One baseball story that’s been overlooked
this season is the continued excellence of Derek Jeter. The marvelously
consistent Yankees shortstop enters tonight’s game against the Red Sox with a
league-leading 160 hits and a nifty .317 batting average.
Not too shabby for a 38-year-old who looked
like he was washed up during the first few months of the 2011 season when he
was hitting more dribblers than line drives.
Jeter
currently ranks 12th on baseball’s all-time hits list with 3,248,
and will crack the Top 10 with just 36 more hits, surpassing both Eddie Murray
and Willie Mays.
He has
a legitimate shot at cracking the top five with an average season in 2013.
The
juicy question, of course, is if El Capitan has a shot at the Hit King, Pete
Rose.
He does,
but it’s not going to be easy. As Rose told me in an interview in Cooperstown
several years ago, “The last 1,000 hits of my career were 10 times harder to
get than the first 3,000.”
Jeter
clearly has kept himself in impeccable shape, but Father Time eventually
catches up with all of us, including elite athletes. Down the road, expect to
see Jeter spend more time in the DH slot and at some point, probably after
signing a contract extension in two years, he will have to switch to a position
that is less demanding than shortstop. That could be a combination of third
base (think Cal Ripken Jr. at the end of his career) and DH. Some have
suggested a shift to left or centerfield, but I think the inevitable diminution
of skills will preclude such a move at this late stage of his career.
In the
meantime, we should try to enjoy the consistent excellence of this remarkable
ballplayer.
Spectacular
always gets noticed. Day-after-day excellence isn’t as sexy and often gets
overlooked.
***
Some
observations after the Bills first two glorified exhibitions:
Donald
Jones clearly has cemented his grip on the No. 2 wide receiver spot opposite
Stevie Johnson.
T.J. Graham’s sprinter’s speed and crisper
routes could give the Bills the field-stretcher they’ve been looking for since
Lee Evans was in his prime.
I believe that, unless he stinks up the joint
in these last two preseason contests, Vince Young will beat out Tyler Thigpen
for the backup QB job.
And, despite the fact Mario
Williams doesn’t have a recorded tackle in two games, Buffalo’s D-line is going
to be as good as advertised and create some havoc for opposing quarterbacks.
I
haven’t been enamored so far with the play of the linebacking corps – this unit
really needs to step it up.
And the O-line has looked a little shaky, but
I remember how putrid this unit looked last exhibition season and it wound up
greatly exceeding expectations.
This
week’s home exhibition vs. Pittsburgh will give us a slightly more focused
look, with the starters possibly playing into the second half. But neither team
will be game-planning or showing its hands, so, again, watch everything with a
grain of salt.
***
I think
the two-year extension of the player development contract with the Minnesota
Twins was the right move by the Rochester Red Wings. The Twins have put a much
better ballclub on the field at Frontier Field after the worst back-to-back
seasons by the Wings in nearly a century. It continues to be a good working
relationship, much better than the one the Buffalo Bisons have had with the New
York Mets, whom Buffalo probably will dump in favor of the Toronto Blue Jays. I
also like the fact that the Wings continue to sign two-year, rather than
long-term extensions. The shorter contracts help prevent the big club from
taking you for granted.
***
Classy move by Doug Marrone to have his Syracuse University football team spend this past
week at Fort Drum, interacting with members of the U.S. Army. He, his assistants and his players no doubt
learned some valuable lessons from the soldiers – lessons that should benefit
them not only this football season, but throughout their lives.
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