If you’re not a baseball fan, this post won’t mean a whole lot to you. For those that are, this is irony at its finest.

On October 9, 1996, the Yankees were behind the Orioles 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Derek Jeter hit a fly ball that looked like it was going to be caught by Orioles right fielder, Tony Tarasco. But just before the ball entered Tarasco’s glove, a 12 year old kid leaned out over the field and intercepted the ball. It was clearly a case of fan interference and Jeter should’ve been called out. However, the umpire ruled the play a home run. The game was then tied 4-4 and the Yankees ended up winning in extra innings… then going on to win the World Series. It was one of the worst umpiring calls ever made, but the league denied the protest because “judgement calls” can’t be reviewed. The Orioles have never quite recovered.

And now there’s this…

A few days ago, Orioles owner Peter Angelos received a phone call. You’ll never guess, the caller said, who is a pretty good college baseball player now, the all-time hits leader at Wesleyan (Conn.) University, an outfielder-third baseman with a decent chance of being selected during next week’s Major League Baseball amateur draft.

“Who?”

Jeffrey Maier. Yes, that Jeffrey Maier.

“You’re kidding,” Angelos said.
…
The Orioles, during the first-year player draft next week, have the power to select Maier and see what happens.

According to Angelos, they just might.

“I wouldn’t be at all opposed to [drafting Maier]. In fact, I’d say it’s a very interesting development,” Angelos said. “You can say the Orioles are very seriously considering him. I know this much: I was at that game, and he certainly did seem to be a heck of an outfielder. Sure, we’d take him. In fact, I like the idea more and more, the more I think about it.”

Here’s his photo from the Wesleyan Media Guide. And it appears he is pretty good.

Jeff Maier ‘06 Ends Career With 189 Hits and .375 Average as Cards Sweep Trinity in Finale
…
He opened the year with a 10-game hitting streak and finished with a streak of nine games as he hit safely in 28 of the 32 games in which he played in 2006. Maier was named second-team CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine District I academic All-American following a vote of the regional sports information directors.

I wonder if he’ll play right field for the Orioles… from the bleachers.