Tex’s message re: Jeffrey Maier
Should the Yankees have sent Mark Teixeira home from third base with one out in the fourth inning?
Pro: The Yankees were down by one run and Eduardo Nunez was the next hitter.
Con: Teixeira is not fully recovered from a calf injury, Derek Jeter was also scheduled to hit in the inning and the ball was not hit very deep.
What happened: Teixeira, who had been at second base, was held at third to load the bases. Nunez popped up, Jeter grounded out and the Yankees failed to score.
Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.Mark Teixeira was a 16-year-old student at Mount St. Joseph High School in Baltimore – and a huge Orioles fan – when the Jeffrey Maier play happened.
Even after all these years, the Yankees first baseman still refers to it as “one of the worst calls in baseball history.”
Teixeira recalled that the day after the game, the principal came over the loudspeaker to deliver a message to students at the all-boys Catholic school.
“Got to school the next day and that’s all anybody was talking about,” he said. “Our principal got on the loudspeaker and made an announcement that we had to pray for Maier and the umpire. He wanted to make sure we weren’t talking too bad about them because we have to forgive. Unfortunately, the Orioles didn’t win for 15 more years after that.”
