FanGraphs Audio: THE Jeffrey Maier
Episode Eighty-Three
In which the guest has made history.
Headlines
The Most Interesting Things Regarding Jeff Maier — Discussed!
Featuring
The Jeffrey Maier You’re Thinking About
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Audio on the flip-flop. (Approximately 35 min play time.)
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Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
This little guy changed the course of baseball history! (I guess hes not little anymore)
As an Os fan can I just say, f*ck this guy.
As a fellow O’s fan, I can say that you aren’t being harsh enough on him. It’s not merely enough to say “f-ck him.” It would be more appropriate to say something like, “f-ck him in the face with a rusty shaft and I hope a bird with AIDS sh-ts on him.”
Wasn’t he in the o’s minor league system a couple years ago?
There were rumors to that effect, but Maier never played affiliated ball. As he notes in the interview, he hurt his knee pretty bad as a junior and wasn’t so mobile when returned.
I heard he was in the minors but not sure what he is doing now.
Jeffrey Maier is one of my least favorite people on the planet. Just ahead of the umpire who blew the call.
Were I an Oriole fan, the IDEA of Jeff Maier would definitely be terrible. Even as a Red Sox fan, the idea of Jeff Maier is pretty bad.
He gets pretty hard to hate, though, when you hear him talk.
As for Richie Garcia, on the other hand…
He seemed like a great guy.
Of course, I’m a Yankee fan . . .
He sounds like a total douche.
F*ck this guy. Completely. But moreso, screw the umpire that wouldn’t call the interference or reverse the play or even bother LOOKING to see what actually happened. That killed the majority of my sports passion when I was a kid. Then it got destroyed in 2002 during the Kings and Lakers playoffs. I’ve never been the same since. I hate sports.
Really? I was with you until the end. If you hated sports, than you wouldn’t be on this webiste.
Him and Bartman can join a new tier of hell.
Just to refresh your memory, the Orioles lost the 1996 ALCS four games to one. They were outscored 27-19. The play in question occurred with one out in the eighth inning of game one, which the Orioles lost in eleven innings. The Orioles had eleven hits. Andy Pettitte was charged with a balk, and the Orioles stranded eleven runners.
To say that Jeffrey Maier is the reason the Orioles lost that game, and lost the series, is an overstatement, to say the least. You’re making it sound that the Orioles were two outs away from going to the World Series, and Jeffrey Maier altered the course of history.
Face it: the Yankees were a better team than the Orioles in 1996. The Orioles made the Wild Card with an 88-74 record. And without the contributions of Rafael Palmeiro and Brady Anderson, who were both probably on steroids, we’re talking about a sub-.500 team.
I’m not saying what Maier did was cool, or anything, but he’s not the reason the Orioles lost. The Orioles lost because the Yankees had BETTER PITCHING. The Orioles had a team 5.15 ERA in 1996. The Yankees had so-so starting pitching, but their bullpen, with Nelson and Rivera setting-up John Wetteland, as ungodly that year.
That was the difference in the series, not Jeffrey Maier
Seems like a well-spoken, good guy. Scary that he’s as grown-up as he is, including being married. It just doesn’t seem that long ago. He’s forever twelve.
Being neither an Oriole or Yankee fan (or Red Sox!), I don’t have a passionate view of the catch. To me it’s just part of baseball history and it’s something that was happening at games for the prior one hundred years. Before instant replay there was no option to overturn a missed call.
I have looked at the replay a number of times and I’m with Maier. I’m not convinced Tarasco would have caught the ball. In fact, just the opposite. He wasn’t an especially strong defensive OFer back then and his glove and leap were not fully alligned with the ball. It would have been a Jeter double. Even if Umpire Garcia called fan interfernce, it doesn’t mean it’s an out. He would have called a ground-rule double, and Raines would have driven in Jeter with his hit. That was the start of the Yankees dynasty run. The Orioles weren’t going to beat the Yankees, so there really was no loss here. So don’t feel too bad, Oriole fans.
Hmmm, the Orioles haven’t been to the World Series since little Jeffy caught that ball, and in fact are now on their 14th straight losing season. Oh, no. It’s the Curse of Jeffrey Maier! Maybe Orioles fans should be upset. I mean, it can’t possibly have anything to do with Peter Angelos.
Sorry for the tardy reponse… somehow I missed this when it was originally posted. F*ck this guy. Obviously.