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The Derek Jeter bunt

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In the bottom of the 7th of Game 2, the Yankees had the Phillies on the ropes. With two runs already in, the Yanks had no outs and the top of the order coming up. Although Johnny Damon’s umpire-assisted double play drew most of the attention, the batter before deserves a look.

We know what was going to happen when Derek Jeter came to the plate with no out and runners on first and second. We knew what was going to happen because we’ve seen it so many times this season. We’ve watched the Yankees’ all-time hitter — a guy with 2747 career hits, a .317 career batting average with a .388 on-base percentage, and someone who hits exceptional well in the playoffs — come to bat with runners on and take it upon himself to bunt.

What Derek did on Thursday night defies stupidity. He tried to bunt twice and missed both times. Then, with the count 0-2 against him, he bunted again. This one rolled foul, and the Yankees’ leadoff hitter had bunted his walk to a strike out. As the Yanks did not plate another run that inning, it could have proved costly.

Yesterday, Joe Posnanski took Jeter to task for the bunt. Because Posnanski has a way with words and images, take a read:

Jeter would later admit in his own understated way that it was dumb to try and bunt there (he bunted foul for strike three), but, of course, “dumb” doesn’t begin to cover the lunacy of that bunt attempt. It is dumb to send an insulting text message to the insult-target by mistake. It is dumb for the Coyote to keep buying his Road Runner hunting products from the Acme Corporation. It is dumb to pull on Superman’s cape, to spit in the wind, to tell Batman your villainous plan when you have him captured, to give Gilligan some sort of meaningful role the rescue mission. That bunt wasn’t dumb. It was closer to a nervous breakdown.

Posnanski goes on to question the Yanks’ belief in Jeter a bit. He believes that Girardi initially called the bunt but later called it off too. Jeter, then, tried to bunt for the third time on his own:

And undoubtedly, Jeter believes this himself. That’s the only possible reason he would have tried to bunt with two strikes, even after Girardi called it off. Jeter wants to sacrifice himself there, I think, because he believes sacrifice is a big part of what makes him great and different. Would A-Rod bunt there? Would Miggy Cabrera? Would Manny Ramirez? Would Albert Pujols? No (nor should they). They would not bunt … but Derek Jeter would. Because he is not just a great hitter. No, he’s a guy who would do anything to help the team win.

Trouble is — he IS a great hitter, and hitting is the best way he can help the team win — in that situation and in pretty much every other situation. He should know this. The Yankees should know this. But the Jeter mystique has been blown up to such proportions that it has become its own monster, and monsters need to be fed.

When I saw Derek Jeter foul bunt on strike three like some helpless pitcher, I immediately thought it was one of the five dumbest plays I had ever seen — and I know I would have felt that way had he gotten the bunt down.

He concludes: “After all these years, the Yankees still don’t seem to full understand or appreciate why Derek Jeter is one of the great players his generation. And what’s even stranger is that Jeter may not be entirely sure himself.”

I’m not sure I fully support his final argument. I’m sure the Yankees understand and appreciate Derek Jeter as one of the greatest players of his generation. What the Yankees do not seem to understand and what Derek definitely doesn’t understand is that bunting in that situation is sheer lunacy. It doesn’t increase the team’s chances of scoring multiple runs, and it gives the Phillies an extra out, that ever-important currency of a game that lasts just 27 outs. It took the bat out of the hands of one of October’s most prolific hitters and gave the Phillies in opportunity to escape the inning.

And you know what? Derek won’t bunt with two strikes again. But if faced with the same circumstances tonight, if he comes up with runners on first and second with no one out, Derek and the Yanks will do it all over again.

Jeter earns Clemente Award for Turn 2 work

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This news got lost in the build-up to Game 2 last night, but it’s definitely worth a look today. Major League Baseball awarded Yankee captain Derek Jeter with the Roberto Clemente Award for his community service work. The award recognizes one player each year who “combines a dedication to giving back to the community with outstanding skills on the baseball field.” Jeter established his Turn 2 Foundation when he was a rookie in 1996, and today, the program is going strong under the auspices of Derek and his sister Sharlee. It has to do with community work and giving back to the community,” Jeter said yesterday in the press conference. “I think people in our position should take advantage of it. They should try to give back as much as possible. I know I’m being awarded for this right now, but there’s a lot of players that give back to the community, and I think everyone should be commended for that.”

As part of the coverage of the award, Mark Newman from MLB.com wrote an extensive profile of Jeter and the Turn 2 Foundation. I definitely recommend that article. Newman really conveys the sense that Jeter, Sharlee and their parents are very devoted to the work they do. We see the great baseball side of Derek every day, and Major League Baseball reminded us yesterday that there is far more to him than just his play at short.

Dissent in the ranks over Molina-gate

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For 12 years, the stories about Derek Jeter and Joe Torre told a tale of deference. Jeter, a rookie during Torre’s first year in the Bronx, had a special bond with his manager. He would call him Mr. Torre and rarely, if ever, questioned his decisions in public.

While Torre was managing the Yanks, Jeter played with a back-up catcher named Joe Girardi. Jeter and Girardi captured three rings together, but for Derek, Girardi’s presence on the team and his amount of playing time must have raised an eyebrow or two. After all, the Yankees had Derek’s very good friend Jorge Posada, a far superior offensive catcher to Joe Girardi. In the end, of course, it mattered little, as the Yanks plowed through the opposition during the latter half of the 1990s.

Today, Joe Girardi is Derek’s manager, and for the first time in a while, Jeter is publicly questioning the man who holds the Yanks’ reins. When asked about Girardi’s decision to start Jose Molina in A.J. Burnett’s starts, Jeter had a diplomatically loaded answer. As Jim Baumbach first reported yesterday, Jeter called the situation strange. “It will be kind of awkward not having Jorge in the lineup,” he said.

For Derek, the Yanks’ loyal solider and all around good guy at handling the media, that statement amounts to sheer mutiny. As Baumbach and others have pointed out, Jeter’s statement is also a bit hyperbolic. Posada wasn’t the only catcher during the Yanks’ World Series years, and as recently as 2005, Joe Torre used John Flaherty to catch the ornery Randy Johnson. The Unit lasted just three innings in a disastrous Game 3 start, and Jorge quickly entered the game in the 4th.

I have to wonder then if Joe Girardi is risking his respect by making an unpopular and questionable decision. Does Derek Jeter think Girardi is off his rocker? What about the other younger players who look to Jeter for leadership? Ken Davidoff claims all was calm at Yankee camp yesterday and offers us some translations of the players’ sound bites. Derek, he claims, is just trying to keep Jorge happy while not offending his manager, and Jorge has accepted it.

In a way, then, this move is certainly an experiment. If Burnett comes out and dominates the Twins and the Yanks handily win as they did on Wednesday, Joe Girardi will look good — or at least he won’t be subject to rampant first- and second-guessing. But if Burnett struggles through a start, those around the club — those whose respect Girardi needs — may wonder about the decision. Ken Davidoff doesn’t expect Molina-gate to “blow up these Yankees.” Here’s to hoping.

Jeter’s hard work led to defensive improvement

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While composing the ALDS preview, two things stood out. FIrst, that Joe Mauer got to 600 plate appearances despite missing almost a month. Second, that Derek Jeter had a positive UZR. He was at 5.3, fifth best among AL shortstops with at least 800 innings. Never before in his career had Jeter been in the black, though he came close in 2008. There are no complaints from the peanut gallery on this issue. We all saw Jeter play markedly improved defense this season.

I do not like Ian O’Connor. No one who disseminates his views about baseball to the masses should ever come close to thinking that the Yankees would better with Cody Ransom over A-Rod. It is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing written about baseball all year, possibly all decade. Worse, his newspaper removed the article from the Internet (but blogs lack accountability). So when I cite his recent column, you know there’s something good within. (With a hat tip to Neyer — I couldn’t find this on my own.)

We know Jeter’s defense has improved, and we know he has worked with a conditioning coach for the past two years so that he can stay at his first and only position for a few more years. O’Connor’s column goes a bit deeper into the role Jason Riley, the trainer. He noticed right away that Jeter was stronger and more flexible in his right hip than his left, “not uncommon for a ballplayer hitting and throwing from the right side.” This caught my eye because it seems so basic. It’s like doing curls with just one arm. It makes me wonder how many ballplayers neglect balance in their training.

A quote from Riley also caught my eye:

“We were re-coaching his first step, over and over. … I think he hated doing these drills at first, because it’s almost like reeducating a little kid. An accomplished athlete is like, ‘I don’t want to do this because it makes me look stupid.’ And then suddenly, Derek was killing those drills.”

That story reminds me of Shaq’s refusal to shoot free throws underhanded. Rick Barry, who made 90 percent of his career free throws, offered to teach Shaq, but the big man declined, saying it would hurt his image. Sometimes doing things better isn’t pretty. It probably wasn’t easy for Derek to stick with these basic drills. Then again, an audience of thousands wasn’t watching him at Athletes Compound.

Like most features on Derek Jeter, O’Connor’s is filled with praise — not only from the writer, but from Riley as well. It seems that anyone who meets Jeter can’t help but like him. It’s about the only depiction of him I’ve ever read.

One more training story, for the road:

“His work ethic is unbelievable. One day we’re doing crossover movements for base-stealing mechanics, and at the end of the workout he was close to getting it right, but not quite.

“I told him to shut it down for the day, but he said, ‘No, I can tell you’re not happy about it.’ We ended up doing another 10 or 15 sprints before I had to stop him for fear he’d injure himself.”

Derek Jeter is the kind of boy every girl dreams of. Good looking, smart, and funny. Yes, that’s Zack Morris Derek Jeter.

More Derek Jeter love

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The Week of Jeter continues today with a few interesting articles. In one corner, we have a Richard Sandomir piece about a profile in The New Yorker from the 1930s about Lou Gehrig. Apparently, the weekly magazine mocked Gehrig. In Sandomir’s write up, though, he drops a gem from octogenarian sportswriter Roger Angell: “I’ve never heard him say an interesting word. He’s not a guy who likes to talk. But he’s very well liked.”

While Angell is simply expressing what many of us have long about the quotable Derek Jeter, he did pen a post praising Jeter’s hitting. Angell looks far into the future but does not yearn for “the wrenching autumn moment” when Jeter knocks out his last hit. That final hit could make Jeter the all-time hits leader, but Will Weiss at the Banter highly doubts that reality will come to pass.

And from Joe: Gary Armida of Full Count Pitch looks at Jeter’s consistency throughout the years. Highlights: looking at his powerful shortstop peers — Nomar Garciaparra, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada — and showing where they are now. And then, looking at Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken, and Paul Molitor, it’s tough to pick out Jeter.

Jeter still a long way from catching Gehrig

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The hardest thing to do in sports, the saying goes, is to hit a pitched baseball. Round ball, cylindrical bat, pitcher with an intent to deceive, all that jazz. Yes, there are tougher things to accomplish in sports, but as far as a fundamental act of a sport, there’s nothing more difficult than to hit a baseball. That’s why we’ve celebrated Derek Jeter. He’s hit so many baseballs that only on other Yankee in history has as many. Since that man no longer plays, Jeter will soon be atop the Yankees hit leader board.

Over the past two decades, we’ve seen focus shift from batting average, hits divided by at bats, to On Base Percentage, times on base divided by plate appearances, and other advanced metrics. That’s because hits are only one part of the game. A big part, no doubt. Hits not only put the batter on base, but can advance runners, possibly more than one base. Even then, all hits are not created equal. A double is worth more than a single, and a homer is the best thing you can do. In other words, there’s more to baseball than just hits.

We do celebrate hits, though, and hold in rarified air those who can accumulate them. There isn’t a single eligible member of the 3,000 hits club who still awaits Hall Of Fame induction (though the first will come and go with Rafael Palmeiro). Hits matter, and if hitting a pitched baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports, they matter a lot. But they’re still not everything. As Tom Tango says:

Please, shove all the hits-only talk out the window. Walks also count. Getting hit by a pitch counts. Hits count. It’s about getting on base. Yes, hits matter. But, getting on base matters more.

Sorry, but we’re not going to shove the hits-only talk out the window. How can you disregard an aspect of the game which is considered harder to do than anything in sports? It doesn’t mean that hits are more important (though you could make the argument). It means that, as I said a paragraph above, there are other aspects to consider.

That’s what we get from Beyond the Boxscore, where one user posted a few all-time on base leader boards. While Jeter still sits with some lofty company on the all-time Yanks list, it doesn’t look like he’ll ever crack the top 10 all time.

My favorite part about this post, which I suggest you read, is that each list gets progressively crazier. First is the all-time Yankees on base leader board. Babe Ruth sits comfortably atop with 4,405 times on base. Lou Gehrig follows with 4,274, and Mickey Mantle sits between Gehrig and Jeter, Mantle with 4,161 and Jeter with 3,736. It will take Jeter at least two more years just to catch Mantle. He has a long way to go in catching Gehrig, and I’m not sure he’ll ever catch Ruth.

The Captain sits even further down the all-time Yankees OBP board. It’s readily available on B-R, but it never ceases to blow my mind that Babe Ruth had a .484 career OBP. Like in the previous list he’s followed by Gehrig, .447, and Mantle, .421. Jeter is in seventh at .387. Maybe he’ll become even more selective as he ages and will push that up over .397, which is where Earle Combs sits at sixth all-time for Yankees. Even that would be a tough accomplishment.

Finally, the all-time leader board for times on base. Babe Ruth, first on the Yankees list, is ninth on this list. First: who else but Pete Rose, who was on base 5,929 times. That’s an unfathomable number. Five thousand, nine hundred and twenty-nine times on base. Of course, that’s partly a testament to his longevity — Rose has also recorded more outs than anyone in MLB history. Not only is he the leader there, but he has 1,192 more outs than the player who recorded the second most outs.

This isn’t at all to take away from Jeter’s accomplishment. We’ll celebrate again once he sits alone atop the Yankees hit list, and we’ll celebrate when he gets that 3,000th hit. Hits matter — a lot, even. But they’re not everything. Even so, Jeter is quite adept at getting on base by any means necessary. He might never crack the all-time list, but then again it’s doubtful any active player will. But let’s not forget this when Jeter passes Mantle for the all-time Yankees on-base list.

Revving up the Jeter merchandise machine

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During his post-game press conference last night, Derek Jeter was clearly anxious to play through this off-day. As much as we fans want to see him break Lou Gehrig’s hit record, the Captain just wanted to get it over and one with, and it seemed as though he would have kept playing last night just to clear this distraction.

No matter the day, though, it will happen. It might happen in the first inning tomorrow; it might happen later in the game. Before Friday — or Saturday if the rain comes — is over, the Yankees’ all-time hit leader will be Derek Sanderson Jeter.

Lest we forget exactly what Jeter has accomplished, Modell’s is already gearing up to cash in on Jeter-mania. To that end, the sporting goods store is going to start selling an exclusive commemorative t-shirt tomorrow even though Derek isn’t technically the all-time hits leader. The shirt will cost $17.99 for adults and $15.99 for children. Make no mistake about it, that’s Derek’s t-shirt through and through.

NK3-EG5-4506-M952

Feel free to click for an even larger version of the captain. We’ll be back at 7 p.m. tonight with your regularly scheduled open thread. Days off during a pennant race, while good for resting the team, make for interminable Thursday evenings.