Derek Jeter has always annoyed me, though we've never met.
As a Mets fan, I grew tired of hearing from Yankee fans how "classy" he was, how there was no hint of off-the-field troubles. As a journalist, I felt empathy for the poor sports reporters who tried valiantly but unsuccessfully for many years to coax even a single interesting quote out of him. Instead, they had to settle for classic baseball boilerplate. So, for years, I have referred to him as Derek F. Jeter—like Mets killers such as Chipper F. Jones, Freddie F. Freeman, and Chase F. Utley. And I even derived an ungenerous bit of baseball schadenfreude from the pandemic postponement of his Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Now, as protests continue over the excruciating slow-motion murder of George Floyd and the many other police killings of unarmed black men, Jeter has spoken out—this time, not in boilerplate. "Something needs to change. It gets to a point where you say enough is enough," Jeter said during a Juneteenth special on the MLB Network, in conversation with Harold Reynolds. "The one thing that I was optimistic about is, for the first time, you're seeing people across all 50 states and roughly 20 other countries—people of all different races and different nationalities—out there in agreement that now is the time and things do need to change, because it's been going on for too long." Jeter spoke not just for himself but for the Miami Marlins team that he runs. "I wanted people to hear it directly from me, that's the bottom line—I want to be very clear on where I stand, and I want to be very clear on where the organization stands. We're not going to sit idly by and allow racism to persist, that's the bottom line." So, Derek, despite all the years of Yankee-fan blather about your immortality and all those boring post-game quotes, you have said exactly the right thing, at the right time. No more F for you.
8 Comments
Jack Reilly,
6/20/2020 12:58:00 pm
Retired Santa, active in local political activities, and you are right on about Jeter, still mad he did't buy the Mets, now we will get Lopez and Rodriguez. Bob,. you are still the best, ever get past 2nd Looie?
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Bob Keeler
6/20/2020 01:52:18 pm
Yes, Jack/Santa, I advanced as far as first lieutenant, and that's all I could stomach.
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Uncle Frank
6/20/2020 01:47:21 pm
But it will still always be Denis F. Potvin.
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Bob Keeler
6/20/2020 01:51:07 pm
No problem. It's up to you to remove Potvin's F, and I'm not expecting that anytime soon.
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Jack Oconnell
6/20/2020 02:48:33 pm
Great job. I know you know, but we can’t limit that 6th letter of the alphabet to baseball players. And even as a Mets fan here’s a few others
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Bob Keeler
6/20/2020 04:37:10 pm
Yes, they all have a lot of work to do before they lose their F.
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Dave Pokress
6/24/2020 09:45:31 am
There is only one F in baseball: Bucky F(ing) Dent. Ask any Red Sox fan.
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Bob Keeler
6/24/2020 12:27:17 pm
Sorry, but there's no way I'm doing away with Chipper's F. After all, he named his son Shea, because Chipper always killed the Mets at Shea.
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AuthorFirst in my class in Officer Candidate School. Late to the conclusion that our attitude toward the military is idolatrous. Archives
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