2. Warning Track Robbery
During Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, Baltimore Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco was camped right at the Yankee Stadium wall, ready to catch a Derek Jeter fly ball – that is until 12-year-old Yankee fan Jeffrey Maier reached his glove out right over Tarasco’s and grabbed the ball. Umpire Rich Garcia immediately called it a home run for the Yankee captain.All Tarasco’s pleading that it was his ball to catch didn’t seem to matter as the drastic homer call stood, leading ultimately to a 4-1 Yankees series win that year.
In replays, though, it is clear that Maier’s glove breaks the threshold of the wall and he did, in fact, reach out above the warning track to make the catch of his life.
Maier became a national fixation following the catch, resulting in massive media coverage. He pursued baseball and became Division III Wesleyan University’s all-time hits leader in the process.
Maier actually attended prospect tryouts for the Yankees after his college career, but nothing ever materialized. In 2015, he sold the glove he used that fateful 1996 day for $22,705.
