SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, Jeff Maier became a hero in New York — and hated in Baltimore — when the Yankees and Orioles met in the postseason. As a 12-year-old, he leaned over the railing in right field at Yankee Stadium, stuck out his glove and turned a Derek Jeter fly ball into a game-tying home run in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Maier still has the floppy glove at home in Amherst, where he settled in 2010 with wife Andrea, a former three-sport standout for Souhegan High.

Until Raul Ibanez homered twice on Wednesday, it appeared the Yankees needed some Maier Magic in the first two playoff games at the Bronx. Maier's controversial play in 1996, which should have been ruled fan interference, has been aired throughout the ALDS: Baltimore's Tony Tarasco camping under a fly ball, only to have a little kid reach out and deflect it over the wall.

“I think it's certainly interesting and unique to be part of such a memorable and historic play in the history of Major League Baseball, which obviously carries so many lasting plays,” Maier said. “As I've gotten older, and I'm no longer playing competitively — and not getting hit by as many pitches — I've started to embrace it and appreciate how this play holds a special place in baseball history.”

Hit by pitches? Yes, Maier, who grew up in New Jersey, received so much notoriety that he became a target for opposing teams. And the kid could swing the bat. In college, he became the career hits leader at Wesleyan University and also played summer ball for the Pittsfield Dukes, the New England Collegiate Baseball League team owned at the time by current Orioles (and former Red Sox) general manager Dan Duquette.

He never got the Jeter baseball, which bounced off the heel of his glove, but he did eventually meet the Yankee captain at a private autograph signing.

“I was 13 years old, and being a teenager standing there in front of my sports idol, it was tough for me to come up with words. My tongue was tied,” Maier said. “He asked me about baseball, what positions I played, and tried to relate to me. He told me to work hard. He gave me a ball that says, 'To Jeff, Thanks a lot, Derek Jeter.'”

Now the father of two sons, including an infant, Maier has established firm roots in New Hampshire. He worked for the Manchester Internet infrastructure company Dyn before landing his current job at LeagueApps, a company that produces software for managing recreational sports leagues.

Yet for all his success on the field and in business, he is forever remembered as the 12-year-old aggressively reaching for that fateful fly ball at the old Yankee Stadium.

The director of acquisitions and sales for LeagueApps, Maier was on a business trip in February when he suddenly became a rock star at LaGuardia Airport.

“Are you Jeffrey Maier, the Yankee kid?” asked a flight attendant at the gate, upon seeing his name.

From there, “the line shut down,” Maier said, as Yankees fans gathered to meet him and ask about the Jeter home run.

Here's what happened: Maier, from his seat in the front row, moved to the rail and instinctively reached for the fly ball Tarasco was waiting to catch below. The controversial home run tied the game, and the Yankees went on to win the ALCS and World Series.

Maier's Wikipedia page is full of interesting notes, including an audio link to Orioles broadcaster Jon Miller's call that night:

“There's a high fly ball to right, deep, going back is Tarasco, to the warning track, to the wall ... He's under it now, and it's taken away from him by a fan! They're going to call it a home run! I can't believe it ... A terrible call by (umpire) Richie Garcia! It's all tied up!”

Not everything on the Wiki page is accurate.

“I was not awarded a key to the city of New York. I did not go on the Late Show with David Letterman,” said Maier, scanning the page. “Aside from that, it looks pretty accurate.”

Staff writer Kevin Gray covers baseball for the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. His email address is kgray@unionleader.com.