Derek Jeter will go into the baseball Hall of Fame. He deserves to be there.
But “Greatest Yankee” ?
“Deserves to be the first unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame” ?
Worthy of an over-the-top sendoff at Fenway Park, and a tongue-bath from Dan Shaughnessy and the rest of the Boston Globe (and media)?
I don’t think so.
I understand the appeal of Derek Jeter, I do. As someone with more than a passing knowledge of the history of baseball, I see his place in the game. For the past two decades he was very much the face of the game. Shortstop and Captain of the New York Yankees. World Series champion. Clutch hitter.
Had he been the shortstop for the Houston Astros for this time period would we be having this conversation? If we swapped out Jeter and Craig Biggio, It would’ve been Biggio who was feted at Fenway to end his career.
The baseball media is blinded by Jeter. As great as his career was, it was made even bigger by playing for the Yankees and by the fawning media coverage he received.
I am not denigrating the career of Jeter. I am saying his great, Hall of Fame career was made even greater by his team and that media.
Media that Jeter treated very well and worked very well, mind you. Witness Peter Abraham – What it was like to cover Derek Jeter
If the Yankees were in a losing streak or caught up in some controversy, he would be sure to make himself available to the media before and especially after games. Jeter would stand at his locker and patiently answer every question until they ran out. Then he would look at the reporters around him and say, “All set?” before walking away.
And…
Jeter was extraordinarily patient, too, making sure nobody walked away feeling they were belittled. Even silly questions got some kind of answer. He had a good sense of humor when the cameras were off, but never was it mean-spirited.
Had Jeter played here, Dan Shaughnessy would’ve spent the last two decades ripping his night life, lack of range and his “selfishness” for refusing to cede his position when Alex Rodriguez joined the team. Fact, not opinion.
Instead, as a Yankee, Jeter gets nothing but praise from the likes of Shaughnessy. That much is obvious and Shaughnessy is not the only one that has done this. That is what made this weekend’s coverage so farcical.
OK, enough before lightning comes down from the heavens and strikes me dead.
The Red Sox season is over, (144 days until spring training starts!) and this offseason will be very interesting. Ben Cherington has a lot of work to do.
Meanwhile, check out this WBUR profile of reporter Jonny Miller, who will no doubt be the first reporter to arrive for Spring training. Miller is the voice you hear usually asking the first question at Red Sox press conferences, and has been on the job for 42 years while living with cerebral palsy.
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The Patriots are in Kansas City tonight for the Monday Night Football matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. While the game will be on ESPN, it will also be broadcast locally on WCVB channel 5, which will start out with “SportsCenter 5 Countdown To Kickoff” at 8:00pm.
WCVB’s SportsCenter 5 anchor Mike Lynch – @LynchieWCVB – will report live in-studio from the Channel 5 sports desk. Plus, SportsCenter 5 reporter Bob Halloran – @BobWCVB – will be reporting from Kansas City, covering all the pre-game action live from the field. He will be joined by the Boston Globe’s Chris Gasper.
WCVB’s postgame coverage will be provided by the SportsCenter 5 team in NewsCenter 5’s late newscast immediately following the game.
Matt Chatham uses his experience playing for Bill Belichick to decipher clues from the head coach from the past week on what we can expect from the team – Expect the Patriots to Change (The site has had some issues this morning, keep checking back until it is back. It’s worth a look.)
Get all the coverage tonight on PatriotsLinks.com.
In defense of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman – Chad Finn rates the FOX broadcast duo only behind Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth.
Bill Simmons: A deeper examination of his suspension from ESPN – Richard Deitsch looks further into the suspension and answers questions from readers on the topic.
Today is Celtics media day, check out Baxter Holmes and his long-form piece on rookie guard Marcus Smart:
Boston Sports Media Watch 
How can something be “fact not opinion” when it is 100% speculation by the writer?
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You sir, are clearly not a Felger and Mazz listener, which is a credit to you.
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Matt Chatham: “The way the process works is you go back to the film and find those specific things that you do well—for example, the Patriots offense has had success with 2-tight end running game on the edges of their offense.”
Mediots and Idiot fans aren’t going to like this. In the Fantasy Football Era, nothing could be less sexy than 2- tight end running game. I can hear Lou Merloni whining about it already. Oh wait, that’s my radio.
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And yet you apparently listen? Mediots….Clever term….
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Please point out where I wrote that I don’t find it entertaining to listen to Mediots (and idiot callers alike).
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Matt Chatham is too sound and intellectual for this (media) world — and I love him for it. I selfishly hope he never sells out to garner greater appeal, because everything he brings to the table is outstanding.
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Love me some awkward Mike Lynch robot. Ever see him get caught off guard and have to improvise? The blank stare clearly shows that his CPU was not programmed to respond in those situations. It’s cringe inducing, but fascinating in an indefinable way. Like those ISIS beheading videos. Yes, that’s it. Mike Lynch is the ISIS beheading video of Boston sports media.
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Where’s your dunce cap?
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Chatham article was great. Thanks Bruce.
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You’re sitting on it as usual.
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Are we sure you don’t have someone locked up in your basement? Creep.
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No, I have someone locked up in your basement. Right next to your shrine to Bruce Allen. “Twatham awticle was gweat! Danks Bwuce!” Yuck. Douche chills, brah.
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Hey now.
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Could it be?? Someone with a sense of humor?!
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Cue the inevitable “The Dark Side of an American Hero” piece on Jeter in
the time it takes to write it . . . the manipulations, the exploitations, the
seamy, the sad, the just plain silly. Of course then your chorus shouting
Hosanna these past few days will nod sagely and subtly inform the rabble
on how they were in on the joke all along – – just going with the flow, as it
were, because the unwashed need their icon worship fix and far be it for
these purveyors of the manufactured truths of our time to break the spell
that keeps us from ever being let down while being taken for a ride.
Again and again and again. By the way, what is Roger Clemens doing these days?
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Good analysis on Jeter. He was very good for a very long period on some all time great teams. Can’t touch the Dimaggio, Mantle and Ruth level. Probably not Whitey Ford nor Mariano Rivera level either. Rarely the best player on his own team (tough to do with Rivera around).
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Cerebral Palsy is a disability not an illness. I have CP myself. Most post game questions aren’t that difficult to answer so he fits in.
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So, you know things are bad when the masthead of Drudge is “BRADY BENCHED” and the top story on the right is about Jimmy getting camera time.
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No s**t. I knew to stay away the football sites today, but even Drudge mocks me.
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Sports-everything. Hosts can be bad but fans take it to a new level. Callers into both morning shows so far sound like they used to be extras on the set of Deliverance.
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Charlie Weis was fired 2 days ago by Kansas. Patriots need to bring him in to help with this offense. Don’t care what his title is. Not saying McDaniels needs to go. Just bring back Weis in some capacity. Real talk.
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Assistant Head Coach. It’s a perfectly vague title and it would presumably give Weis the authority to contribute to any unit of the team. This needs to happen. At least he’d be able to take McDaniels aside and tell him about 2003. “You know Josh, we averaged 3.4 YPC on the ground that year. We couldn’t move it consistently running the ball. But, you know what? I still called running plays on 50 percent of our snaps, and as a result, Tom was devastating when running play-action passes.” Clearly, they don’t have the personnel to run the spread-’em-‘out attack they ran from 2007-2012, yet McDaniels continues to force it far too often. Have to step back and simplify things. Weis knew when to do that.
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There’s no silver lining to the Pats loss, but people need to relax. People around here like to pat themselves on the back about what great fans they are, but you see how they really are after a game like that.
The Pats were 2-2 in 2003 before finishing the season 17-2 as SB champs. That probably won’t happen this year, but give BB some credit he knows what he’s doing.
Also, to the people complaining about missing Mankins last night. Unless he could have played LB, CB, WR, and QB last night at an All Pro level it wouldn’t have mattered.
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Yet another lowest-common-denominator assessment of the media, which I wish was surprising. Shaughnessy is the only writer you bothered to read? Buckley had just the sort of even-handed take on Jeter you lament the absence of, a pretty insightful look at the way both the Jeter and Yaz send-offs tried to make those players something they’re not. It’s not like you had to dig all that deep to find Buckley. But if it’s not Shaughnessy or Felger, I guess, the “Boston sports media” maven doesn’t bother to pay attention to it.
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