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Jeter dubbed cheater after simulated act
Source: Agencies |
September 18, 2010, Saturday
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NEW York Yankees captain Derek Jeter gave an Oscar-worthy performance by pretending to get hit by a pitch in a pennant race game on Wednesday night.
Howling, hopping and seemingly hurting, Jeter, who has a cameo in the Will Ferrell comedy "The Other Guys", even got the team trainer to examine his left arm. And then the All-Star often hailed as a model of good sportsmanship took his base.
More like stole it, fans in Tampa Bay hollered.
"Jeter cheater!" they chanted.
Replays clearly showed what really happened: Chad Qualls' fastball squarely struck the knob of Jeter's bat, not the player. But Major League Baseball doesn't use instant replay in these situations.
For more than a century, ballplayers have tried to bend the rules.
Pitchers throw spitballs, outfielders fake catches on balls that bounce, shortstops make phantom tags. This isn't golf, where players are expected to call penalties on themselves.
Coming off the Steroids Era, where cheating often meant illegal performance-enhancing drugs, some actually found a charm in Jeter's old-fashioned chicanery.
Yet seeing the squeaky-clean Jeter involved in Yankee hanky-panky was startling. So was his response. Asked where the ball hit, he readily admitted his sleight of hand.
"The bat," he said, without apology. "It's part of the game."
Savvy play
To his legion of admirers, it was a savvy play. The bat flew, he spun around, doubled over and convinced the home-plate umpire he'd been hit. He wound up scoring a key run in the seventh inning.
To Jeter's detractors, it was a cheap trick. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon argued so much he got ejected, though he praised Jeter after the Rays rallied past the Yankees 4-3 into first place in the AL East.
"There's several thespians throughout baseball," Maddon said. "I thought Derek did a great job, and I applaud it, because I wish our guys would do the same thing."
Both the Yankees and Rays were off on Thursday, but Jeter Theater played throughout the majors.
On the Cincinnati Reds' telecast of their game against Arizona ¨? a matchup with no direct connection to what occurred at Tropicana Field ¨? there was a fan text poll with this question: Are you OK with the Derek Jeter play? Fans were split on whether it was gamesmanship or farce.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre applauded Jeter.
"Hell, yeah, he did the right thing," Torre, Jeter's longtime manager with the Yankees, said in San Francisco. "It's not like running a red light. Stuff you can do out on the field, whether you can get away with it, it's not being immoral. We allow people to steal second base. Anything you can get away with is fine. To me, that's above board. It's not like he's loading his bat."
Howling, hopping and seemingly hurting, Jeter, who has a cameo in the Will Ferrell comedy "The Other Guys", even got the team trainer to examine his left arm. And then the All-Star often hailed as a model of good sportsmanship took his base.
More like stole it, fans in Tampa Bay hollered.
"Jeter cheater!" they chanted.
Replays clearly showed what really happened: Chad Qualls' fastball squarely struck the knob of Jeter's bat, not the player. But Major League Baseball doesn't use instant replay in these situations.
For more than a century, ballplayers have tried to bend the rules.
Pitchers throw spitballs, outfielders fake catches on balls that bounce, shortstops make phantom tags. This isn't golf, where players are expected to call penalties on themselves.
Coming off the Steroids Era, where cheating often meant illegal performance-enhancing drugs, some actually found a charm in Jeter's old-fashioned chicanery.
Yet seeing the squeaky-clean Jeter involved in Yankee hanky-panky was startling. So was his response. Asked where the ball hit, he readily admitted his sleight of hand.
"The bat," he said, without apology. "It's part of the game."
Savvy play
To his legion of admirers, it was a savvy play. The bat flew, he spun around, doubled over and convinced the home-plate umpire he'd been hit. He wound up scoring a key run in the seventh inning.
To Jeter's detractors, it was a cheap trick. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon argued so much he got ejected, though he praised Jeter after the Rays rallied past the Yankees 4-3 into first place in the AL East.
"There's several thespians throughout baseball," Maddon said. "I thought Derek did a great job, and I applaud it, because I wish our guys would do the same thing."
Both the Yankees and Rays were off on Thursday, but Jeter Theater played throughout the majors.
On the Cincinnati Reds' telecast of their game against Arizona ¨? a matchup with no direct connection to what occurred at Tropicana Field ¨? there was a fan text poll with this question: Are you OK with the Derek Jeter play? Fans were split on whether it was gamesmanship or farce.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre applauded Jeter.
"Hell, yeah, he did the right thing," Torre, Jeter's longtime manager with the Yankees, said in San Francisco. "It's not like running a red light. Stuff you can do out on the field, whether you can get away with it, it's not being immoral. We allow people to steal second base. Anything you can get away with is fine. To me, that's above board. It's not like he's loading his bat."
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