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IS THE BEST  DEREK JETER ...an artist's vision |
What's not to like about
a man with his reputation?
of TheColumnists.com
He has a white mother
and a black father.
That is about the only matter of personal interest I know about
Derek Jeter, the captain of the World Champion Yankees and the
anchor of the team over the last 16 seasons. He will be 36 next
month.
Unlike that other renowned American with a white mother and a
black father, President Barack Obama, he doesn’t write books
about his mixed racial background, doesn’t describe any
adjustments to his identification, never has been heard to discourse
on the subject and doesn’t represent motivated groups on
the subject.
All he does is play baseball and play it better than anybody
has over the last decade or so with five World Series triumphs,
seven pennants and eleven division titles.
He is, in journalistic terms, colorful on the field and colorless
off the field. He has made some of the most amazing plays in
baseball with his incredible throw to his catcher from somewhere
between third and home to catch a shocked Jeremy Giambi in a
playoff game against Oakland and the vaulting, diving, life-threatening
catch in an extra inning thriller against the Red Sox.
His lifetime batting average coming into the 2010 season is .317
with the most hits ever of any Yankee, 2747. The next three names
on the Yankee hit list are Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.
He has never batted lower than .291.
In his 16 seasons around the Yankees, there has never been a
hint of scandal, off-color conduct or controversy about him.
He slid through the steroid era of the 1990s with several of
his teammates being named as users and confessors from Jason
Giambi to Alex Rodriquez to Andy Pettitte without a hint of wrong-doing.
Jeter is cordial, courteous and cooperative with the press. He
answers every question about every play in any game. He just
never says anything worth getting excited about. He will talk
about on-field plays as long as the media asks about them.
He has never been known to answer any question about his off-field
activities from the influences of his mixed parental background
to his free time activities. Nobody has ever heard him mention
a book he has read, a movie he has seen, a television show he
watches or a movie star he has dated.
As the most eligible bachelor in high profile New York, Jeter
has been seen with some of the most beautiful actresses, models
and show business wanna-bes. Last winter he was linked in gossip
columns with a young actress named Minka Kelly.
Several newspapers printed photos of the two together and more
than one suggested they were engaged and a wedding was set for
November after the 2009 World Series. Jeter said nothing. The
World Series came and went.
No one heard of any wedding. Minka Kelly’s name has not
been seen in the local gossip columns in 2010. Jeter wears only
his World Series ring. Nobody has been able to photograph Jeter
or Kelly with a wedding ring.
Jeter owns five World Series rings. Yogi Berra, the legendary
Yankee, has 10. He kidded Jeter when he received his fifth this
opening day that he had a long way to go before he caught up
with Yogi in that department. Jeter said it was one of his goals.
George M. Steinbrenner, who will be 80 years old on July 4th,
has owned the Yankees since 1973. He is in semi-retirement now
due to age and ill health and his two sons, Hank and Hal, run
the Yankee operation including the creation of the new Yankee
Stadium across the street from the historic old one.
He was called “George” by all baseball people including
sportswriters. He has been referred to as “Mr. Steinbrenner”
on two separate occasions.
The first is when he was identified as such on the "Seinfeld"
television show. The second is when he is referenced to by Derek
Jeter. No one has ever heard Jeter refer to the Yankee boss as
anyone but “Mr. Steinbrenner.”
Jeter has shown no signs of slowing down as a player in the first
month of the Yankees 2010 season. His average has stayed around
.300 and his fielding skills show no signs of deterioration.
It is a good guess that this well-conditioned, dedicated, serious
athlete will be leading the Yankees for another half dozen years
or so on the field. Then he will become the manager or general
manager and stay with the Yankees another 30 or 40 years.
I think Derek Jeter is the best all around player in baseball
today. I think he may be one of the five or six best all around
players ever. All he seems able to do constantly is win.
I don’t know anything about Derek Jeter off the field. Maybe
that is just the way it is supposed to be when you are the second
coming of Jack Armstrong.
©2010 by Maury Allen. The Maury Allen caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. This column first posted May 3, 2010.
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