People and the News

Mike DiGiovanna, who covers the Angels for the Times Orange County edition, crafted stories about two of the year’s most memorable youngsters: Michelle Carew, who ultimately lost her battle with leukemia, and Jeffrey Maier, who helped the New York Yankees win a playoff game.

AWARDS:

Orange County Press Club

1st Place: Sports Feature Story (Father’s Prayer)

1st place: Sports Action Story (Child’s Play)

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Father’s Prayer: Give Her More Time’

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

TIMES STAFF WRITER

March 3, 1996

Rod Carew curls up on a family room sofa with the young woman they call “Miracle Child,” 18-year-old Michelle Carew, a leukemia victim and the youngest of Rod and Marilynn Carew’s three daughters.

Michelle, clutching the peach-colored blanket her grandmother crocheted, nestles into Rod’s arms, their bodies forming a capital “S” and lower-case “s.” Rod’s hands, strong hands that gripped a baseball bat so masterfully during a 19-year major league career, pull Michelle close, evoking two powerful images--a father trying to protect his daughter; a father refusing to let his little girl go.

“Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children,” says Carew, the 50-year-old Angel batting instructor. “In November I said, ‘I can’t do this. How am I going to bury my child?’ If something happens to her, I don’t know how I would handle it. I keep telling My Friend Upstairs, ‘She’s a great kid, give her more time.”’

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Child’s Play: New York 5, Baltimore 4

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Oct. 10, 1996

NEW YORK--It took a mysterious black glove, an apple-cheeked, 12-year-old fan, a heated argument between 10 guys and an umpire, and one of the most controversial calls in postseason history, but baseball found a way to put the Roberto Alomar incident on the back burner Wednesday night.

And for that, the game has Jeffrey Maier to thank.

Jeffrey who?

That would be Jeffrey Maier, the youngster from Old Tappan, N.J., who carved his own pint-sized niche into New York sports lore, right there next to Reggie Jackson, Willis Reed and Joe Namath.

Just call him Kid October.

Maier hauled Derek Jeter’s eighth-inning fly ball into the right-field bleachers, turning a potential New York Yankee out into a game-tying home run, and Bernie Williams won it with a homer in the 11th, as the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4, in Game 1 of the American League championship series.