportedly offered to refund their tickets. Two things are wrong here. They should be banned for life and they should have to eat the cost of those tickets and a fistful of rosin.

The Orioles won Game 2 of the ALCS, with Tarasco catching Tino Martinez’s fly ball for the last out. The series moved to Baltimore and general manager Pat Gillick said, “Hope we can win a third one.”

At least he hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

The Yankees didn’t lose again, winning three straight at Camden Yards.

Legendary Sun columnist John Steadman wrote about the risks of similar fan behavior at Camden Yards with its short left field wall and close proximity to home plate. Outfielders had to wrestle spectators while attempting to make leaping grabs. A recent example back then was Luis Polonia’s fly ball that was ruled a home run after the Red Sox’s Reggie Jefferson had it pulled away from him.

Steadman thought that Orioles owner Peter Angelos “should insist the Maryland Stadium Authority put up the proper type of screen to prevent such an occurrence in any regular-season game, not just in playoffs, championships and the World Series.”

“It happens on a frequent basis at Camden Yards,” Steadman wrote, “fans reaching over the low left-field wall and jostling with players for the chance to make a catch.”

Twenty-six years later, the Orioles shoved the wall back 30 feet and raised it. Steadman only wanted a screen.

He also stated that the Orioles should get rid of the synthetic warning track that caused too many balls to bounce into the stands for ground-rule doubles. He was right, and they did it in 2013 by installing a natural surface made of crushed stone.

I’m bouncing back to another quote that ran in The Sun, when outfielder Bobby Bonilla was asked what would have happened if an Oriole hit that ball instead of Jeter.

“I guarantee you George Steinbrenner would have had that kid on the Throgs Neck Bridge, dangling,” Bonilla replied, “and let’s leave it at that.”