Please read this...it was published in the May, 1997 issue of REFEREE
magazine.
Referee: You were involved in the controversial fan interference play in
last year's American League Championship Series. Tell us what happened on
the play.
Garcia: I was working right field. Being aggressive, when the ball was
hit, I took off. Some people say I got too close to the fence. But who's
to say? I really don't know. I thought I was in pretty good position.
    After seeing the flight of the ball, I picked up the fielder, which is
routinely what we do. I saw (Baltimore outfielder Tony Tarasco's) glove up
against the wall. I've seen ita hundred times on replay. I've seen it a
hundred times in my dreams. I'm waiting for the ball to hit his glove or
go over the wall or do whatever, and all of a sudden, (Tarasco) jumped up
and there's no ball anywhere. I never saw the kid reach out and hit the
ball. My first instinct was that the ball had to be above his glove and it
had to be above the fence, so it had to be a home run. There was no doubt
in my mind.
    We had an argument and eventually I ejected (Baltimore manager) Davey
Johnson. That was after I asked my partners what they saw. They told me
they could not tell if the guy interfered with the ball above the fence
or not.
    I really didn't see it. That bothered me. That bothers me today. If I
would have seen it, I don't think I would have made a mistake, but I
didn't see it. I had to make a decision.
    I think the biggest argument today is whether he would have caught
that ball or not. Honestly, I don't think (Tarasco) would have caught the
ball. I don't think the ball would have gone over the fence, either.
Referee: When was the first time you thought there was a major problem?
Garcia: When it happened, I really didn't feel the impact of the
situation. There was a play that happened, there was an argument, there
was a run scored.
    During the playoffs, the league officials have box seats next to the
dugout. I knew where they were. (AL President) Gene Budig was there with
(AL executive director of umpiring) Marty Springstead and other
dignitaries. About two innings after the play, I went down to first base
umpire Dale Scott and said, "Look over at the AL box." He said, "Where is
the box?" I said, "Right over there where there's nobody sitting right
now. You think I screwed up that play?" They were looking at the replay
and probably planning for things to come. That's when I realized that I
missed the play.
Referee: What happened after the game?
Garcia: When the game was over, I walked in to the lockerroom and
(Springstead) was standing there. Marty had his head down and, as soon as
I walked in, I knew. I said to him, "Did somebody interfere with the
ball?" He said, "Yeah."
    League officials asked me if I would go to the press conference. They
told me I didn't have to go if I didn't want to. I said that I would go,
but that I would at least like to see the play once on replay before I
answered questions. So I looked at the replay.
Referee: When you saw the kid interfere for the first time, what did you
say?
Garcia: I said, "Where did he come from?" I didn't see him standing there.
I never saw that. I felt bad about it.
    I went to the press conference and I didn't know what to expect. We
don't have these kind of things happened to us every day.
Referee: Did you go yourself?
Garcia: Marty Springstead went with me. I really appreciate the fact that
he was there with me and backed me up. He took the shots and he was right
there with me. I had a lot of support.
    The writers handled it professionally. They showed a lot of respect
and empathy for me. They knew it was a tough situation. They were about as
fair as you can be. That night I told myself that, because of the way they
treated me, I would honor any interview they wanted the next day. I got to
the ballpark early because I knew I would be interviewed. I answered every
question for them. I answered the same thing 100 times.
Referee: What happened the next game?
Garcia: My family came into Baltimore.
Referee: Was that planned?
Garcia: Yes. They came in and things were hectic.
Referee: Was it tough on the family?
Garcia: Yeah.
Referee: What happened?
Garcia: As soon as they came in the room I just started crying... just
like I'm doing now.
Referee: So it was weighing on you?
Garcia: Oh, yeah. They felt bad. My wife encouraged me. My daughter was
crying. It was just very emotional seeing the reaction. After that, the
rest of the day was a little bit better.
    I had security take me to the ballpark so I wouldn't have to go
through the people. There were signs all over the place saying everything
you could think of. One I remember said "Beat the Yanks, Beat the Umps,
Spank the Kids" on a T shirt. They had two security people standing by my
wife and my daughter and then they had two other security people standing
by my other daughter and her husband. When I walked out on the field, it
was unbelievable.
Referee: Describe it.
Garcia: Well, it's hard to describe...the boos, the yelling and the
screaming. But honestly I felt better in Baltimore hearing the people
screaming at me and yelling at me than I did in New York when they were
clapping when they saw me. That's not good. I really felt a little bit
better when they booed me. I didn't like it when they clapped for me
because it sounded like they thought I was on their side and I was
cheating for them. That's a terrible feeling to have. I found out later
that my daughter started crying sitting there. She saw the signs and
stuff. People make comments, but hey...
Referee: There was no getting away from it.
Garcia: On Saturday, we went to eat at South Point, which is a little area
on the other side of Little Italy. We were sitting in an outside cafe
having lunch and nobody was saying anything. We thought nobody knew who
we were or what we were doing. We were just sitting there eating and we
were talking about a lot of different things. I had tears in my eyes over
the whole thing. There was a couple sitting right across from us; they
were just sitting there talking. No problem. We sat there for about an
hour, just passing the day. It was a beautiful day. I started getting up
and the guy across from me said, "Hey, you guys have a tough job." I'm
thinking, "I didn't know this guy knew who the hell I was!" The waiter
comes over and says, "Mr. Garcia, can we have your autograph?" I'm
thinking, "Oh, my god! All these people have been watching me." I was kind
of embarrassed because I didn't think anybody knew. We had another person
come over and ask for an autograph. Another lady come over with her
husband. They wanted to take a picture, so I took a picture with them. I
thought I was incognito there.
    When we get ready to leave, some guy in the back yelled, "You still
missed that play!" I just kept walking. It was hard. The second day was
better and the third day was much better. The fans in Baltimore are great
fans. They just reacted the way that any fan would react. You can't blame
them.
Referee: And you moved on from there.
Garcia: Those were the last games I worked. I'm looking forward to
starting the season and getting all of this behind me.
... If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.
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