Congratulations Derek Jeter!

Damn, it hurts to even SAY that!

As a staunch Red Sox fan-and thereby a Yankee hater, it’s tough to tip your cap to the enemy. I’ve spent hours disparaging the Bronx Bombers, from Steinbrenner all the way down to the bat boys. Anything in pin stripes was fair game.

But Jeter is a different story. His breaking Lou Gehrig’s all time hit record with the Yankees is a gargantuan feat. His love of the game is self-evident-and his skill in playing it at the highest level is beyond debate. Here is a future Hall of Famer who could strike out every time he comes to bat from now until the end of his career and we’re still talking first ballot induction.

I didn’t always feel that way. Back in the late 90’s, I wanted to wipe that little smirk off his face with a Hillerich & Bradsby. He seemed arrogant and self-absorbed, much like the rest of the Yankee squad. As the World Series rings piled up, I detested the excellence wrapped up in that ever-present smile.

I think, perhaps, that I got it wrong.

Jeter LOVES baseball.

He loves playing the game-and that “little boy” joy is simply irrepressible. That it shows up whenever he smacks one up the middle against the Sox-or turns two—is MY problem, not his. Ever since winning Rookie of the Year honors, the accolades have been piling up.

Somehow, he has avoided controversy and scandal throughout it all. Despite a brief relationship with singer Mariah Carey, he has largely avoided the tabloids (except for New York itself, where his popularity makes him the golden boy in print and elsewhere)

To surpass the record for hits on a team like the Yankees (with no shortage of big-time hitters in their history) is amazing. To do so against Gehrig is doubly impressive. In fact, the resume' of Jeter-as stellar as it is—makes Lou Gehrig’s look even more amazing, considering that his career was cut short by the illness that now bears his name.

Below is a video clip of the newsreel coverage of Lou Gehrig’s farewell at Yankee Stadium:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4msaZTJrTA

You can hate the Yankees and still appreciate their role in baseball history-and the stars who made them legendary.
Derek Jeter is now in that exclusive club. The highest praise I can muster for Jeter is this:

I wish he played for the Red Sox.


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