Derek Jeter isn’t as good as everyone thinks he is. He is even better. Despite the accolades and praise that has been given to Mr. November, there needs to be more. The problem is that it is hard to give praise to a person as humble and unselfish as Jeter is.
Why is it hard to give enough Praise to Derek Jeter? He reluctantly accepts it as he tries to change the topic towards his teammates or some other discussion. He uses it as a segue to discuss other matters regarding the Yankees. There is no compliment that hasn’t already been given to The Captain and none that will make him react any differently than he has before.
The one compliment that could possibly finally make Jeter talk about himself is an enshrinement into Cooperstown. Practically guaranteed to be a first-ballot unanimous Hall-of-Famer, Jeter will be eligible in 2020 to have the likeness of his head carved out and placed next to the rest of baseball’s immortals.
His speech would be one for the ages. While he would no doubt discuss his upbringing and a few personal stories, Jeter might actually give a story or two that is based around him. Of course, any Hall of Fame speech would include many compliments to those that helped him get to where he is today. Because the length of the speech is so long, it could actually be a time for Jeter to take some credit for himself rather than hand it off to someone else.
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There is no denying that Jeter is a respectable person. But when you make Boston Red Sox fans say they respect a player, on the New York Yankees nonetheless, you are doing something right for the game of baseball. Boston fans may not like him, especially since he has had more success than any fan, player, or employee of the Red Sox. Getting fans as dedicated and enthusiastic as those of the Red Sox takes a lot of time and a whole lot more effort.
It isn’t Jeter’s goal to make Red Sox fans respect him. It isn’t on his to-do list to not get thrown out of ball games. That is just the way he carries himself. There may not be a bad bone in his body; a few broken ones over the years perhaps.
Derek Jeter is what baseball needed during the Steroid Era and during all of the accusations of performance-enhancing drugs. The problem was, media sells the bad things and rarely highlights the good things happening in sports. This year was different. What has been talked about and shared for one season was 20 years in the making. It’s fortunate that Jeter has gotten the attention he earned during his career, but unfortunate it took so long to truly honor one of the best men to ever play the game.