Happy Talk, Keep Talking Happy Talk
A-Rod talked too much, and it helped sink his reputation. Now, that is the key to his future.
Jeter, meanwhile, spoke rarely and almost never from the heart, as Rodriguez does now regularly. But now and for the foreseeable future, he looks like an owner out of touch with, and perhaps a bit cruel to, MLB players.
One thing to remember when we finally reach that day: The baseball gods told us this was coming. That’s why they arranged to have Jeter finish on the road. His last three games away from the Stadium were a sign he would not remain a Yankee.
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And they allowed for Alex to finish his career in the Bronx. But we each make our destiny, and so A-Rod took control of his by not suiting up somewhere else to reach 700 home runs. You might remember many people predicted he would do just that.
That’s when we should have seen it coming.
Jeter walked away bitter; Alex chose never to walk away. He declared in word and deed that he is a better man — and that the most important thing to him is to be an eternal Yankee.
Twenty years from now, when the Yankees are standing across from City Hall celebrating World Series victory number 40, don’t be surprised if it is Alex Rodriguez who gets the loudest applause of any non-player. Jeter? He won’t even be there.
And that will be the final swapping of roles.
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Jeter will have become the invisible Yankees player. Alex, meanwhile, will be called a Yankees legend and showered with unconditional love. And that’s a process that is happening right now.
Surreal, right?