Some see a little DiMaggio in Jeter
Posted on Tue, Sep. 19, 2006
Some see a little DiMaggio in Jeter
QUIET DEMEANOR, ADMIRATION AMONG THEIR SIMILAR TRAITS
By T.J. Quinn
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK - Every day the Captain walks into the clubhouse with his grande skim cappuccino from Starbucks, answers questions at his locker, goes off to the training room, takes batting practice, takes the field on a sprint ahead of the rest of the guys, plays baseball without much more emotion than an occasional pumped fist.
There is something in Derek Jeter's routine, the clean lines and the gentle strides, that looks familiar to a couple of old Red Sox.
He was born to pinstripes, never grandstands, never gives voyeurs a glance within. He has the unquestioned respect of a clubhouse where players carry enough MVP and Cy Young awards to fill a wing of a museum, and the same respect from those who play against him.
The old Red Sox players remember someone else like that.
"He's got a little Joe DiMaggio in him," says Bobby Doerr, the 88-year-old Hall of Fame second baseman who came into the game a year after DiMaggio and left at the same time. "You look at a player for what he does, for what he represents. That's the awe we had with Joe D."
Jeter, Doerr says, is worthy of the mantle.
"Right now, I think he might be the best player in baseball. There's nothing he can't do, for God's sake," says the Red Sox' 86-year-old legend-in-residence Johnny Pesky, speaking New England heresy. "He's the epitome of a Yankee."
Red Smith, maybe the greatest of all sportswriters, laid it out in the final column of his career in January 1982, about why he maintained his faith that he wouldn't spend the rest of his days with middling, uninspiring ballplayers: "I told myself not to worry. Some day there would be another Joe DiMaggio."
They were the last words Smith wrote. There hasn't been one since.
Jeter is playing toward what might be his first MVP award this season -- both Doerr and Pesky say he deserves it -- or possibly his first batting title. DiMaggio had three of the former and two of the latter, in a career that lost three years to World War II.
But those who knew DiMaggio and have seen Jeter say the comparison is legitimate.
"They have the same kind of mannerisms," Yogi Berra says. "Joe never walked to the outfield -- he always ran on the field, he always ran off, just like Jeter. (Players) all looked up to Joe. Joe did everything perfect like Jeter does. I knew Jeter as he came along; he's a loner a little bit, he likes to be private. But all the girls go after him. With Joe, it was the same thing."
Frank Torre, Joe's older brother, knew DiMaggio for years and has watched Jeter since he was a rookie shortstop in 1996.
If anything binds Jeter and DiMaggio, it is their sense of occasion.
"Some people perform at a higher level when the chips are down and that's why it's important not to look at stats," Frank Torre says. "But look at (Jeter). One of them plays they still talk about in Oakland. The flip. That's leadership taking over."
Jeter, ever reserved, gives the expected demure response when asked about the comparison.
"I've heard people say it. It's flattering any time you hear something like that. It's kind of unfair to him, though," Jeter says, sitting in front of his locker. "I've only been here a little while."Jeter's season
G AB H R HR RBI Avg. OB RISP
141 578 197 107 13 93 .341 .416 .386
(Statistics through Sunday; OB-on-base percentage; RISP-average with runners in scoring position)
© 2006 Lexington Herald-Leader and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
Some see a little DiMaggio in Jeter
QUIET DEMEANOR, ADMIRATION AMONG THEIR SIMILAR TRAITS
By T.J. Quinn
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK - Every day the Captain walks into the clubhouse with his grande skim cappuccino from Starbucks, answers questions at his locker, goes off to the training room, takes batting practice, takes the field on a sprint ahead of the rest of the guys, plays baseball without much more emotion than an occasional pumped fist.
There is something in Derek Jeter's routine, the clean lines and the gentle strides, that looks familiar to a couple of old Red Sox.
He was born to pinstripes, never grandstands, never gives voyeurs a glance within. He has the unquestioned respect of a clubhouse where players carry enough MVP and Cy Young awards to fill a wing of a museum, and the same respect from those who play against him.
The old Red Sox players remember someone else like that.
"He's got a little Joe DiMaggio in him," says Bobby Doerr, the 88-year-old Hall of Fame second baseman who came into the game a year after DiMaggio and left at the same time. "You look at a player for what he does, for what he represents. That's the awe we had with Joe D."
Jeter, Doerr says, is worthy of the mantle.
"Right now, I think he might be the best player in baseball. There's nothing he can't do, for God's sake," says the Red Sox' 86-year-old legend-in-residence Johnny Pesky, speaking New England heresy. "He's the epitome of a Yankee."
Red Smith, maybe the greatest of all sportswriters, laid it out in the final column of his career in January 1982, about why he maintained his faith that he wouldn't spend the rest of his days with middling, uninspiring ballplayers: "I told myself not to worry. Some day there would be another Joe DiMaggio."
They were the last words Smith wrote. There hasn't been one since.
Jeter is playing toward what might be his first MVP award this season -- both Doerr and Pesky say he deserves it -- or possibly his first batting title. DiMaggio had three of the former and two of the latter, in a career that lost three years to World War II.
But those who knew DiMaggio and have seen Jeter say the comparison is legitimate.
"They have the same kind of mannerisms," Yogi Berra says. "Joe never walked to the outfield -- he always ran on the field, he always ran off, just like Jeter. (Players) all looked up to Joe. Joe did everything perfect like Jeter does. I knew Jeter as he came along; he's a loner a little bit, he likes to be private. But all the girls go after him. With Joe, it was the same thing."
Frank Torre, Joe's older brother, knew DiMaggio for years and has watched Jeter since he was a rookie shortstop in 1996.
If anything binds Jeter and DiMaggio, it is their sense of occasion.
"Some people perform at a higher level when the chips are down and that's why it's important not to look at stats," Frank Torre says. "But look at (Jeter). One of them plays they still talk about in Oakland. The flip. That's leadership taking over."
Jeter, ever reserved, gives the expected demure response when asked about the comparison.
"I've heard people say it. It's flattering any time you hear something like that. It's kind of unfair to him, though," Jeter says, sitting in front of his locker. "I've only been here a little while."Jeter's season
G AB H R HR RBI Avg. OB RISP
141 578 197 107 13 93 .341 .416 .386
(Statistics through Sunday; OB-on-base percentage; RISP-average with runners in scoring position)
© 2006 Lexington Herald-Leader and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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