There’s just something about Derek Jeter that Manny Ramirez can’t leave alone, and it showed again in recent comments made on NESN about the New York Yankees Hall of Famer.
Manny Ramirez made an interesting claim about Derek Jeter and his popularity and statistics because of playing on the New York Yankees
Among the comments Ramirez, who saw plenty of action against Jeter during his 19 MLB seasons, made during a recent NESN broadcast was this one discussing how the New York Yankees captain would have been a different player in a different media market.
Manny Ramirez with some thoughts on Derek Jeter 👀 pic.twitter.com/RsZlrYN8qa
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) June 21, 2022
In fairness, during the segment where this quote was taken, Ramirez was talking about how markets like Boston (where Ramirez played for eight seasons) and New York force players to raise their game because of the intense pressure of playing for teams with plenty of history behind them. However, the comments (which you can read in context here) were interesting considering Ramirez really began to shine in his career during his days in Cleveland, not considered a big media market like the ones in Boston and New York.
Ramirez was already very well known for his power and run-producing potential before he got to Boston. Is it possible to say that Jeter potentially could have had the same recognition around the league had he landed in Kansas City? It’s certainly possible, considering Mike Trout has continued to put up Hall of Fame numbers and is one of the faces of today’s MLB … yet has only been to the postseason once (2014).
Did playing on the Yankees help to heighten the awareness of Jeter around the country? Absolutely. Did Jeter already have talent that would have translated onto any MLB team, not just the Yankees? Absolutely as well.
It’s also not the first time that Ramirez has discussed Jeter’s accomplishments in a question. Last year, Ramirez brought up one of Jeter’s Gold Gloves, saying it should have gone to Omar Vizquel, one of many “injustices” Ramirez rattled off that came at the hands of MLB, in his opinion.
The quote about Jeter is certainly a lightning rod, and there is little question that Ramirez wanted to make a point with the Jeter comment. However, it’s also likely not the jagged point that Yankees fans think it is by seeing just the single quote.