A Boston Farewell To Derek Jeter
BOSTON (CBS) -- Derek Jeter.
The mere utterance of those two words has always and will always evoke a wide range of reactions in the city of Boston, running the gamut from deep-seated hatred to begrudging respect. So it's entirely fitting that when Jeter's 20-year, Hall of Fame career officially comes to an end on Sunday in Boston, emotions and opinions remain varied.
Oh, to be sure, it will be a respectful scene all weekend at Fenway Park. Fans here know better than to not #RE2PECT the captain in his final days in the major leagues, as evidenced by the ovations Jeter received when stepping to the plate in Boston over the summer. Sure, he's been the target of millions of Red Sox fans' scorn since the mid-'90s, but any fan who appreciates the game and recognizes greatness was smart enough to offer some appreciation when seeing Jeter this year, and that is sure to continue over the weekend.
That being said, there's no doubt that Yankees fans are completely out of their minds when it comes to all things Jeter. Point out the fact that he's not the greatest player of all time and not a top-five Yankee, and they'll start swearing at you. Profusely. Point out the fact that it is the move of a true egomaniac to announce a retirement eight months early in order to soak in a year of endless praise and star in conceited commercials and wear "King of New York" cleats, and they will treat you as though you just attacked a member of their immediate family. To Yankees fans, Derek Jeter is some combination of their brother and their pet dog and their son and their mom and their favorite sweater and everything else in life that they love -- it's all of that multiplied by 10. And it's just a little overboard, considering this is a guy with basically no personality who nevertheless has earned unconditional love from so many people.
But hey, that's how things work in sports sometimes, and when a great player is in the biggest city and wins five World Series titles, and when he sticks around for two full decades, fans are going to love and appreciate him. There's nothing wrong with that.
That's why for as much as Keith Olbermann's anti-Jeter crusade the other night was good for a few chuckles, it was completely unnecessary. Sure, Olbermann made some valid points (Mike Mussina being an all-time Yankee excluded), but why expend so much time and energy to prove that Jeter is overrated? No matter how he's rated, he's still a very good player who performed at a high level for a long time, and he's a no-doubt-about-it first-ballot Hall of Famer. Trying to bash him this week not only violates the court-ordered mandate that we all show our #RE2PECT, but it also is needless. I could say that Keith Olbermann should be better than that, but well, it's Keith Olbermann.
As for the lingering feelings toward Jeter in Boston, I certainly can't speak for everyone. For myself, a baseball fan in my late 20s, Derek Jeter has been the shortstop for the Yankees for pretty much as long as I've closely followed baseball. I'm likely not the only one whose opinion of Jeter has changed over the years, just as I'm hardly the only baseball fan in Boston to have formerly loathed him.
I used to hate how whenever one of his teammates did something on the field, he'd climb up the dugout stairs to fist-pump and scream "Woo!" right in front of the TV cameras, and the TV networks would oblige him by showing slow-motion replays of his celebration rather than showing the actual athletic feat that someone else just accomplished.
Likewise, I hated his leg kick/fist-pump move that followed a routine throw to first base.
(The jump throw was always cool, though.)
I hated how he was revered as a hero for diving headfirst into the stands after taking three full strides on the field, despite Pokey Reese making a more impressive catch in that very same game without nearly killing himself and receiving no attention for it.
I hated how whenever a pitch came up and in, Jeter would bend out of the way and then slowly trot backward about 50 feet out of the batter's box, deflating his cheeks with giant puffs of air and acting as if he's the only hitter in the history of baseball to have a pitch come somewhat close to hitting him.
And I hated his stupid hair. My goodness, I hated his hair. He single-handedly kept the high-top fade alive for about 10 years too long.
But like a lot of people, the fire that burned within whenever seeing Jeter extinguished long ago for a number of reasons.
I think the best thing that ever happened to Jeter was Alex Rodriguez going to the Bronx. The addition of such a divisive figure (and, as it turned out, a complete dummy) took the heat off the Captain and directed all the hate about 45 feet to Jeter's right.
In Boston, the Red Sox winning was another game-changer in terms of public opinion on Jeter, as the two championships in '04 and '07 erased much of the bitterness that formerly defined what it meant to be a Red Sox fan. It was indeed a new era of baseball in Boston, and hating Jeter 24/7 became much less important.
But more than anything, what moved Jeter into the realm of "begrudging respect" was his consistency. Early in his career, his fisted singles over second base and his slapped doubles down the right field line could be written off as luck. But when he continued to come through with big hit after big hit in the same fashion, it became rather clear that the man had mastered a unique skill, and he was able to replicate it over and over again and ride it all the way to Cooperstown. It got to the point where every time Jeter came to bat in a big spot against Boston, every single Red Sox fan, player, coach and executive thought, "Man, this guy is a real pain in the ass." And that's truly the biggest compliment an opponent can be given: "This is not the guy I want to see at bat with a game on the line."
Is Derek Jeter fortunate to have remained healthy for so long, thereby enabling him to compile some all-time stats? Sure. Is he a lucky duck because the Astros, Indians, Expos, Orioles and Reds all passed on Jeter in the 1992 MLB draft? Of course, because his year-long retirement parade would have hardly drawn much attention if he were in Houston, Cleveland or Cincinnati right now.
But it's not a knock on Jeter that he landed in a great situation in the '90s, and it's a testament to his steady temperament that he was able to not just survive but thrive in the pressure cooker that is the Bronx. And if you look ahead, it's clear that the already-fading Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is going to be a lot more boring when it's Random Baseball Player wearing pinstripes and playing shortstop in place of Jeter in the coming years.
The bottom line on Jeter is this: Though it took most of us in Boston a little extra time to realize it, he's a damn fine ballplayer. He's not the best of all time and he's been poor defensively for a long time, but those are just flaws in a player that any team would have welcomed into the top of their lineup for the past 20 years.
Say what you will about the theatrics of the retirement tour, but there's no denying the sport will noticeably be missing something when next season begins. Jeter has been very good for the game, and he will be missed. Even in Boston.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
