DEREK JETER - INTANGIBLE

As almost every person who is breathing knows, Derek Jeter played his last MLB game as a shortstop at Yankee Stadium last night.  Ever since he announced that this season would be his last, I’ve been accumulatively collecting my thoughts, wondering what I might write about Jeter.  Even up until the last few days, I still didn’t have a full grasp.

This week, the chants at Yankee Stadium got louder and louder as the Yankees’ final home stand games dwindled, offering not only the visual emotions shown by the stadium fans and on Jeter’s face, but also my own heart-felt emotions!  During these last few days, the reality began to accelerate for me as if 3 days were one, especially as the Yankees dug themselves further away from the playoffs, solidifying the fact that Jeter’s remaining days as a MLB player were no longer days, but hours.  Now, we've seen his last defensive play that matters and many of us will watch him DH or possibly pinch-hit in Boston over the final 3 games of his superb career.

Through these last few weeks, we've seen the touching Jeter commercials on TV and/or the internet and also heard commentators, fans, players, and even Bud Selig (the current commissioner) opinionate throughout the radio and television airwaves.  Through this season, we've read articles and/or even tweets for and against Jeter and we’ve seen all the fanfare including personalized gifts for Derek from each team the Yankees have played.

Additionally, many of us have heard or read comments from former players, coaches, and other famous people who also joined in a worldwide attempt towards coming up with one word to describe Jeter.  Common words included “Class”, “Professional”, “Champion”, “Yankee”, “Captain”, "Wow", "Legend", "Clutch", "Winner", "Baseball", and so many other complimentary terms.  From all of the single-word terms and comments I’ve heard this year, my favorite single-word was "Re2pect", which was designated and promoted by MLB, and my favorite comment was described by the National's Bryce Harper who said, “Derek Jeter is not just the captain of the Yankees, {but} the captain of all of baseball.”

The single word that I (“The Word Man”) personally chose to describe Derek Jeter (which you may have already surmised from this article's title), is “Intangible” because it describes his surrounding and immeasurable aura to the game that I love most…baseball:

While some of Jeter’s measurable achievements include:  American League Rookie of the Year in 1996; hitting key homeruns in the 1996 American League Championship Series and in the 2000 World Series; voted as the MVP in 2000’s All-Star Game & World Series; 5-time Silver Slugger Award & also Gold Glove Award winner; collectively owning a .351 batting average in the World Series; owner of 5 World Series Championship rings; and being 6^th on baseball’s All-Time Hit List, naysayers still present arguments against Jeter being one of the best 10 players of all time - some even rate him much worse.  They love to point out that Derek’s never: won the American League MVP; led the league in doubles, triples, homers, or RBIs; or achieved several other stats that they consider key.  Stats today are overanalyzed by baseball managers, owners, and these annoying naysayers who have all basically become robots with voice boxes and the ability to type.  They aren’t utilizing their own brains!  They are known as sabermetricians (people who utilize every intricate stat that is largely available in publications and via the internet).

For these sabermetricians and especially the Jeter critics (who are typical NYY haters), I ask, "Why voice your supposed opinions when all you're doing is deriving and forming every word out of your mouth from a stat book?"  Robots or computers can do that, too – so can third-graders.  That kind of "opinionating" not only takes away the whole human element, but it also omits many other facts that you can, instead, get by analyzing the entire picture.  If these stats were fully definably accurate, then steroid over-user Barry Bonds must be the greatest homerun hitter.  How many avid fans would take that as a true statement?  Oh, I forgot, cheating is "Intangible" and is, thus, not calculated for them. If these sabermetricians used their almighty "facts", then why don't their stats correctly project the World Series Champions every year?  Ask Las Vegas odds-makers that question!!

There's no denying that Jeter doesn't own the title for a lot of the trendy numbers, but if you ask most players, coaches, or even many non-NYY fans, "Who do you want up in the 9^th inning with the game on the line?", or "What player do you want involved in a crucial defensive play?" they'd each have the same answer, "Derek Jeter."

Last night, during Jeter's last-played game and very last at-bat in Yankee Stadium, he once again came through in a seized-moment - proving that, at the age of 40, he still had some of his clutch abilities left.  To further my contention with naysayers and agreement with Jeter supporters, he has earned so many commendable and definable terms from his "Intangible" efforts or events including a group of "2" words that are only associated with Derek Jeter - "The Flip", "The Dive", “Captain Clutch”, and "Mr. November".  Of course, you can't find those within a stat because they each touch upon "Intangible" reality that requires human eyeballs or ears to witness.  There are so many key moments throughout his 20 years as a player where he's been like a magnet to mystical moments.

His representation for MLB and for any fan has always stood tall.  He's shown many great single-word characteristics.  Here's a few more that I feel are noteworthy:

Family - Just look in the stands for most games and notice his parents’ love and proud faces.

Gamer - He ensured to play the day after "The Dive" into the stands (with facial blood and multiple bruises).

Leader - So many players (not just his teammates) have vocally idolized Jeter as their leader.

Speaker - Like Lou Gehrig, he made an unscripted speech at the old Yankee Stadium that will never be forgotten and will continually be replayed throughout the Yankees' history.

Sportsmanship - Even yesterday, during his very emotional speech at Yankee Stadium, he still remembered to acknowledge the opposing Orioles.

Steady - In 20 years, he's defensively played every game as a shortstop (only Omar Vizquel had played more).

The seemingly excessive acknowledgement Derek Jeter received this year sometimes seemed over-deserving, but when you've visually watched or diligently followed baseball over the last 20 years, during an era of steroid-users with way too many disrespectful players (from all sports), you realize that Derek not only classily represented baseball to the extreme, but also all sports.   If you have any uncertainty or you’re a NYY hater, just objectively look at the "Intangible" aspects!

THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR...AGAIN

The New York Yankees (NYY) were officially eliminated after today’s loss from reaching the playoffs for the second straight year (which hasn’t happened since 1992-1993).  Even though they had misfortunate key injuries earlier in the year affecting 4 of their 5 starting pitchers, they still managed to piece together some decent replacements.  Additionally, their bullpen performed very well, especially Dellin Betances and David Robertson.  Therefore, it is clear that the pitching was not the main cause of this year’s disappointing results.  Instead, it has unmistakably been their lack of hitting (as emphasized in my last blogged article) that mainly caused this year’s team failures.  Collectively, the NYY were in the bottom third of all major league teams in runs scored.  For the salaries the Steinbrenners pay them, that’s a colossal disgrace!

As a fan, I was gravely disappointed, especially since there were so many games that they lost because they scored under 3 runs.  Those failed efforts made it more frustrating for NYY fans.  A run here, a run there could have made an enormous difference.  Many of the American League teams in front of them also failed to play well, but those teams won at least a few games more to have edged their way into the playoffs - something the Yankees should have done.  They had plenty of chances, but left way too many runners in scoring position.  Furthermore, several of their offensive players hit below their career averages, failing to even hit above .240!!!  Now, I know other MLB teams’ offense also had diminished offense, but during today’s now-realistic frustrations, who cares about other teams?

I, like all NYY fans, am also disappointed that the Yankees failed in helping to bring Derek Jeter to the playoffs in his final year.  I love Derek, but even he would agree with me that his final year is not the focal point of that failure; the focal point is to win for all Yankees’ fans.  In other words, “They should have won for Derek Jeter.” should instead be (in my words), “They should have won for us, the fans!”  After all, we are the spoiled Yankees’ fans.  We expect to win a World Series every year; and, if we don’t, we expect to at least make it to the playoffs with some kind of hope and true entertainment throughout the month of October.  Now, instead, we will separate into two groups - the ones who love baseball enough to watch the other teams over the next month, or the ones that are too frustrated to care.

So, NYY fans, we have yet another year of playoff despair, but at least we always know that the term, “There’s always next year.” stands true when you’re a Yankees’ fan - even with A-Rod possibly playing third base or DH!!!  Oops, sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that - now, more misery has just entered our minds!