I have been biting my tongue all week over Jeterpalooza, where the fact that the Yankees have gone 1-3 since Derek Jeter came back to the team is completely overlooked because the Captain is about to get his 3000th hit. I find it more than a little ironic that the player who is supposed to be all about team, and not individual achievements, has a reality show, a bracelet, sneakers, and a slew of endorsements lines up, all about his personal numbers. It is his right to do all that, but it's a little jarring, not to mention counter to his team-first image.
Not to mention his whining about the "negativity" surrounding the achievement. Oh, boo bleeding hoo. Some reporters dared to mention his current numbers, and that's "negativity"? Puh-lease.
Don't get me wrong, Jeter being the first Yankee to reach 3000 is a big deal and a great achievement. But it shouldn't take precedence over the fact that the team has looked terrible this week, after going 14-4 when the captain was on the DL. And, as I always say, switch the player in this scenario from Jeter to A-Rod, and tell me what the reaction would be.
I finally reached my limit this morning, when I read all the hysteria about the big, bad Tampa Bay Rays refusing to play a day-night doubleheader Saturday, and the Yankees not scheduling a regular doubleheader, which means that Jeter only has two games, not three, before the All-Star Break And all the sob stories about fans with tickets to Friday's game, who will miss out on seeing history. Guess what? As John Sterling says, you can't predict baseball. Even if the game was played, Jeter could have gone 0-5. Would those fans demand their money back?
As for the Rays, they did what is best for their team, not Derek Jeter. What the heck is wrong with that? As Evan Longoria said, "It's not like he's not going to get another hit."
Even Joe Girardi has appeared to lose perspective. He said, "I don't know if I've ever been a part of something this big." Oh, please. I think hitting a game-winning triple to win the clinching game in the 1996 World Series was a little bigger. Or catching a perfect game. Or being part of the 1998 Yankees. Or leading the Yankees to victory in the 2009 World Series. What is Joe thinking? Whatever happened to the team being more important than the individual? Good grief.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Couldn't agree with you more, Lisa. And do the fans who are holding tickets to last night's game realize it was rescheduled for September 22nd, which could a huge game for both teams?
ReplyDeleteLisa, you must be the worse Yankee fan ever. Seriously, all you do is write how awful Jeter is and all he's done is try and help this team win, year after year, now all of a sudden he's selfish and doesn't care about the team.
ReplyDeleteYou make me want to vomit. It makes perfect sense why nobody reads your crap.
5 - 5, Jeter gets them a win. You can go back to mucnhing on your Doritos.
Maybe if the Jeters, instead of Kalamazoo, Michigan, had moved to Austin, Texas, and Derek had been a Longhorn instead of a Wolverine, she'd give the greatest New York Tri-State athlete of the last 40 years a little more credit.
ReplyDelete(Sorry, Marty. You too, Clyde. I don't have to apologize to Reggie: He said on "CenterStage" how much he admired Jeter.)
Jeez Lisa. I guess it's true what they say. Haters gotta Hate! I guess Jeter was all about himself today too, especially when he talked about how important it was to get a win! As for the Yanks going 1-3 since he came back. I believe pitching had something to do with those losses. DJ is right, there ha been a lot of negativity and quite frankly a lot from blog posts like yours. This is a time to celebrate a truly momentous milestone in all of Yankees history, not to be bitter. I still would love to hear 1 comment by DJ when he puts himself above the team.
ReplyDelete"...the greatest New York Tri-State athlete of the last 40 years..."???
ReplyDeleteHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Are you serious? Really?
Uh, forgotten about Lawrence Taylor already? How about Phil Simms? Mark Messier? Tom Seaver? Mike Piazza? I could go on and on and on.
Man oh man, you are on drugs. Just like everyone on your drugged-up team.
I just read on MSNBC.com that Mr. Jeter's "3000" ball was a specially-marked ball, to commemorate the occasion. How much you wanna bet that ball was specially loaded too, to guarantee extra distance? I'll bet my next paycheck, because that's the kind of cheaters the Yankers are - the worst kind.
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing. Blog writers assign too much blame (and glory) to one person of a team game. So the Yankees went 1-3 with Jeter back. Now they are 2-4. It's a team game. For the last week, they haven't hit and they haven't pitched. But no, it's cool to blame Jeter. It's part of the blogging protocol these days. It's how to get your street cred. Well...cred don't come that easy. Want street cred? Read Joe Posnanski's post on Jeter.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Jeter has gotten old on us. But he's still the right shortstop for this team. And those 3,000 hits stand for determination and consistency. And yeah, it's always been more about the team.
So Jeter got his 3000th hit. So what. That makes him the 28th to do it, and puts him at 27th (I think) on the all-time list. So what.
ReplyDeleteIs he now the all-time hits leader? Nope, that will never happen, needs another 1200+ hits, thanks for playing, nice to know ya!
Is he even in the top 5? Nope, not even close, and will never be. He doesn't even have the most hits for a shortstop.
So before all of you, and the media in particular, get out of control with all of this, let's keep things in perspective. 3000 is just a nice round number, nothing more. It's not the most ever, it's not even the most of any shortstop.
MLB (and especially the Yankers) are just trying to sell you something that doesn't really mean much to begin with. If he had broken Pete Rose's all-time record, well that's different. But 3000 is just another step in a long journey, so get a grip.
Do they give trophies for finishing in 18th place? No, not unless you're talking about the Special Olympics, so unless you want to start making comparisons between Jeter and the Special Olympics (which are easy to do), then let's not get carried away with this.
I always have to laugh when I hear the personal attacks and the venom directed at me whenever I ever write that Jeter is, um, human, the way everybody else in baseball is. (And most of the time, there's not much of an argument directed at me, other than "You're a hater! Why are you so mean to Jeter!"
ReplyDeleteIt's not enough that the captain got his 3000th hit in terrific style, or has had a great career, or will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He's also got to be considered the most wonderful, selfless player, as well, who never thinks of himself or tries to market himself, even when he's wearing a t-shirt celebrating DJ3K and wearing a Yankee hat with a logo of himself on it in the postgame.
And the best New York athlete of the last 40 years is Mariano Rivera.
ReplyDelete"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Are you serious? Really?" Completely.
ReplyDelete"Uh, forgotten about Lawrence Taylor already?" No, and if you're going to talk about who's "on drugs"... Besides, he was never even the best linebacker in football. Mike Singletary of Chicago was always better. "How about Phil Simms?" One Super Bowl, or have you forgotten the second was quarterbacked by Jeff Hostetler? "Mark Messier?" A classless thug who was one New Jersey Devils or Vancouver Canucks goal away from being the biggest failure in the history of New York sports and getting run out of town on the rails underneath the Garden. "Tom Seaver?" Jeter did more in his first 5 years than Seaver did in his 12 -- and did it every day, not every 4. "Mike Piazza?" I must have missed all those World Series HE won, or do you want to talk about drugs again?
"I could go on and on and on." But you'd only embarrass yourself further, Freshie.
"So before all of you, and the media in particular, get out of control with all of this, let's keep things in perspective. 3000 is just a nice round number, nothing more. It's not the most ever, it's not even the most of any shortstop."
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. While Honus Wagner, Robin Yount and Cal Ripken had more hits, they also played a lot of games at other positions. The most hits while playing the position of shortstop had been 2,677 by Luis Aparicio, and Jeter has surpassed that.
The question was "who is the best athlete in the Tri-city area". Not who was the biggest beneficiary of circumstance. All of the Yankers are beneficiaries of circumstance, because if you take any of them away from the $200M payroll, they ALL fall apart like a house of cards on a windy day! And the same would be true for Avon-lady Jeter, "twinkle-toes" Rivera, and all of your other losers. How many hits do you think Jeter would have had playing in Kansas City or Pittsburgh? I'm guessing somewhere significantly south of 3000.
ReplyDeleteAny athlete will tell you that playing with better teammates will help you elevate your own game. So playing in a loaded lineup has significantly helped Jeter over the years, because let's face it, he's just NOT that good of an athlete on his own.
It is true that Lawrence Taylor was a drug abuser, but even without them, the guy was a one-man wrecking crew, he was an ANIMAL! And he was a significant reason for the Giants success in the 80's. Not taking anything away from Mike Singletary, who was also an incredible athlete, but Singletary played in Chicago - we are talking about athletes in NEW YORK! All your argument says is that the athletes in Chicago are better than the athletes in New York - weak!!
Phil Simms only quarterbacked one Super Bowl win (with a record-setting performance, don't forget that), but he started most of the games during their 2nd championship season and was only replaced by Hostetler because of injury. And if you put Simms and the Avon lady (Jeter) in a no-holds barred cage death match, guess who comes out alive? SIMMS!! HA HA HA
And as far as the "shortstop" argument, you're splitting hairs. Wagner, Yount and Ripken started as shortstops and played the majority of their careers as shortstops, so the hits record for shortstops belongs to them, even though they later played at other positions. History will remember them as shortstops; Jeter will be remembered as playing in a $200M lineup that helped him pad his stats.
Mikey, also please stop using the "championship count" as your fallback argument. Just because Phil Simms only won one SB doesn't mean he was not an extraordinary athlete. In most sports, it's a team game, meaning everyone on the team contributes to the championship. Except in baseball, where it's the golden rule, "he who has the gold makes the rules", which explains the 27 trophies in your trophy case.
ReplyDeleteUsing your logic, Derrick Thomas of the KC Chiefs should have won a couple of Super Bowls, Patrick Ewing should have won at least a few NBA titles, George Brett should have won multiple World Series. But they didn't, because their teammates were not as athletically gifted, so that makes Thomas, Ewing and Brett less of an athlete? Use your head for something other than as a covering for that hole in your neck!
“The question was ‘who is the best athlete in the Tri-city area’. Not who was the biggest beneficiary of circumstance. All of the Yankers are beneficiaries of circumstance, because if you take any of them away from the $200M payroll, they ALL fall apart like a house of cards on a windy day!” Who do you mean, Freshy? Do you mean Paul O’Neill, who won a World Series with historically cheap Cincinnati? David Cone, who won one with cheap Toronto – but not with the free-spending Mets? David Wells, who reached the postseason with SIX different teams, including cheapskates like Toronto, Cincinnati and San Diego (that last after leaving the Yankees)? Tino Martinez, who helped St. Louis get to the Playoffs after leaving the Yankees? How about Jason Giambi, a big cog in Colorado being contenders this season? Bobby Abreu, who helped the Angels reach the Playoffs after leaving the Yankees? Or even Alfredo Aceves, a big reason the Red Sox are winning? Do you CHOOSE not to think, or does it just work out that way? You come with stupidities, I counter them with undisputed facts.
ReplyDelete“If you put Simms and the Avon lady (Jeter) in a no-holds barred cage death match, guess who comes out alive? SIMMS!! HA HA HA” They’re both 6-foot-3 and roughly the same weight -- and that's if you bring Simms in his prime to the present, not today's Simms who is 20 years older. Really, you’re a moron and a half.
“And as far as the ‘shortstop’ argument, you're splitting hairs. Wagner, Yount and Ripken started as shortstops and played the majority of their careers as shortstops, so the hits record for shortstops belongs to them, even though they later played at other positions.” Check the link, dimwit, or is ESPN not good enough of a source for you? http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4402932
“History will remember them as shortstops; Jeter will be remembered as playing in a $200M lineup that helped him pad his stats.” Jeter will be remembered as the defining player on a team that won 5 World Series; what will history remember about your favorite ballplayers? Will they be remembered at all?
And as for Derrick Thomas, I don’t fault him, the Chiefs were poorly coached; George Brett, the Royals were a bunch of mentally weak thugs (as “The Bronx Is Burning” showed) and only won one because they cleared out the cokeheads and then got the biggest mistake in the history of umpiring; and Ewing’s Knicks? The one time they ever got close was when Michael Jordan was away. I will use the championship count because, unlike you... I can.
"...You come with stupidities, I counter them with undisputed facts."
ReplyDeleteHA HA HA HA - that's why I like this forum, daily comic relief!
I really don't care what you or ESPN or anyone has to say, anything and everything the Yankers have ever done, are doing or will ever do is tainted with money and/or drugs, and is therefore irrelevant, and should not be entered into any record book.
So there. YANKERS SUCK!!!!
Hey, I kind of like Freshy. My worst fear is that him and Mike will start their own version of the Squawk together!
ReplyDeletebtw, Lisa or Jon, the first comment I post in any web session always has a weird ID, like 1dcb0836-4a7f-11e0-9be6-000bcdcb471e, but once I have authenticated, subsequent posts have my ID, urinalfresh23. Wazzup with that? It never did that before.
ReplyDelete