A-Rod always will be second to Jeter's star
Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006
A-Rod always will be second to Jeter's star
By Filip Bondy
New York Daily News
(MCT)
NEW YORK - Why does it have to be a competition, a popularity contest? But it is, always, and in this matter Derek Jeter will forever be the winner. He is homegrown, he has four rings, he is the captain, and he hits the two-run homer in the third inning, lays down the perfect bunt in the eighth, both of them when the game is tied.
For this one night, the two guys on the left side of the infield did just fine. Jeter smacked his homer against starter John Lackey, doubled in the fifth, bunted on his own for a single along the third base line, raised his average to .344. The fans were chanting, "MVP," as the Yanks rode his shoulders to a 7-2 victory over the Angels.
And then there was Alex Rodriguez, who made a couple of nice fielding plays and slapped a long sacrifice fly to the wall in the right corner, caught by Vladimir Guerrero at the 314-foot mark, good enough to score Johnny Damon from third for the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Nice work by A-Rod, in the clutch. But he missed that grand slam, the big headlines, by maybe five feet. The star of this game? You never have to ask. There is an impregnable wall, an infinite reservoir of good will, surrounding the team's shortstop. Those are the rules around here.
"I'm just thinking we need to score more runs, because the game was close," Jeter said about his reaction to those chants. "We need to do the small things to win."
The homer wasn't small. It was hit to dead center, where Jeter thought it had been caught by Reggie Willits. It wasn't. The wall cooperated, bowed to the necessary dimensions.
It is Jeter's park, Jeter's crowd, Jeter's pennant race.
It is a heckuva race, by the way, growing more bi-divisional by the day. Two games up on Boston, the Yankees need to get to Sept. 4 in good shape, after which they play 10 straight games, 17 of 23, against sub-.500 teams.
Jeter says he can't get excited yet about the standings. He assumes a postseason will take place in the Bronx. It always has, as long as he's been around. Jeter agrees with Joe Torre, whose theory is simple: "Play the schedule."
But the victory last night was important for several reasons. It gave Rodriguez a chance at a little redemption. It got Jason Giambi off the hook for some bonehead baserunning in the second inning, when he rumbled through a stop sign from Larry Bowa. And it proved the Yanks can play with the Angels, a club that has given them fits on very big stages for the past five years.
"Most teams, you say, `Let's wear down the starters, get to the bullpen,' " Jeter said. "You can't do that with the Angels. They hit and run, they steal bases. You're not accidentally going to beat them."
The Yankees beat the Angels last night in classic fashion: A quality start from winner Randy Johnson, who gave up two runs in seven innings; the big hits from Jeter; the sacrifice from A-Rod; some solid bullpen work from Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera over the final two innings.
Another 52,100 fans, too. Jeter drinks it all in, figures he will be around here for quite some time. The subject of retirement came up in a roundabout way the other day. Jeter said he would like to go to a World Cup in the future, when he is done with baseball.
"How often do they hold them?" he asked.
"Every four years," he was told.
"Then not 2010 or 2014," Jeter said. "It will have to be 2018."
Do the math. Jeter, 32, thinks he will play into his 40s. Rodriguez will look to his left, and there will be Jeter, health not withstanding, getting the cheers for eight to 11 more seasons.
Three seasons later, you never know how much these two guys like, or dislike, each other. They exchange salutations and glances in the infield, but rarely in the clubhouse, where they dress on opposite sides. They stood happily next to each other Monday afternoon for the team photo, A-Rod towering over Jeter.
The good headlines go to the other guy though, always. You just give credit to A-Rod credit for coming here in the first place, to a city that promised its heart to the shortstop long ago.
---
© 2006, New York Daily News.
Visit the Daily News online at http://www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
A-Rod always will be second to Jeter's star
By Filip Bondy
New York Daily News
(MCT)
NEW YORK - Why does it have to be a competition, a popularity contest? But it is, always, and in this matter Derek Jeter will forever be the winner. He is homegrown, he has four rings, he is the captain, and he hits the two-run homer in the third inning, lays down the perfect bunt in the eighth, both of them when the game is tied.
For this one night, the two guys on the left side of the infield did just fine. Jeter smacked his homer against starter John Lackey, doubled in the fifth, bunted on his own for a single along the third base line, raised his average to .344. The fans were chanting, "MVP," as the Yanks rode his shoulders to a 7-2 victory over the Angels.
And then there was Alex Rodriguez, who made a couple of nice fielding plays and slapped a long sacrifice fly to the wall in the right corner, caught by Vladimir Guerrero at the 314-foot mark, good enough to score Johnny Damon from third for the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Nice work by A-Rod, in the clutch. But he missed that grand slam, the big headlines, by maybe five feet. The star of this game? You never have to ask. There is an impregnable wall, an infinite reservoir of good will, surrounding the team's shortstop. Those are the rules around here.
"I'm just thinking we need to score more runs, because the game was close," Jeter said about his reaction to those chants. "We need to do the small things to win."
The homer wasn't small. It was hit to dead center, where Jeter thought it had been caught by Reggie Willits. It wasn't. The wall cooperated, bowed to the necessary dimensions.
It is Jeter's park, Jeter's crowd, Jeter's pennant race.
It is a heckuva race, by the way, growing more bi-divisional by the day. Two games up on Boston, the Yankees need to get to Sept. 4 in good shape, after which they play 10 straight games, 17 of 23, against sub-.500 teams.
Jeter says he can't get excited yet about the standings. He assumes a postseason will take place in the Bronx. It always has, as long as he's been around. Jeter agrees with Joe Torre, whose theory is simple: "Play the schedule."
But the victory last night was important for several reasons. It gave Rodriguez a chance at a little redemption. It got Jason Giambi off the hook for some bonehead baserunning in the second inning, when he rumbled through a stop sign from Larry Bowa. And it proved the Yanks can play with the Angels, a club that has given them fits on very big stages for the past five years.
"Most teams, you say, `Let's wear down the starters, get to the bullpen,' " Jeter said. "You can't do that with the Angels. They hit and run, they steal bases. You're not accidentally going to beat them."
The Yankees beat the Angels last night in classic fashion: A quality start from winner Randy Johnson, who gave up two runs in seven innings; the big hits from Jeter; the sacrifice from A-Rod; some solid bullpen work from Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera over the final two innings.
Another 52,100 fans, too. Jeter drinks it all in, figures he will be around here for quite some time. The subject of retirement came up in a roundabout way the other day. Jeter said he would like to go to a World Cup in the future, when he is done with baseball.
"How often do they hold them?" he asked.
"Every four years," he was told.
"Then not 2010 or 2014," Jeter said. "It will have to be 2018."
Do the math. Jeter, 32, thinks he will play into his 40s. Rodriguez will look to his left, and there will be Jeter, health not withstanding, getting the cheers for eight to 11 more seasons.
Three seasons later, you never know how much these two guys like, or dislike, each other. They exchange salutations and glances in the infield, but rarely in the clubhouse, where they dress on opposite sides. They stood happily next to each other Monday afternoon for the team photo, A-Rod towering over Jeter.
The good headlines go to the other guy though, always. You just give credit to A-Rod credit for coming here in the first place, to a city that promised its heart to the shortstop long ago.
---
© 2006, New York Daily News.
Visit the Daily News online at http://www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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