And about the “God Bless America”… what percentage of fans go to as many home games as you, the beat writer? 1%? 2%? For some fans like myself who make a handful of games per season, the line by Sheppard and the song are perfectly fine tributes. If you are forced to stand and hear any song 81 times in a 6-month span, of course you’d be agitated a little – so I won’t be too hard on you.

Love the site, keep up the hard work.

p.s. When interviewed and asked specifically if he thought Torre was a racist, he point blank said no. Which, of course, completely flies in the face of his statement that Torre treats black players differently, but oh well.

I’m curious, Peter. Sheffield mouthed off a few months about Latinos in baseball. Where was your outrage at Albert Pujols not speaking up to defend Latinos? When Sheffield shot off his mouth about how he was the real leader of the team, where was your outrage that Bernie or Posada or Mo didn’t defend him? Where’ your outrage been at every other stupid thing Sheff has said over the years?

There’s a large, vocal contingent of “Yankee fans” that didn’t even know where New York was until 2004. Though it’s obvious you dislike A-Rod, you’ve obviously begun to cater to that crowd of “fans” this year, as have most baseball writers. And you seem to think that the way to do that is to disparage Derek Jeter. The guy has been nothing but a role model for the game, and I think that it’s really sad that he’s getting this kind of treatment from the media in order to further their own agenda.

Frankly, if I were Derek Jeter, I’d gather up Joe Torre, Gary Sheffield and A-Rod, grab a copy of the Q&A he was nice enough to do for you, and show you exactly where you can put it.

1. If there is a freedom of speech so precious that it was worth fighting and dying for in several wars, there must also be a freedom from speech just as jealously guarded. When someone keeps their mouth shut, sometimes it is an act worthy of great respect.

2. Suggesting that Torre has done a lot for Jeter and that Jeter owed him something specific, e.g., rebuttal of Sheffield’s remarks is unfair, mixing their professional and the personal obligations. Professionally, Jeter owes Joe Torre 100% on the field and in the clubhouse. On the personal level, only those two men can evaluate their discharge of their obligations to one another.

3. Absent an explanation from Jeter as to his silence, the doctrine of “fair comment” governs. Given Jeter’s and Torre’s “public figure” status, journalists can ask fair questions and make fair statements about things fairly raised on the public record, like Sheffield’s comments and the reaction – or lack thereof.

4. This was a moving target. Sheffield first crossed over and then jumped back from the “Joe is a Racist” line, daring someone to rise to the bait. If Jeter had taken on Sheff, Sheff only had to say, “Read my words. I never said Joe was a racist, in fact I told ESPN the opposite. I just said that he treated several people differently and they all happened to be people of color. Derek and I are friends. I don’t understand him attacking me in public without speaking to me privately first to clarify what I said.” Obviously, one of the dilemmas for Jeter could be that you cannot really defend someone against charges of racism when those charges have not been formally made and stood by. Thus, Jeter’s failure to be a character witness in the court of racial discrimination may be due as much to the fact that the charge was never actually filed as anything else.