I don’t claim to speak for anyone else, but at least for me reading and hearing about the Derek Jeter contract negotiations was a rather unpleasant one as a Yankee fan. Of course, all the verbal jousting by both sides is over now and next season will be sooner than we know it and we’ll be talking about baseball again, but I couldn’t help that feel that this moment in time in the history of Derek Jeter as a player, and myself and my own baseball viewing experience has changed ever so slightly. I’m being a bit dramatic, but in truth the process that has occurred during Jeter’s first foray in the free agent market has undoubtedly changed him as a player and the public’s perception of him as evidenced by his remarks to the media yesterday.
Let me give you a little background to my theory as to why it has changed by framing the change within my own take on Derek and what makes his public image so highly regarded. In truth, Derek has always been the kind of athlete that broadcasters and talking heads on sports shows love to gush about because he’s this sort of platonic form of an athlete. By that I mean Derek seemed so perfect and unaffected; on the field he has exuded excellence and been the consummate winner and off the field he said and did all the right things, as far as we knew, and this was by design. Unlike so many athletes today who saturate our lives, Derek has always strove to be the guy who’s a boring quote. Indeed, Derek for the most par has never said anything controversial or did anything scandalous, save for maybe being spotted with a starlet or two on his arm, and because of that Jeter has always been the guy people love to put on a pedestal and marvel at what a great man he is, but what do we truly know about Derek Jeter the Man? Indeed, Derek has always guarded his privacy and his private life carefully, never giving away anything about what makes him tick or what it’s like to be Derek Jeter, and because of it we have been left to fill in the blanks on what kind of guy he is, but I think these negotiations have revealed the veneer ever so slightly. In fact, I think what these negotiations have showed is that like so many other athletes before him, what has made Derek so great all these years, is an unflappable belief in himself and unquenching desire to strive to be the best. This belief in his own excellence has helped propel Derek to the player he has become, but I also believe this is what has made this contract negotiation so contentious.
Out of the Jeter camp we kept hearing about he was “baffled” by the Yankees offer of 3 years $45million (a deal that kept him the highest paid middle infielder in the game) and how he wanted A-Rod money and A-Rod years for his next deal, and part of me wished it was just a bunch of nonsense, but I think that these expectations by Jeter and his people were a reflection of Jeter’s unwavering belief in himself as among the game’s best today. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Derek will have a big bounce-back year next year and hit .320 and put up MVP numbers like he did the year before, but I think you’d be hard pressed to say that Jeter was the same guy last season. Time after time Derek it was apparaent that couldn’t make the seemingly easy play to his right or strike out and hit into another double play in a big situation (he lead all of baseball in outs) and it all added up to his worst year at the age of 36; its possible he improves, but at that age the chances are getting slimmer. And yet despite this apparent decline it is clear Derek and his camp saw this as a blip on the screen, an aberration that will be quickly fixed next year in no time, and as a result he should be continued to be paid like one of the game’s best when he clearly is not. Certainly, as a professional athlete you need to be confident in yourself in order to achieve greatness, but at what point does pride because foolishness?
I bring all this up because I just saw Derek being interview by Sweeny Murti on the MLB Network (who knew he was on there? Another nice pickup for a great network) just now and I realized that much of this is true about Derek, but I can’t say I feel the same way about it. As you can imagine from what I said above I’ve been strongly on management’s side on this negotiations and thought that the original deal was a very reasonable deal for a 36 year old shortstop, if not overly generous, but when he spoke I couldn’t help but feel bad about it. I’m sure it helped that Derek was talking to Murti, a guy who’s been the WFAN’s Yankee beat guy forever, but what I saw in his few lines was that the veneer was almost pulled away entirely to reveal a man with a seriously bruised ego. Derek had never in his entire career had to deal with the notion that he wasn’t all that good and the realities of a business that can be harsh to players in their decline phase and I could see in his eyes how it hurt him. I realize that sounds stupid, and after all the guy did get $17million a year so he’s not exactly getting fleeced, but I saw a guy who realized he was on the other side of the hill on a place where the sun doesn’t shine quite so bright and that fact I found out bummed out me nearly as much as it did Derek. I mean this is Derek Fucking Jeter here, this is the guy I have been watching since I’ve been since freaking fifth grade, the guy who ALWAYS won and who ALWAYS got the job done when the Yankees needed him for my entire adult life, and now he’s an old man, he’s a washed up actor who hasn’t figured out that he’s not the star of the show anymore and I can’t help but be sad about that. Sure, he very well could have a solid year next year be a productive player in an all-star lineup where he just needs to help carry the load, but it won’t be the same. No, things may look the same, and Derek will go out there take his spot in leadoff and take the field like he did for all those other seasons, but that Derek Jeter is gone for good. I don’t expect that to change how I feel about the Yankees, but it sure will be different, for us the fans and Derek.
