Kevin Christian Maas (born January 20,
1965) is a former Major League Baseball player.
Originally viewed as a top prospect for the New York Yankees he was unable to replicate the success
of his rookie year and played for four major league ballclubs over five years.
He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1986 draft
after attending the University Of California.
He made his major league debut for Yankees on June 29, 1990 when they called
him up from the Columbus Clippers. It was
hoped that he would be the heir to Don Mattingly. His first Major League hit was a single off
of Jack McDowell. He started his big league
career on a tear, setting a record for the fewest at bats (72) to hit 10 home
runs. He also set a record for fastest rookie to 13 and 15 with 110 and
133 at-bats, thirteen fewer than Sam Horn took to reach 13 and two fewer than Wally Berger took to reach 15. He was helped by a
three-game series at Texas when he homered in each game of the series. At the
end of the 1990 season, Maas had hit 21 home runs in 79 games and he finished
second in The Sporting
News Rookie of the Year Award voting to Sandy Alomar, Jr. of the Cleveland Indians. Like Mattingly, Maas was a left-handed
batter. As a result, many of his home runs went into the right field stands.
About halfway through the season a group of a dozen or so young ladies began
wearing "Maas-tops" to Yankees home games and sitting in the right
field stands. Whenever Maas hit a home run to right, the girls would get up,
remove their tops and jump up and down until Maas finished circling the bases.[6] However, after a few home runs the women were
banned from entering Yankee Stadium.[ The following
season he served as the Yankees designated hitter and occasional fill-in for
Mattingly at first base. Even though he played in 148 games, his sophomore
season was not as successful as his first. He did hit 23 home runs (in 500 at
bats), but hit just .220 with 128 strikeouts.By 1992, Maas was shuffling back
and forth between the major and minor leagues. He was released by the Yankees
in 1994. He bounced around between San Diego, Cincinnati, and Minnesota. He briefly returned to the majors in 1995 with
Minnesota but it was clear he was a "one hit wonder." Maas then signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Central League in 1996 to replace Glenn Davis.