THE KID'S CATCH

August 22, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Domingo Ayala loves hitting bombs.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a 12-year-old kid who changed the outcome of the playoffs and potentially the World Series.

I wanna take a trip down memory lane...back to ’96.

The Yankees were facing the Orioles in the ALCS, and in Game 1, things were looking pretty dire for the Bronx Bombers.

They were down 4-3 in the bottom of the eigth inning and Jeter was up to bat with a man on first base.

And then this happened.

The Captain hit a deep fly ball to right field and Orioles outfielder, Tony Tarasco, went back to make the catch.

A 12-year-old kid named Jeffrey Maier decided to get in on the action, reaching over the wall and catching the ball.

Tarasco immediately lost his shit, and honestly, I would have too.

Somehow, there's been debate over whether or not this was the right call, but anyone with eyes can see that this ball was not leaving the yard

It's probably one of the worst calls in baseball history.

Anyways, the umpires ruled this a home run and New York went on to win the game 5-4.

The Orioles felt like this interference changed the outcome of the game, and they never got over it.

The Yankees ended up winning the series 4-1 and eventually won the World Series as well.

One could argue that Maier had a pretty significant impact on the Yankees' run in '96.

They should've given that man a ring.

Now some people might say, "that's part of the game," and that the Orioles should've taken this one on the chin.

And while I do agree that one game doesn't define an entire playoff run, it sure as hell changes the momentum in the series; another example is the Bartman incident in '03.

The Yankees had to be feeling like it was their destiny to be World Champions after this call went their way.

These days, something like this would never happen with the replay rules MLB has in place.

That's probably for the better, but it sure as hell sparked some spicy controversy at the time.

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STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

I’m sure Bud enjoyed ice cold brewskis as much as any of us, but he had no official affiliation with Anheuser-Busch.

Weiser was a promising prospect that many thought would be a future star.

He was even referred to as “The Ty Cobb of the North Carolina League.”

Unfortunately, when he got to the big leagues, things didn’t pan out like he thought they would.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

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