The Star-Ledger-USA TODAY Sports
Things with the New York Yankees are not as they should be. They not only are not in first place running away with the pennant, that’s not too bad, they don’t have Derek Jeter manning shortstop. See, now that is a problem. He is trying to fight his way back from the serious ankle injury that sidelined him this year. Oh and also Alex Rodriguez isn’t at third base or D.H.
The funny thing is that while almost everyone, including fans of rival teams, really want Jeter to fight his way back this season and have an impact, many don’t seem to care about A-Rod. I think it’s fairly easy to understand the problem. Here is a guy that was signed to a ridiculous contract back when he was the best player in MLB. That is the big glaring problem with extra long term contracts. The contract is so long that there is no way anyone could live up to the expectations and that doesn’t include the PED damage done to A-Rod.
Meanwhile Jeter is everybody’s favorite legend and maybe even everybody’s momma’s favorite legend as well. He is easy to like because he keeps his nose clean and plays the game the right way. Here is a question though. What if A-Rod came back at around 90% of the player he was and kept his nose clean and played the game the right way? Would it matter? What if Jeter suddenly found his name on a piece of paper that some random person claimed meant he took PEDs?
The ironic thing is that I think A-Rod is done in the court of public opinion. As far as most of the world of baseball fans think, he is a cheater that makes way too much money for the output. No matter what he does when he comes back, most would never fully trust him again. At the same time most would back Jeter 100% through allegations even if they seemed somewhat true. Why is that?
At least we know one thing about Yankees fans. If they start winning a ton of games and take the American League East, it won’t matter who is on the field. You have to love that about Yankees fans.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
