Derek Jeter made history today in the most dramatic fashion possible. He knocked his 3,000th hit over the left-center fence at Yankee Stadium on his way to a 5-for-5 day at the plate. It was a legendary performance by a legendary Yankee.
But it also showed why he's being selfish.
I'm not saying that he is selfish. In fact, I've been as big of a Jeter supporter as a non-Yankee fan can be. But his decline to play in the All-Star Game before his game today was selfish as hell.
He went 5-for-5 with a home run, but he's too hurt to play in the All-Star Game. Right. I missed the part where they wheeled him to the plate in a wheelchair before each heroic at-bat in which he was immediately replaced by a pinch runner.
Let's get this straight: The All-Star Game is an exhibition game. And of all the All-Star Games in sports, it has to be the least taxing. Jeez, even in the NFL All-Star Game, which is an absolute joke, there's actually contact involved.
For the MLB All-Star Game, Jeter could go to bat once, play two innings out in the field, get replaced and nobody would bat an eye. That's how these things work. You play a small portion of the game and somebody else gets trotted out there to experience it. Jeter probably works up more of a sweat making out with Minka Kelly.
To start with, Derek Jeter did not deserve to be an All-Star this year. He's having the worst year of his career after getting horrendously overpaid for this year and the next two. Yet, the fans voted him in. The fans. The ones that still give a crap about watching him in the All-Star Game. They had the courtesy to overlook his stink bomb of a year. You're telling me he can't have the courtesy to show up?
Yes, Jeter is coming off a calf injury. And if he would have shown signs of struggling in his quest to 3,000 hits, I wouldn't have blinked twice at his skipping the game. But after his display today, he made it perfectly clear that he is certainly healthy enough to chase after and obtain history. He's not healthy enough to play a few innings of baseball at half speed like everyone else out there?
Today was very cool. To see Jeter break the record on a bomb and go 5-for-5 in the process was special and just adds to his mystique. But it's definitely dampened by his selfish decision to skip the All-Star Game right before it.
Derek, if you're too hurt to play, I get that. But don't come out today and do what you did after claiming you're too hurt. You should man up and play in the All-Star Game.
It's literally the least you could do.
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