According to the Associated Press, the infamous glove that then 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier used to reach over the right field fence in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS between the Yankees and Orioles is up for auction.
Of course, Maier didn’t actually catch the ball with the glove. He deflected it before someone else walked away with it. However, Maier robbed Tony Tarasco of a potential catch and the controversial play resulted in a game-tying home run for Derek Jeter. It’s come to be known as “The Jeffrey Maier” home run. The Yankees went on to win the game on a Bernie Williams homer in the 11th and took the series in five games before defeating the Braves in the World Series. It would be their first of four titles in five seasons. There’s a lot of narrative in that glove.
Maier held on to the glove for a while before selling it to a collector and that collector is now putting it up for sale. Heritage Auctions is running an online auction of the glove through Friday evening and a “floor session” on Saturday and Sunday. Bidding was already up to $13,000 at last check and the estimated value is somewhere in the range of $50,000. It will probably end up in the hands of another collector, but surely there are some Orioles fans out there who would like to see it destroyed. Time to mobilize.
Here’s video of the infamous moment:
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