Jeter mood swing
Jeter mood swing
Looks to forget past with jump on spring
BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Derek Jeter finds even Europe is no place to escape setback so he gets started on another season of hope.
TAMPA - Even on a European vacation last fall, Derek Jeter couldn't get away from the Yankees' postseason loss to Detroit.
A few days after the upstart Tigers put away the Yanks, cementing another disappointing October in the Bronx, Jeter was at a restaurant with a friend during one stop on his six-day, six-city holiday - he couldn't quite remember the city, London, perhaps - when a Tigers fan reminded him that the Yankees lost a series they had controlled.
"You'd think you could escape it in Europe, you know?" Jeter said yesterday while taking a break from a pre-spring training workout on a clear, sunny morning at the Yankees' minor-league complex here. "You get it all the time here, but Europe?"
In fact, the sting of the most recent Bomber setback is only starting to fade for Jeter, the Yankee captain who grew used to winning every year early in his career. The Yankees are now ring-less since 2000.
Jeter resumed baseball activities three weeks ago for the first time since the end of the season. It's a way to put the disappointment in the past.
"It takes a long time to get over it. That's what people don't realize," Jeter said as several Yankee prospects took batting practice nearby. "It's a whole year you've played. The worst phrase in all of sports is saying, 'Ah, get them next year.' Well, next year is another 12 months. It's not like you're going to have the opportunity to play forever.
"Every year that goes by is one less year on your career, so it takes awhile to get over it. But that's what makes spring training so fun. Everyone starts over."
Yankees' pitchers and catchers report for camp Tuesday and will have their first workout a week from today. Position players such as Jeter will report Feb. 18. But like most of his teammates, Jeter is already working. He took about a month off after last season to "heal up, rest my body. Then I get going again, mostly conditioning, until mid-January."
This week, Jeter has been laughing easily around the batting cage with Jorge Posada and Miguel Cairo, two of the few major leaguers who come to the complex for daily workouts. He exchanged hellos with Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa, who threw for the first time Tuesday.
"That's how you get your new beginning," Jeter said, referring to his return to baseball routine.
Right after the Tigers closed out the series, Jeter admitted, he wondered what might have been. The Yankees had won the opener and were leading, 3-1, going into the fifth inning at the Stadium in Game 2, with Mike Mussina on the mound. But they lost that afternoon and dropped both games in Detroit.
"You think about that for a long time, but I'm not thinking about it now," Jeter said. "You're only focused on 2007 now."
Jeter is excited about the new season, especially with Andy Pettitte returning to the Bronx. "I was disappointed when he left in the first place, but you understand it because he wanted to be close to his family," Jeter said. "I'm glad he got the opportunity to come back. With Pettitte, you know what you're going to get. He's not always going to be successful, but you know he's not going to be overwhelmed by New York, by any situation.
"He's been here when we've won, when we've lost. Good times, bad times. He knows how to deal with the media. On the field, you just hope he stays healthy. If he does, he's going to be fine."
He added that the season would seem "weird" without Bernie Williams, who may or may not be in spring training with the Yanks. "He was always older than me, so he was a mainstay before I even got here," Jeter said. "I watched Bernie play when I was in high school, before I even got drafted. I don't know what the situation is; I haven't talked to Bernie lately. But you hope he'd come back. It would be strange without him.
"I have not spoken to him about whether he would play somewhere else, but I can't picture it."
But plenty has already changed for Jeter and the Yankees, as that Tigers fan was happy to remind him.
"You've got to want to win. You've got to enjoy competing. That's the only thing you need to stay motivated," Jeter said. "We won before, and any time you have, you realize how special it is and what a good feeling it is and that it's the complete opposite when you lose.
"You want to get back to that winning feeling, so motivation has never been a problem for me. When you start to lose that motivation to compete, that's when it's time to go home."
T.J. Quinn will be blogging from Ghana, where he's traveling with Mets GM Omar Minaya, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, former Yankees GM Bob Watson, former Giants and Cubs manager Dusty Baker, and former major leaguers Reggie Smith and Al Jackson (an original Met), as they tour the West African nation spreading the glories of the American pastime. For the latest news and video reports, check out the Sports iTeam blog at blogs.nydailynews.com/iteam.
Originally published on February 7, 2007
All contents © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
Looks to forget past with jump on spring
BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Derek Jeter finds even Europe is no place to escape setback so he gets started on another season of hope.
TAMPA - Even on a European vacation last fall, Derek Jeter couldn't get away from the Yankees' postseason loss to Detroit.
A few days after the upstart Tigers put away the Yanks, cementing another disappointing October in the Bronx, Jeter was at a restaurant with a friend during one stop on his six-day, six-city holiday - he couldn't quite remember the city, London, perhaps - when a Tigers fan reminded him that the Yankees lost a series they had controlled.
"You'd think you could escape it in Europe, you know?" Jeter said yesterday while taking a break from a pre-spring training workout on a clear, sunny morning at the Yankees' minor-league complex here. "You get it all the time here, but Europe?"
In fact, the sting of the most recent Bomber setback is only starting to fade for Jeter, the Yankee captain who grew used to winning every year early in his career. The Yankees are now ring-less since 2000.
Jeter resumed baseball activities three weeks ago for the first time since the end of the season. It's a way to put the disappointment in the past.
"It takes a long time to get over it. That's what people don't realize," Jeter said as several Yankee prospects took batting practice nearby. "It's a whole year you've played. The worst phrase in all of sports is saying, 'Ah, get them next year.' Well, next year is another 12 months. It's not like you're going to have the opportunity to play forever.
"Every year that goes by is one less year on your career, so it takes awhile to get over it. But that's what makes spring training so fun. Everyone starts over."
Yankees' pitchers and catchers report for camp Tuesday and will have their first workout a week from today. Position players such as Jeter will report Feb. 18. But like most of his teammates, Jeter is already working. He took about a month off after last season to "heal up, rest my body. Then I get going again, mostly conditioning, until mid-January."
This week, Jeter has been laughing easily around the batting cage with Jorge Posada and Miguel Cairo, two of the few major leaguers who come to the complex for daily workouts. He exchanged hellos with Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa, who threw for the first time Tuesday.
"That's how you get your new beginning," Jeter said, referring to his return to baseball routine.
Right after the Tigers closed out the series, Jeter admitted, he wondered what might have been. The Yankees had won the opener and were leading, 3-1, going into the fifth inning at the Stadium in Game 2, with Mike Mussina on the mound. But they lost that afternoon and dropped both games in Detroit.
"You think about that for a long time, but I'm not thinking about it now," Jeter said. "You're only focused on 2007 now."
Jeter is excited about the new season, especially with Andy Pettitte returning to the Bronx. "I was disappointed when he left in the first place, but you understand it because he wanted to be close to his family," Jeter said. "I'm glad he got the opportunity to come back. With Pettitte, you know what you're going to get. He's not always going to be successful, but you know he's not going to be overwhelmed by New York, by any situation.
"He's been here when we've won, when we've lost. Good times, bad times. He knows how to deal with the media. On the field, you just hope he stays healthy. If he does, he's going to be fine."
He added that the season would seem "weird" without Bernie Williams, who may or may not be in spring training with the Yanks. "He was always older than me, so he was a mainstay before I even got here," Jeter said. "I watched Bernie play when I was in high school, before I even got drafted. I don't know what the situation is; I haven't talked to Bernie lately. But you hope he'd come back. It would be strange without him.
"I have not spoken to him about whether he would play somewhere else, but I can't picture it."
But plenty has already changed for Jeter and the Yankees, as that Tigers fan was happy to remind him.
"You've got to want to win. You've got to enjoy competing. That's the only thing you need to stay motivated," Jeter said. "We won before, and any time you have, you realize how special it is and what a good feeling it is and that it's the complete opposite when you lose.
"You want to get back to that winning feeling, so motivation has never been a problem for me. When you start to lose that motivation to compete, that's when it's time to go home."
T.J. Quinn will be blogging from Ghana, where he's traveling with Mets GM Omar Minaya, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, former Yankees GM Bob Watson, former Giants and Cubs manager Dusty Baker, and former major leaguers Reggie Smith and Al Jackson (an original Met), as they tour the West African nation spreading the glories of the American pastime. For the latest news and video reports, check out the Sports iTeam blog at blogs.nydailynews.com/iteam.
Originally published on February 7, 2007
All contents © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
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