Bill Burt
BOSTON - Derek Jeter was standing behind home plate throwing to Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu, who were near the third base line, about a 100 feet away. Then the raindrops started falling.
The Red Sox field crew shifted into overdrive to cover the field and move all of the equipment out of harm's way, and the rest of the Yankees players rushed to the tunnel to get to the clubhouse.
What did Jeter do?
He walked over to where fans were lined up four or five deep and he signed autographs, slowly moving from the screen where he was standing all the way to the Yankees dugout.
It wasn't a historic event. Ballplayers have been signing autographs for over a century. But coming on the heels of what has taken place this week - better yet, this season - it was significant.
"You're all class!" one Red Sox fan yelled to him as Jeter finished up. He motioned to the fan and said, "Thanks."
Jeter, the greatest Yankee of his generation, is hard to hate. Other than pummeling the Sox in big games for most of his career, he personifies the class and dignity of the Joe Torre Era Yankees.
Enter Alex Rodriguez, maybe the greatest player of his generation, to the discussion.
If it was ever obvious that A-Rod is the antithesis to Jeter, it was the past few days.
First, A-Rod was followed by the New York Post with a "blonde bombshell" who may or may not his mistress. While it was probably over the top - nothing really is when it comes to the tabloid wars in New York - the damage was done.
A-Rod's "marital woes" quickly became a national story with the Post getting photos of him with the alleged "mistress." That story gained momentum yesterday, in Boston of all places, with A-Rod and his wife strolling through downtown and eating at restaurant for the paparazzi apparently to see.
Contrived? You be the judge.
The other incident took place on the field, while A-Rod rounded third base during Wednesday night's game in Toronto. He allegedly - we are using that word a lot with A-Rod, aren't we? - yelled "Mine!" on a popup to third baseman Howie Clark. Clark thought his shortstop had called him off and the ball dropped for a hit.
If you thought the Yankees were a mess in the standings, you should have heard what A-Rod was called by the Blue Jays - everything from "Little Leaguer" to "classless."
BOSTON - Derek Jeter was standing behind home plate throwing to Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu, who were near the third base line, about a 100 feet away. Then the raindrops started falling.
The Red Sox field crew shifted into overdrive to cover the field and move all of the equipment out of harm's way, and the rest of the Yankees players rushed to the tunnel to get to the clubhouse.
What did Jeter do?
He walked over to where fans were lined up four or five deep and he signed autographs, slowly moving from the screen where he was standing all the way to the Yankees dugout.
It wasn't a historic event. Ballplayers have been signing autographs for over a century. But coming on the heels of what has taken place this week - better yet, this season - it was significant.
"You're all class!" one Red Sox fan yelled to him as Jeter finished up. He motioned to the fan and said, "Thanks."
Jeter, the greatest Yankee of his generation, is hard to hate. Other than pummeling the Sox in big games for most of his career, he personifies the class and dignity of the Joe Torre Era Yankees.
Enter Alex Rodriguez, maybe the greatest player of his generation, to the discussion.
If it was ever obvious that A-Rod is the antithesis to Jeter, it was the past few days.
First, A-Rod was followed by the New York Post with a "blonde bombshell" who may or may not his mistress. While it was probably over the top - nothing really is when it comes to the tabloid wars in New York - the damage was done.
A-Rod's "marital woes" quickly became a national story with the Post getting photos of him with the alleged "mistress." That story gained momentum yesterday, in Boston of all places, with A-Rod and his wife strolling through downtown and eating at restaurant for the paparazzi apparently to see.
Contrived? You be the judge.
The other incident took place on the field, while A-Rod rounded third base during Wednesday night's game in Toronto. He allegedly - we are using that word a lot with A-Rod, aren't we? - yelled "Mine!" on a popup to third baseman Howie Clark. Clark thought his shortstop had called him off and the ball dropped for a hit.
If you thought the Yankees were a mess in the standings, you should have heard what A-Rod was called by the Blue Jays - everything from "Little Leaguer" to "classless."
His teammates played dumb when asked to comment, but again, the damage was done.
Here we are in what could be a make-or-break series, with the Yankees 131/2 games behind the Red Sox entering last night's game, and baseball is the secondary story.
In one of those uncomfortable moments, about two hours before yesterday's game, several Yankees were watching the Cubs-Braves game on the huge TV screen in the clubhouse.
The announcers started debating A-Rod's "Mine!" A-Rod was seated at his locker stall nearby talking to closer Mariano Rivera. You could hear a pin drop as the announcers went on for at least five minutes on the issue as the Yankees watched and listened.
Even Torre says Rodriguez was out of line. The Yankees manager concluded A-Rod shouldn't have distracted Clark, hinting the two-time AL MVP broke the sport's unwritten code.
"He may have been excited about the fact that we were leading the ballgame," Torre said before last night's series opener. "It was probably inappropriate to do it at the time he did it, but you can't change it, unfortunately."
A-Rod was supposed to save the team from this kind of chaos. Instead, he is front and center in the middle of it.
But it is obvious this marriage is not going to work out, and the Red Sox are the biggest beneficiaries. Playing in New York, like Boston, is not easy, and the future Hall of Famer is Exhibit No. 1.
Despite last night's 9-5 loss, Red Sox fans had fun at A-Rod's expense. While sitting under a popup in the second inning, about 35,000 people shouted "I got it!" After the play A-Rod, in a peace-making gesture, tossed the ball into the stands while en route to the dugout. The fan threw it back onto the field.
During his next at-bat, he was thrown out at second by Manny Ramirez while trying to stretch a wall-ball single into a double. You'd have thought the Red Sox had clinched the pennant.
Jeter, on the other hand, is steel. Every game, every season he produces. A year ago, Jeter hit .343. Heading into Boston last night, he was again at .343.
The Yankees have other problems well beyond A-Rod. Their pitching is inconsistent and, remarkably, so is their potent offense. While they appeared to be on the Theo Epstein track of developing and playing young, homegrown talent, the lineup is bloated with over-30 multi-millionaires.
Jeter is one of those over-30 rich guys, but he is still the most feared Yankee of them all. And despite playing about 1,200 more games as a Yankee than A-Rod, there is not much, if any, chaos ever surrounding him.
A-Rod's got the Hall of Fame numbers, while Jeter is simply a Hall of Famer.
When the Yankees finally right this ugly ship - and it will probably happen sooner rather than later - there is no doubt Jeter will be back in the captain's seat, where he belongs.
Bill Burt is executive sports editor for Eagle-Tribune Publishing. E-mail him at bburt@eagletribune.com.
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