Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, who played together for 10 years for the New York Yankees, have teamed up again as commentators.
FOX Sports announced during the Super Bowl eve on the 13th (Korean time), “Jitter will be part of the studio broadcast team this season.”
On this day’s broadcast, A Road appeared and gave Jeter a FOX Sports baseball uniform and hugged them together. Jeter was also welcomed by legendary tycoon David Otis from the Dominican Republic and host Kevin Burkhart.
Jeter joked, “Otis showed off his championship ring at the World Series held in Philadelphia last year, and then I thought, ‘If I go to the relay team over there, I’ll have to flatten Otis’ nose.'” handed over Otis has two World Series championship rings, but he’s showing off that he has five.
Fans’ attention is focused on the reunion of Jeter and Road A. This is because the two were major league icons from the late 1990s to the early 2010s, and ate one pot meal at the New York Yankees for exactly 10 years from 2004 to 2013. Jeter took off his uniform at the end of 2014, but that year Jeter missed the entire season due to a banned substance-related disciplinary action, so 2013 is practically the last season the two have been together.
Jeter, who became the Rookie of the Year in 1996, played an active role in winning four World Series titles until 2000, and A-Rod hit 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases for the Seattle Mariners, becoming the best shortstop around 2000.
However, it is said that the friendship between the two began to crack in 2001. This is because Road A made disparaging remarks about Jeter in an interview with the men’s magazine Esquire that spring.
In the April 2001 edition, A-Rod said, “Jitter is blessed with good players around him. He hits batting second in a completely different order than batting third and fourth. Playing against the Yankees, Bernie ( Williams) and (Paul) O’Neill are tricky, nobody says, ‘Don’t lose to Derek.’ He’s not a concern.”
Jeter was the Yankees’ starting shortstop at the time and a built-in second hitter who was responsible for creating and connecting chances. In 2000, the Yankees’ top and center batting order was mainly Chuck Noblak-Jitter-O’Neill-Williams-Tino Martinez. A-Rod meant that Jeter could hit .300 with 200 hits and over 100 runs thanks to the protection of back hitters O’Neill and Williams.
Jeter, who belatedly heard A-Rod’s interview, was taken aback, saying to reporters at the time, “I’ll ask A-Rod tonight and tell you why.”
However, Road A earlier appeared on ESPN radio in January of that year and blatantly disparaged Jeter, saying, “Jitter cannot exceed the terms of my contract,” and “Jetter is not a power hitter and his defense is worse than mine.” It is said that this was the starting point of the split between the two.
The two players signed a 10-year long-term contract side by side in the offseason that year, so it was inevitable that they would be directly compared among experts. Shortly after A-Rod signed a historic 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers, Jeter signed a 10-year, $189 million contract extension with the Yankees. 메이저놀이터
The New York Times reported on March 4 of that year that “Even if A-Rod’s remarks were valid, it is rare for one player to openly underestimate the market value of another player.”
Shortly after A-Rod’s ESPN radio interview was released, Jeter said, “I don’t care. I’ve known him for a long time. It’s obviously not a nice word, but he said he didn’t mean anything bad, so you can take it as it is. We’re close. We play for different teams, so we spend a lot of time together.” I don’t spend a lot of time with him, but he’s a good friend of mine.”
Until then, Jeter believed A-Rod’s sincerity, but after an interview with Esquire, he ended the friendship, saying, “He’s not a true friend.” Later, after A-Rod joined the Yankees, there was no major discord. ESPN reported on this day, “The two seemed to have buried it in the past.”
More than 20 years have passed. Jeter appeared on ESPN’s ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ hosted by A Road last year and said, “The two of us talked and cleared up the misunderstanding.” did you really solve it?