John Smallwood: Yankees need more than fan interference
NEW YORK - Somewhere, a grown-up Jeffrey Maier is slyly smiling, because he still holds the title of "Best Fan Interference" in New York Yankees history.
NEW YORK - Somewhere, a grown-up Jeffrey Maier is slyly smiling, because he still holds the title of "Best Fan Interference" in New York Yankees history.
In 1996, Maier was a 12-year-old who reached over the rightfield porch at old Yankee Stadium and prevented Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco from making a play on a fly ball by Derek Jeter in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Despite Tarasco's protest of fan interference, the umpires said no and Jeter had a home run that tied the game.
The Yankees went on to win the game, the ALCS and ultimately the World Series.
Maier, who just turned 26, got a brief run for his spot in New York lore last night at new Yankee Stadium in the second inning of Game 4 of the 2010 ALCS.
On a fly ball hit eerily similar to Jeter's, Texas Rangers rightfielder Nelson Cruz looked liked Tarasco when he reached to catch a ball hit to the rightfield porch by Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano.
Cruz jumped up and looked as if he might have a play until three adult fans appeared to smack his glove.
Cruz shouted in protest and pointed at the fans, but rightfield umpire Jim Reynolds stood stoicly as Cano took his home run trot.
Rangers manager Ron Washington argued, but despite a Major League Baseball official saying they could have looked at it under the video review policy, the umpires elected not to.
The run stood and the Yankees led, 1-0.
Instant replay clearly showed that Cruz' glove was interfered with.
This incident didn't have the same magnitude as Maier's, because the Yankees and Rangers traded leads a couple of times.
And ultimately, the Rangers' 10-3 victory gave them a 3-1 cushion in the series.
If New York goes on to win this ALCS, it will have more to do with embattled starting pitcher A.J. Burnett stepping up and the Yankees' slumbering bats finally reawakening.
If the Yankees go on to win this ALCS, they'll need more than a "Maier Miracle," because they now have to win three games in a row.
They have to win today in New York and then twice this weekend in Texas to win a 41st American League championship.
A potential Game 7 would be against Cliff Lee, who just happens to be 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA in eight career playoff starts.
Actually, this series hasn't been close.
Had the Rangers not had an eighth-inning meltdown in Game 1, they would be heading back to Texas today and waiting to see whom they would play in the franchise's first World Series appearance.
"We're not thinking about how we are going to close anyone out," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We're just going to play baseball.
"We're not going to come into the ballpark thinking we have to close out. We are going to play the game and react to how things go.
"If it happens, it happens. If it don't, it don't."
Washington might be one of the few people not surprised that the Rangers are on the verge of closing out the reigning world champions.
"I think it's just taken for us to be on this stage for people to really recognize that the Texas Rangers are a pretty good team,'' Washington said.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi probably pushed his luck too far.
For five innings, erratic starter Burnett pitched better than anyone expected. Burnett, with a 10-15 record and 5.26 ERA during the season, was so unreliable, he wasn't scheduled for a start in the ALCS.
Leaving Burnett out of the rotation against Texas would have required the other starters to come back on short rest.
Girardi gambled on Burnett and it looked as if it might pay off. Burnett actually pitched as if he wanted to earn his $16.5 million salary as the Yankees led, 3-2.
Then, with two outs and two on in the top of the sixth inning, the Burnett whom Yankees fans have come to loathe showed up.
His first pitch to Bengie Molina was redirected into a three-run homer that set Texas off again.
"We could've brought in , but we liked the way A.J. was throwing the ball," Girardi said. "He was throwing well all night, so we decided to leave him. We liked the matchup of A.J. against Molina. It just didn't work out.
"I didn't really place an expectation on A.J. Take away that one pitch, and he pitched a good game. I know you can't take away that pitch.''
Girardi also knows he can't take away the implosion that was again his bullpen. For the second straight game, it destroyed any chance of a late-inning comeback by letting Texas extend a lead.
AL MVP favorite Josh Hamilton hit his third home run of the series with two outs in the seventh and Ian Kinsler singled in a run to make it 7-3. Hamilton added another homer to lead off the ninth.
The Yankees might be nicknamed the Bronx Bombers, but it's the Rangers who have scored at least five runs in each game.
The irony of the controversial call that favored the Yankees is that one out after Cano, designated hitter Lance Berkman rocketed a ball down the rightfield line that initially was ruled a home run.
But after calling for just the third review in postseason history, the umpires said the ball went just foul and took away a second run from New York.
A two-run lead might have made a difference. Now, the Yankees can only hope that Maier is in the stadium today and in Texas on Friday and Saturday. *
Send e-mail to smallwj@phillynews.com.
For recent columns, go to