A few days ago, Jeffrey Maier was just a Little League pitcher, a boy who loved the Yankees so much he cut school to see them play the Orioles in the opener of the American League Championship Series.
On Thursday, only a ticker-tape parade was missing from the 12-year-old fan's whirlwind day, in which he was featured on national television, feted by a newspaper - and reviled in Baltimore.Jeffrey's quick glove took a fly ball away from the Orioles on Wednesday and turned it into a game-tying home run for the Yankees, who went on to win.
Since then he has been a big celebrity among Yankee fans.
The fawning continued Friday as more than a dozen reporters and cameramen surrounded the boy as his parents escorted him to school, where his principal said the boy would not be punished for skipping school.
"It's amazing what one catch could do for someone," said classmate Joe Murphy.
Maier tried to deflect the attention Thursday as he was being squired in style around the city.
"I'm not as famous as the Yankees," he told a horde of reporters at The All-Star Cafe in New York City. "The players go out there every day. The Yankees deserve the credit."
At the Maier home in Old Tappan, his grandmother, Lorraine Briemer, met another pack of reporters desperate for details to add to the lore of Jeffrey's fast-growing legend. She obliged, saying Jeffrey's dream is to be a pro baseball player.
The Old Tappan Deli offered "the Jeff Maier Special" - turkey sandwich, cherry Coke, small pretzels, $4.75.
Baltimore fans had no plans of their own to lionize the boy. Officials jokingly suggested Maier should be arrested.
"That's grand theft, and it's bookable in Baltimore," police Commissioner Thomas Frazier said.
Bobby Bonilla, the Orioles outfielder who grew up in the Bronx, home of Yankee Stadium, said: "If one of the Orioles had hit it, the kid would have been strung up on the Throgs Neck Bridge."
Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke opened his weekly news conference Thursday by saying the play showed New York doesn't have a true zero-tolerance policy toward crime. "We were robbed, and they saw it, and nobody did anything about it."
The Orioles formally asked acting commissioner Bud Selig and American League President Gene Budig to overturn their Game 1 loss, saying "the best interests of baseball demand no less." (See D1.)
But Maier was unfazed by critics who said his grab from the right field stands of a Derek Jeter hit unfairly gave the Yankees a run. TV replays showed the ball would have hit the top of the fence or been caught for an out if Jeffrey hadn't scooped the ball into the stands.
"They don't understand," said Jeffrey, a starting pitcher and center fielder for his Little League team. "If they were me, a 12-year-old kid at a New York Yankees playoff game, they would try and catch the ball, too."
Jeffrey didn't actually catch the ball, which ended up in the possession of another fan. "The biggest E of my life," he said, smiling.
Nonetheless, the play thrust Jeffrey into the spotlight.
The Daily News took Jeffrey and his family to lunch at The All-Star Cafe and then brought them by limousine to Yankee Stadium, where he watched Game 2 of the series, posed for pictures with other fans and signed autographs.
The Bronx Bombers could have used Jeffrey's help, losing to the Orioles 5-3. But Jeffrey, alas, was seated behind the Yankee dugout.
Earlier on Thursday, Jeffrey appeared on "Good Morning America" after the ABC morning news program arranged for him and his family to stay overnight at the Plaza Hotel. He also appeared on "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee" and talked with "Hard Copy," but turned down "Geraldo."
Some Old Tappan residents called the attention ridiculous.
"To think that this kid is a hero and to idolize him is absurd," said Greg Nalbandian, a real estate appraiser. "He interfered with a play, and it's a playoff game."