Still Jeter After All These Years

Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown did a great story Friday on Derek Jeter. Brown talks about the things that makes Derek Jeter the player he has been throughout his career. We know a lot of Yankees fans who seem to have forgotten that. Brown also knows what we know; that maybe Derek Jeter won't get to that ball up the middle, but with the game on the line, we want the ball or bat in his hands.

“I don’t feel old, man,” he says.

He laughs. He knows he’s claimed otherwise many times, often with a wry smile, usually when the season was well along and he was insisting on a few more innings from his legs. In 12 full seasons, including postseasons, he’s played an average of 162 games, all at a position that hardly rests, and never once quit on a two-hopper to second base.

“I know I joke about it,” he says. “But I feel as good now as I did in my first year.”

Of course, everybody coasts into March. The beauty of Jeter, what makes him Jeter, is who he is in September. Who he is in October. Who he is in Year 13. Same guy today, same as yesterday.

New York would buy tickets to watch Derek Jeter walk – slightly pigeon-toed, head down, bat tucked under his arm – from the on-deck circle to the plate.

That’s because he shows up for every at-bat. That’s because he hasn’t just survived being a Yankee (and in the media age), he’s perfected it. The folks in the bleachers, they could always trust his body, trust his work, trust his intentions. The folks in the clubhouse, they could always trust his leadership. The folks in the front office, they could always trust his decisions.

Maybe some fans have taken him for granted. Some may be those fans who are so caught up in statistics, and comparing them to Jeter's contract, that they've forgotten what he has meant to the team in the past and what he still means to them today.

And of course there are the spoiled fans; those who did not live through the miseries of the '60's and and/or the '80's. They were between 10 and 20 when the Yankees won in '96 and with 3 more championships over the next 4 years, they thought it was the Yankees divine right to win. So now that it has been 7 years since the last title, they need people to blame.

Make no mistake, A-Rod has taken much more blame since he arrived here, especially with the Yankees gag job in the 2004 ALCS. But fans seem to have forgotten the part that Jeter played in winning those championships. "Oh, anyone could have been the shortstop on those teams." It's the same nonsense Joe Torre heard about his managing those teams.

But Jeter was the one making, "the flip". He was the one winning the 2000 World Series MVP award. On and on it goes. Feel free to continue questioning his ability as he gets his 3,000th hit and gets elected to the baseball hall of fame. We all know the truth, and that is that Derek Jeter is a great ball player, and shortstop.