By Miguel Mike Medina
Episode three of “The Captain” documentary series, the episode is called “I don’t have to be your best friend.” It’s one of the best series episodes because it dives into Derek Jeter’s trust issues and keeps a tiny right group of people in his circle. It also goes into detail about his once-close friendship with Alex Rodriguez.
The footage of the 1999 brawl between the Yankees and Mariners was great because you saw Jeter and A-Rod chatting away from the brawl. It didn’t sit too well with Chad Curtis, and he and Jeter had an exchange privately. Curtis had issues with his teammates. His problems with whatever he had with Jeter became the beginning of the end during his tenure with the Yankees. Curtis spent three seasons with the Yankees (1997-1999)
In September 2000, the Yankees were struggling. The final week of the regular season was a disaster. When they clinched the division, they didn’t celebrate with champagne. That’s a great attitude to have. In Game 5 of the American League Division Series, third baseman Eric Chavez made a wrong decision to talk about how it’s time for someone else to win because the Yankees have won 4 titles in the last five years. Yankees heard those comments loud and clear, and they made the A’s pay the price. Yankees closed out the series on their home turf, and Chavez recorded the final out of the game with a pop-out fly to Tino Martinez. Chavez should’ve known better not to talk too soon.
The 2000 World Series brings back many memories because there was a lot of pressure on the Yankees to win the series. They needed to defend New York, and they did. The Yankees beat the Mets in 5 games. Derek Jeter set the tone and put the lid on the series after he hit a leadoff home run in the first inning of Game 4.
Jeter and A-Rod Scene:
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez had a true brotherhood in their early 20s. The two were close in the ’90s and even crashed at each other’s apartments while Derek was coming up on the Yankees and A-Rod was playing for the Seattle Mariners. There was great respect and admiration for each other. Rodriguez ruined that friendship with two interviews. His interview with writer Scott Raab was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the one with Dan Patrick. But here’s what he said during the interview with Scott Raab that caught the attention from everyone:
“Jeter’s been blessed with great talent around him,” he added of Jeter’s Yankees teammates. “So he’s never had to lead. He doesn’t have to; he can go and play and have fun and hit second. I mean, you know, hitting second is different than hitting third or fourth in a lineup because you go into New York trying to stop Bernie [Williams] and [Paul] O’Neill and everybody. You never say, ‘Don’t let Derek beat you.’ That’s never your concern.”
Rodriguez eventually met up with Jeter and apologized for how the comments came out. Jeter was bothered because he was a loyal person, and he would never do that to a friend.
Jeter and A-Rod seem to be cool nowadays. No issues between them. They won a Championship together in 2009. They also did an interview together in 2022. After Jeter lost one of his closest friends, Gerald Williams, to cancer, he’s been a “not hold any grudges” type of guy.
Review:
4.7 out of 5 stars
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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