Jeter: “The Boss would’ve been proud.”
Posted by: Josh Thomson - Posted in Misc on Jul 17, 2010 
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Say what you will about George Steinbrenner’s stewardship of the Yankees. It certainly had moments of all kinds. But there’s no question the players desperately wanted to deliver The Boss a win tonight in the worst way. They nearly snapped under the strain of it, falling behind twice, but an RBI single in the ninth by Nick Swisher made the Yanks walk-off winners.
“The Boss would’ve been proud,” Derek Jeter said.
That theme passed through the Yankee clubhouse after tonight’s 5-4 win. Players were moved by tonight’s pregame ceremony, which, as you know, included a quick speech by Jeter that led to a moment of silence and another touch so solemn that you could hear the team’s championship flags ripple in the wind as they flew at half-mast. Mariano Rivera brought a pair of roses to home plate — one for Steinbrenner and one for Bob Sheppard (pictured above; credit: AP).
Jorge Posada said it made him tear. Joe Girardi couldn’t hold back his during a brief postgame press conference. He said “it was a wonderful night.”
Considering how focused Girardi and his players are, it was surprising to hear them talk about the difficulty of ignoring the video tributes between innings. Girardi, Jeter, Posada and Swisher all admitted watching them. The typically unflappable Jeter said he tried to bear down and treat his at-bat with one out and the winning run on second in the ninth as usual. He couldn’t. He wanted to deliver the big hit.
“You can’t help but think about it,” Jeter said.
I’ll have more on Swisher in a bit, but here’s what Girardi shared after tonight’s win:
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I wonder how the George of the ’70s and ’80s would have reacted to Jeter’s season to date.
Being that Jeter has helped the Yankees win 5 rings during his tenure I’m sure the Boss would be giving Jeter a pass. JMO.
By the way Rich, who are you replacing Jeter with next year? Nunez has a .357 OBP in AAA. That doesn’t scream replacement to me.
Bronx Born July 17th, 2010 at 12:33 am
But what is your point Rich? We know he is having an off-year. How many times does it have to be stated? But the year is not over as of yet. Constantly carping about it is just a drag on the blog. We won tonight.. why not be happy about that?
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Why do you want to tell others what to post?
But yes, I can walk and chew gum at the same time, and I can also enjoy the win while simultaneously expressing concern about Jeter.
raymagnetic
Do you remember the ’70s and ’80s? The guy gave no one a pass. EVER!
Who said I want to replace him next season?
See that’s the game. If you point out the manifest fact that Jeter may (MAY) be declining, it necessarily means that you want him banished.
I’m not playing that game.
With tools alone Nunez could put up Jeter’s current stat line in the majors and do it for 400k.
We’re ALL declining, buddy
I’ll reserve judgement on Jeter until after the season is over. He may be declining or he may be in one of the worst slumps of his career. Really no way to tell right now.
Still a lot of season left for Jeter to get his numbers where they’re supposed to be.
“With tools alone Nunez could put up Jeter’s current stat line in the majors and do it for 400k.”
Or he could be terrible in the major leagues. The guy is a free swinger who never walks. Those guys tend to get exploited in the Majors.
Jeter was supposed to go to Michigan, Swish went to Ohio St., the Boss went to Ohio St.
That is just absolutely incredible and creepy at the same time. Maybe the fact I just saw Inception has raised my eerieness level but that is truly remarakable.
“I’ll reserve judgement on Jeter until after the season is over. He may be declining or he may be in one of the worst slumps of his career. Really no way to tell right now.”
That’s reasonable. But I think the discussing the topic, with caveats, is reasonable as well.
New thread
Postgame Notes: A Buckeye Did it
Woohoo!!!
Yes I am frustrated with Jeter this year. But the guy deserves a chance and our patience. He is a proven veteran. I also think that people forget that at age 36 it is natural to see this type of decline in production. The PED era really masked the natural decline that ballplayers (and everybody for that matter) experience. It’s not natural for a guy at age 35 to all of a sudden blast 73 homers when they are at most a 40 homer guy. The steroids era blurred that line imo.
Plus, Jeter’s still the best SS in the AL and imo the 2nd best in all of baseball (Tulo has the tools but is too injury prone, I would take Jeter over a Furcal anyday). We are spoiled since he consistantly hit .320 over year. While he isn’t having a typical Jeter year he’s still doing ok. Maybe he’s in decline, maybe it’s just a prolonged slump. But I do know we should be patient as he definitely has earned that right.
the stadium is not a boat. its half STAFF. rookie mistake.