“He’s God. He’s God all the time. It’s fun to watch him play the game. He’s the No. 1 ambassador in this game.”—Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on Derek Jeter, quoted in Pete Caldera, “Key Hits? Leave It to Jeter,” The Bergen Record, May 1, 2010
Cast your mind back, oh, anywhere from the last four to seven years. Think of the major-league shortstops compared back then (often to his detriment) with the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter: Nomar Garciaparra. Miguel Tejada. Alex Rodriguez. What’s happened to them since?
Let’s see: The first never really had as fine a season after he was traded from the Red Sox in the year they finally won the World Series; the second admitted to purchasing human growth hormone; the third finally owned up to using performance-enhancing drugs—and is still reluctant to comment outside of a grand jury room about whether, since that time, someone else under investigation helped him to continue that use.
Of these, Jeter alone endures, still producing, still winning, untouched by scandal.
I’m not saying he’s perfect, mind you. He may well be, as my college friend Steve insists (likening him, in this manner, to George Stephanopoulos), “quietly cocky.” But Joe DiMaggio, we now know, was far worse, and that doesn’t dilute one iota from his on-field greatness.
And so it is with Jeter. (And let’s face it, faithful reader: You’d be a good deal more than “quietly cocky” if you not only played for the greatest franchise in baseball history but had your pick of starlets).
So what if, as The New Yorker’s Roger Angell observes, he has “never heard him say an interesting word”? Jeter’s taken to heart Crash Davis’ advice in Bull Durham about the value of clichés in dealing with the media (“You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends.”)
The Yankees’ all-time hits leader is not only content to let his performance on the field speak for him, but to let teammates, past and present--as well as awestruck opponents such as Guillen--to do the same.
I’m sure Jeter had a good chuckle when he heard Guillen’s “God all the time” quote. “Lord of the Rings" is a somewhat less lofty, but far more accurate designation. But I think the Yankee shortstop for the last 15 years is content with another nickname: Captain.
Cast your mind back, oh, anywhere from the last four to seven years. Think of the major-league shortstops compared back then (often to his detriment) with the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter: Nomar Garciaparra. Miguel Tejada. Alex Rodriguez. What’s happened to them since?
Let’s see: The first never really had as fine a season after he was traded from the Red Sox in the year they finally won the World Series; the second admitted to purchasing human growth hormone; the third finally owned up to using performance-enhancing drugs—and is still reluctant to comment outside of a grand jury room about whether, since that time, someone else under investigation helped him to continue that use.
Of these, Jeter alone endures, still producing, still winning, untouched by scandal.
I’m not saying he’s perfect, mind you. He may well be, as my college friend Steve insists (likening him, in this manner, to George Stephanopoulos), “quietly cocky.” But Joe DiMaggio, we now know, was far worse, and that doesn’t dilute one iota from his on-field greatness.
And so it is with Jeter. (And let’s face it, faithful reader: You’d be a good deal more than “quietly cocky” if you not only played for the greatest franchise in baseball history but had your pick of starlets).
So what if, as The New Yorker’s Roger Angell observes, he has “never heard him say an interesting word”? Jeter’s taken to heart Crash Davis’ advice in Bull Durham about the value of clichés in dealing with the media (“You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends.”)
The Yankees’ all-time hits leader is not only content to let his performance on the field speak for him, but to let teammates, past and present--as well as awestruck opponents such as Guillen--to do the same.
I’m sure Jeter had a good chuckle when he heard Guillen’s “God all the time” quote. “Lord of the Rings" is a somewhat less lofty, but far more accurate designation. But I think the Yankee shortstop for the last 15 years is content with another nickname: Captain.
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