How did we ever get by without the MLB Network? Just days after new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine made news by tweaking Yankees captain Derek Jeter, video has surfaced that supports Jeter.
On Tuesday, Valentine dismissed Jeter’s back-handed flip that caught Jeremy Giambi at the plate in the 2001 Division Series against the A’s.
“We’ll never practice that,” Valentine told Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com. “I think he was out of position and the ball gets (Giambi) out if he doesn’t touch it.”
Valentine added, “That was amazing that (Jeter) was there. I bet it’s more amazing that he said he practiced it. I don’t believe it.”
Jeter’s reaction?
“I mean, we do,” he said. “What do you want me to say? I mean, really. What am I supposed to say?”
Here was the situation in 2001: The Yankees were trailing 2-0 in the series but leading 1-0 in the seventh inning of Game 3. Terrence Long hit a ball into the right field corner that was fielded by Shane Spencer. But when Spencer missed the cutoff man, Jeter grabbed the overthrow near the first baseline and flipped the ball home to get Giambi at the plate.
Today, the MLB Network showed additional video of Jeter following another runner down the line as a throw from right field was relayed from the first baseman to the catcher. The reason we didn’t hear about it last season was that everyone did their jobs on the play. But if the ball had gotten past the first baseman, Jeter was there to complete the relay.
That, to me, is the essence of practice in two parts. Part 1: When everything goes right, all the hours of practice that make it seem effortless can be overlooked. Part 2: When something goes wrong – and it will – you have to have a response. You can’t have someone watching from afar when he could have been involved in the same play, perhaps changing the outcome of a contest.
Sure, it’s a heads-up play. Derek Jeter is all about making heads-up plays. But being “heads up” starts in practice, placing a player in the best position to help your team.
How long was Bobby V. holding this in? There’s a reason baseball people talk about this play more than a decade after it happened.
I know Valentine was busy with his own team when he managed the Mets, but he should have known better than to call out Jeter on this one.
I get it that there are people in baseball who gush over everything the Yankees captain does, building him up to almost mythical proportions.
- Jeter never makes a misstep, on the field or off.
- Jeter always shines brightest under pressure.
- Jeter is the straw that stirs the Yankees’ drink, not Alex Rodriguez.
But Valentine is a smart man. He knows that many myths have their basis in reality. Practice is reality, in this case.
Valentine backed off his remarks yesterday when he was informed by Boston bullpen coach Gary Tuck, who used to be a catching instructor with the Yankees, that the Yankees practice the play.
“Total mistake on my part,” Valentine said. “It’s hard to practice that because why are we going to practice a bad throw? That’s not what we’re doing here. But I get it. I get it … I want it on record that I love Derek Jeter as a player. It was not a slight toward him. I love him as a guy, too.”
It’s Yankees-Red Sox magic, spring-training version. Just add Bobby V. and stir.