10 Years Gone

Then as it was, then again it will be
An' though the course may change sometimes
Rivers always reach the sea
Blind stars of fortune, each have several rays
On the wings of maybe, down in birds of prey
Kind of makes me feel sometimes, didn't have to grow
But as the eagle leaves the nest, it's got so far to go

Changes fill my time, baby, that's alright with me
In the midst I think of you, and how it used to be

Did you ever really need somebody, And really need 'em bad
Did you ever really want somebody, The best love you ever had
Do you ever remember me, baby, did it feel so good
'Cause it was just the first time, And you knew you would

Through the eyes an' I sparkle, Senses growing keen
Taste your love along the way, See your feathers preen
Kind of makes makes me feel sometimes, Didn't have to grow
We are eagles of one nest, The nest is in our soul

Vixen in my dreams, with great surprise to me
Never thought I'd see your face the way it used to be
Oh darlin', oh darlin'

I'm never gonna leave you. I never gonna leave
Holdin' on, ten years gone
Ten years gone, holdin' on, ten years gone
- Led Zeppelin

Ten Years Ago, a kid by the name of Jeffrey Maier popped into baseball lore. He flicked Derek Jeter's flyball to the wall, away from the Orioles outfielder Tony Tarsaco. The ball was ruled a homerun and the Yankees went on to win the World Series.


Young Jeffrey is now 22 and is up for the amateur draft, and the Yankees are looking closely.

The Yankees' angel in the outfield has a shot at earning his wings.
In a twist of fate even Hollywood couldn't dream up, the former Little Leaguer who stole a home run for the Bronx Bombers in a 1996 playoff game could be drafted by his heroes.

The Yankees invited Jeffrey Maier to a workout a decade after he reached over the right-field wall and stopped a Baltimore Orioles outfielder from catching a Derek Jeter blast.

"It's been a very exciting week," said Maier, who graduated from Wesleyan University Sunday and was batting, fielding and running bases at the House that Ruth Built on Thursday.

"It was awesome to be there," he said of the invitation-only workout with about 30 other college standouts, observed by Yankee scouts and trainers.

Maier, 22, tried to make it sound like he was just another prospect, although he admitted that when his name was announced, there was a murmur of recognition from the players.

They remembered the infamous moment when Oriole outfielder Tony Tarasco leaped to catch Jeter's long drive in Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series only to have it flicked away by Maier in the bleachers.

The O's squawked about fan interference, but the ump ruled it a home run. The Bronx Bombers went on to win the pennant and the World Series, and Maier became part of Yankee lore.

He played for his high school team in Old Tappan, N.J., and then for Wesleyan, where he broke the hitting record.

Then came the call from the Yankee scout and the trip to the Bronx, where he thought not about his role in Yankee history but about the legends who had been on the field before him.

"You think about the likes of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson," he said.

Major League Baseball's amateur draft starts Tuesday, and Maier said it would be a dream come true if he were tapped by the franchise.

Yankee officials wouldn't discuss his chances, although one evaluator not affiliated with the team said he's more likely to be an "organizational player" consigned to the minor leagues than a future major leaguer.

But Maier's got at least one big-name fan rooting for him.

"I hope he does get drafted," Jeter said last night.

"It's the least they could do. Pay him back finally. It would seem kind of ironic, wouldn't it?"

As the folks say, you gotta love it. I hope he makes it to the big club. Something tells me he will get there. I don't what that is, but it's the sniff of destiny.