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Jeter Gets Help From A Kid

Last week for the start of the Division Series, I remembered The Flip – perhaps Jeter’s career-defining play. But what happened during game 1 of the 1996 ALCS put him on the map for the rest of the baseball world.

1996 was – for lack of a better term – a magical season for Jeter and the Yankees. Derek was Rookie of the Year, the Yankees won the AL East for the first time since 1981 (1994 notwithstanding) and were in the ALCS for the first time in 15 years. (Side note – if you’re not familiar with the 1981 baseball season, check it out. It was weird.)

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Today is the 18 year anniversary of the ‘Jeffrey Maier homerun game’. It was game 1 of the ALCS vs Baltimore, and the Yankees were trailing 4-3 with 1 out in the 8th inning. Jeter hit a deep fly to right off Armando Benitez that looked to have a chance to leave the park. The O’s right fielder Tony Tarasco trotted back to the wall and looked to have a play, when a glove appeared above his head to knock the ball into the stands. The game went into extra innings and the Yankees eventually won on a walkoff home run in the 11th by Bernie Williams.

Jeffrey Maier, 12 at the time, was there with family friends. There have been many stories written about the events that brought Maier to the game, but thankfully for Jeter and the Yankees he was there to interfere. Maier even had a brief baseball career, and held internships with the Yankees franchise. I guess they owed him one…

Davey Johnson, the Orioles’ manager, was ejected from the game for arguing the call. Baltimore protested the game but lost because it was ruled that judgment calls could not be disputed. The play has gone down in history as one of the most controversial calls in postseason history. The entire situation highlights how far baseball has come in 18 years, because that play would have been overturned under today’s replay system. It would still have been unclear if Tarasco would have caught the ball, so it probably would have been ruled a double for Jeter. There is no doubt Tarasco should have jumped to catch it because in my opinion he would not have made the play standing flat-footed. Regardless, the Orioles lost the call, the game, and the series; and the rest is history for the Yankees.

 

Other ALCS moments for Jeter:

Interestingly enough, Jeter did not have a stellar ALCS career. In 10 series he only batted .257, but did have 24 RBIs. The Yankees went 7-3 in those 10 series.

Unfortunately, the last memory Yankees fans have of Jeter in the ALCS is him writhing in pain from injuring his ankle in the 2012 ALCS vs Detroit. Thankfully, Jeter has had so many great postseason moments over the years, that injury is barely a footnote.

Jeter has so many unique plays in the field that they each have their own name. The Flip, The Dive, and The Jump, which we saw countless times over the course of his career. In game 1 of the 1998 ALCS vs Cleveland, Jeter helped out David Wells with one of his signature plays.

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