Posts Tagged ‘Derek Jeter’

The following is the first in a four part series that will take an in-depth look at the Yankees Core Four. How history will remember these legends and what we will feel, seeing them enshrined when we take our children and grandchildren to The Stadium in years to come.  Part I focuses on Derek Jeter.

Every team has legendary players.  Names that are synonymous with the teams most glorious successes.  They instinctively conjure up memories of championships and are the link from one winning era to the next.  For most teams, these players are few and far between.  For the Yankees, they are the players that stand out above all of the other legends.  They link the eras almost seamlessly.  From Ruth to DiMaggio to Mantle to Munson to Mattingly.  And since 1996 that honor has belonged to Derek Sanderson Jeter. Read the rest of this entry »

New York wants LeBron James. There’s been a video with the Mayor and a magazine’s 12 page plea, but there won’t be Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter making a pitch for New York to LeBron. 

“It wouldn’t make sense,” Jeter told ESPNNewYork.com. ”You don’t have to sell winning in New York. If I were going to another baseball team, how would a basketball player help? I don’t play basketball. I have nothing to do with that.”

The Yankees are kind of in a weird predicament when it comes to LeBron James and it’s an angle I didn’t look at until Alan Hahn of Newsday brought it up. 

Hahn writes, “I was told by an experienced television insider that while the Yankees would love to see LeBron in New York, the franchise might prefer he do so for the team that plays on their network during the dormant winter months.”

That network is YES Network and that team is the New Jersey Nets.

Yikes. 

It very well may be the best interest of the Steinbrenners and the organization to try to get LeBron on the Nets to boost YES. That means they’ll have the 27-time World Champion Yankees on YES in the summer and the LeBron led Nets in the winter. There’s a home run for one network if I’ve ever seen one. If the Yankees played on MSG, which they did from 1989 to 2001, they would probably want him to be a Knick, but since they created their own network and partnered with the Nets, it may be in their be$t intere$t for LeBron to become a Net.

The rocky Yankee career of Randy Winn ended today when he was designated for assignment to make way for the return of Curtis Granderson. There’s that old phrase that goes if you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, don’t say anything at all. Let’s make one quick exemption for Winn, though. When a team decides to keep a 25-year-old infielder who’s been playing the outfield of late opposed to the 13-year outfield veteran, the guy who once made an All-Star game, uh, things probably didn’t go so well.

Anyway, tonight will be Granderson’s first game since May 1 against the White Sox. He’s batting .225 with two homeruns and seven RBIs, and stole four bases. His return also probably ends Brett Gardner’s time in center, as Granderson will play there and Gardner will move back to left. Granderson is also slated to bat second, a spot where he hasn’t batted all year.

The Yankees come into the four-game series at home 28-19, 4.5 games behind the first-place Rays. The Cleveland Indians stand at 17-28, good enough for last in the AL Central. This is the first series between the two teams this season.

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Every team has them.  Players who, over the course of time, become legends.  They are revered by fans because they are at the epicenter of their franchise’s most cherished moments, usually a championship.  The Jets have Joe Namath and 1969. The Mets have Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and the rest of that remarkable ’86 team.  More recently, the New York Rangers have 1994 & the now immortal Mark Messier.

But for Yankee fans, these players, and their eras of dominance, are a spoil of immense riches.  Unlike other franchises, it seems the Yankees have a dynasty for every generation since Ban Johnson moved the franchise to New York from Baltimore in 1903.  Our Grandparents had Joe Dimaggio. Our Parents speak about Mickey Mantle as if he was a God.  And let’s be honest, he was.  And now, it is our generation’s turn to witness greatness.  If you’re like me, heading toward your mid 30s, these current Yankee teams of the last 14 years embody the prowess and glory of the legendary teams that have come before them.

What began in 1996, and has been carried through 2009, is nothing short of Baseball Majesty.  The names roll off of your tongue as if they already belong among those who are enshrined behind them in Monument Park.  Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Rivera.  Their names are royalty.  And as time marches on, with each passing game, their status as legend becomes further entrenched in the most hallowed annals of Yankee Lore. Read the rest of this entry »

“I’ve said from Day One, this is the only organization I’ve ever wanted to play for, and that’s still true today. I was a Yankees fan growing up,” Derek Jeter told the media in Tampa. “This is where I want to be. I’ve never envisioned myself playing anywhere else, and hopefully I don’t have to.”

And exhale.

Whew. 

Yankee fans, don’t let your mind wander any further about seeing Derek Jeter in another uniform. It’s not going to happen.

“To be honest with you, I never put limitations on how long I can play. … I want to play as long as I can, as long as I’m having fun, as long as I can be productive,” Jeter said. “This organization prides itself on winning and putting a competitive team on the field. As long as I can help out, that’s as long as I want to play.”

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I find it funny how media members write and talk about how the contract situations of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Joe Girardi could become distractions. The media is the reason why it could potentially become a distraction! Not only are they going to ask those three guys about their contract situations frequently, but they’re going to ask other players and members of the Yankees organization about it frequently which creates a distraction. It wouldn’t be a big deal or turn into a distraction if the media left it alone. 

All three guys are going to handle their situations with class no matter how they feel. No matter how they feel on the inside, they are not going to let it affect their attitude or on-field capabilities. 

Blame the media for blowing this up. Derek Jeter, who is already in Tampa, said he will wait to address the issue until everyone arrives at Spring Training. He will call a press conference at that time. What is Jeter going to say at the press conference? Nothing. He’s going to ask the media to not ask him about it again and say it will be handled when it’s handled. A ploy to get the media to stop asking him questions about it.

If the media does turn this into a distraction then put some of the blame on the Yankees. They are a veteran team coming off of a World Series title. It’s hard to imagine it affects the team’s play. 

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As I said in a previous post, Brian Cashman looks one or two years down the road when making decisions. He didn’t put up cash for a player like Holliday or Lackey this off-season because he knows next off-season is going to be a crucial one for the Yankees. The Yankees have decisions to make on Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. There will also be some potential free agents the Yankees should take a look at.

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New York Yankees shortstop and five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter has been named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. Jeter’s Yankees are coming off the franchise’s 27th World Series title in 2009. In an era of baseball where steroids hung above the sport, Derek Jeter was one of the brightest stars in the game that made baseball’s image a little better.

Deserving of an MVP several times in his career, Jeter has been Mr. Clutch and his been a consistent .310+ hitter. Jeter defied the law of shortstop age in 2009 putting together another exceptional season. At 35 years old, Jeter became the oldest World Series winning shortstop since Pee Wee Reese won with the Dodgers in 1955. 

Jeter has a lifetime average of .317 and batted .334 in 2009. Jeter becomes the first Yankee to ever win SI’s Sportsman of the Year. 

Two days after being named Gold Glove Award winners, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira have been named Silver Slugger Award winners. Derek Jeter batted .334 with 18 home runs, 66 RBIs, 107 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. Teixeira batted .292 with 39 home runs, 122 RBIs, 103 runs scored and 43 doubles.