The LoHud Yankees Blog

Derek Jeter met with the media a little while ago to talk all things George Steinbrenner, a man he considered more of a friend than his owner. A case in point: Jeter woke up at 9 pacific time on Tuesday and saw a series of messages offering condolences for his loss. He didn’t know what had happened at the time, or who had died, and so someone asked a follow-up about if he was concerned it had been a family member.

“Well, it is a family member,” Jeter said. The look on his face said he wasn’t being dramatic.

Jeter also talked about Steinbrenner as “The Boss,” the owner who often chided Jeter and his teammates over the years but only because he demanded the best from anyone and everyone in the organization.

“He expected perfection,” Jeter said. “If you couldn’t take it, you couldn’t play here.”

Here’s the rest from Jeter:

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Other notes:
• Alex Rodriguez’s thumb is fine, according to Girardi. The manager did not pinch run him for David Ortiz in the All-Star Game Tuesday night because of the health of Adrian Beltre, who was, and still is, nursing a hamstring injury. Beltre insisted he wanted to play, so he and Girardi decided on a two-inning stint. Girardi intended to put Rodriguez in at 3B if the game was extended. He did not want to pinch run Rodriguez because it would have forced him to re-enter Ty Wigginton at third. The AL would have then been without any players on its bench.
• Juan Miranda was called up and Kevin Russo was sent to Scranton. He will DH today and could see some at-bats in the future as well. Girardi said the club waited for Miranda to get healthy. “We like his bat,” Girardi said.
• Alfredo Aceves will play catch on either Saturday or Sunday.
• Sergio Mitre will throw a side session on Saturday. Nothing else has been determined for either pitcher going forward yet.
• Nick Johnson did not receive a shot. He has began exercising his injured wrist more aggressively, according to Joe Girardi, but he has not started taking swings.