Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is loved by many and hated by more. No matter what he does, there are still going to be people who hate him and people who love him.

On Wednesday night, a Chad Qualls fastball ran inside on the Yankees captain, and Jeter spun around, acting as if he was hit by the pitch. However, the replay showed that the ball hit the bat and missed Jeter entirely.

He is, to me, the only likable Yankee—Curtis Granderson excluded.

There's no profundity in hating the New York Yankees, I realize that.

Last night, Derek Jeter created one of the most controversial moments of this entire baseball season by pretending to get hit by a pitch from Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chad Qualls and was awarded first base.

With a national TV audience and with this game being in the middle of a heated pennant race, Rays manager Joe Maddon found himself ejected before Yankee center fielder Curtis Granderson hit a two-run home run to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

It makes me chuckle.  Really, it does.  I sit back and listen to people, both fans and broadcasters whine and moan about instant replay in baseball. 

Making his first start in nine days, Phil Hughes was dominant for four innings. Perfect actually. He wouldn’t be perfect on this night. In fact, he wouldn’t even get his team a victory, thanks to Dan Johnson.

The Rays designated hitter who spent last season playing in Japan needed two swings to carry his team to their second win in three games against the Yankees.

Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up a three-game series at Tropicana Field against the New York Yankees with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory.  The second win of the series puts the Rays back in first place in the AL East by half a game.

Around 9:15 EST Wednesday night while playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Derek Jeter did something we have never seen him do, and might never expect him to do. Jeter has been an ambassador of the game and is known for being class act for throughout his career, but on Wednesday night...

He acted.

Yankee fans were unhappy—to say the least—on Monday night, when the Yankees surrendered first place to the Rays for the first time since August 3. Tuesday night, the Yankees got first place back, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Amidst all that anger came an interesting thought: what if, by some chance, the Yankees didn’t win the division?

Almost a year ago, September 13, Joe Girardi was a ticked off manager.  Even though the Yankees had the best record in the game (92-52) and a seven-game lead in the AL East over the Boston Red Sox, Girardi had been tossed out of a close game against the Orioles for arguing balls and strikes.  

October can't come any sooner for fans of the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers. The American League has little to no excitement on the postseason hunt in September with teams like the Red Sox and White Sox playing for any realistic hope that just isn't there to be had.