Major League Baseball

Harrison Bader's questionable home run recalls memories of Jeffrey Maier

Updated May. 10, 2023 6:16 p.m. ET

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The new Yankee Stadium now has its Jeffrey Maier moment. 

In the first inning of Wednesday's Athletics-Yankees game, New York outfielder Harrison Bader hit a fly ball to right field, resulting in a home run. But it certainly looked questionable at first sight.

Athletics right fielder JJ Bleday looked to be in position to make a play on the ball, but his glove was behind that of a fan in the front row who appeared to reach over the wall and snagged the long fly. 

The play was unsuccessfully challenged by the Athletics, upholding the call on the field of Bader's home run. 

Bader's home run drew some comparisons to the infamous Maier moment in 1996. In Game 1 of the ALCS between the Orioles and Yankees, Derek Jeter's eighth-inning fly to right field — this was at the old Yankees Stadium, which also featured a short porch in right — became a game-tying home run when Maier, a 12-year-old Yankees fan at the time, clearly reached over and prevented Baltimore right fielder Tony Tarasco from possibly making the catch. The Yankees would go on to win the game and the series en route to a World Series title.

As for Bader, a lot has certainly seemed to have gone his way since he returned from the injured list. He's 12-for-28 (.429 batting average) with a 1.341 OPS while tallying two triples, three home runs and 11 RBIs in his first eight games back. 

Bader wasn't sure if his first-inning home run on Wednesday would leave the park. In fact, the 362-foot hit would've only been a home run at Yankee Stadium. 

"I knew I hit it pretty good but I didn't know if I hit it high enough," Bader told reporters. "I'm still kind of getting used to the wall over there. Obviously, there's distance out there I'm kind of used to in the past. Obviously, being in St. Louis it was a little bigger out there. Out of the box, I was thinking double. I was really fortunate it turned up being a home run."

As for the A's, it was another unlucky moment in a season that's been filled with bad luck and bad play. Oakland went on to lose the afternoon contest 11-3, dropping its league-worst record to 8-30. 

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