A leap of faith
That wisenheimer who jumped from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium last season and landed on the netting behind home plate? That's the last game he'll ever see there.
A New York judge barred 19-year-old Scott Harper of Armonk, N.Y., from Yankee Stadium for life after the lad pleaded guilty Wednesday to reckless endangerment. He could face jail as well, the Associated Press reports.
Harper's criminal sentence, to be handed down Sept. 19, will depend on the outcome of another case in Westchester County for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, state Supreme Court Judge Troy Webber said.
The district attorney's office recommended 30 days in jail; Harper had faced up to a year.
Harper dropped about 40 feet onto the large net, which stops foul balls from flying back into the stands, during the eighth inning of an Aug. 10, 2005, game against the Chicago White Sox. The game was delayed for four minutes while he was removed.
After the final out, Harper was carried from the ballpark on a stretcher, his head immobilized in a neck brace, and taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Harper told three friends with whom he was sitting that he was going to test whether the net would hold his weight and then jumped, police said.
After landing, he sat with his head in his hands for a few moments before climbing on the net back up to the middle level of seats while players watched and the crowd roared. He then was hoisted over the railing and led away by security.
He later said he was not trying to recreate a scene out of "The Scout" where Brendan Frasier makes a grand entrance into Yankee Stadium from the roof top.