Time For The Captain To Step Up

Derek Jeter has never been a very vocal guy. He has always let his bat and glove do the talking. It's not working this year. One could even say it never worked. Over the years there have always been guys in the Yankee Clubhouse who weren't afraid to get in someone's grill and tell them to shape up. These were guys like Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Jim Leyritz and, until his steroids revelations (or, lack therof), Jason Giambi. They did a good job of covering up Jeter's lack of leadership skills and the players responded well. Now there's no one like that in the clubhouse and Derek Jeter has been exposed.

I read an interesting article by Phil Allard on NYYFans.com this morning. Allard's main focus was Joe Torre and Robinson Cano, but he included this very insightful quote:

"...it would be nice if Jeter, just once, acted like a captain by stepping up and demanding that the team play like they cared…but we mustn't disparage the captain. It’s not Jeter’s way to act like a captain; he is not going to start doing that now..."

Very well said. Now, I'm not saying that Derek Jeter is the cause of all the Yankee problems this year. Many people and things are to blame. But no one ever wants to lay a finger of blame on "Teflon Jeet." As I mentioned in an earlier post, the media always seems to conveniently forget to ask him any challenging questions. He is definitely a media darling, and I don't see it ending anytime soon.

The Lady