app2686
09-18-2006, 09:10 PM
Last night, it's the 7th inning and the Yankees are holding a narrow 4 - 2 lead on the Red Sox. The Yankees have a man on second with 1 out when Derek Jeter comes to the plate. Keep in mind: Jeter is hitless for the night, and his 25 game hit streak is in jeopardy.
The opposing pitcher throws Jeter three straight balls, and now Jeter has the great fortune to find himself in a 3 - 0 count. Because a walk is so likely, the chances that Jeter will continue his hit streak are almost dead, but Jeter will have none of that. The next pitch is clearly low and away and yet Jeter swings away. He ends up grounding out to the 1st basemen for the 2nd out of the inning. Jeter significantly kills the Yankee's chances of padding their lead in a very close ballgame. The Yankees would go onto lose that game 5 to 4.
The consensus is that Jeter clearly swung to extend his hit streak. And yet there is NO discussion about it. The ESPN announcers didn't even bother to mention it and the event hardly got any publicity whatsoever.
Now what Jeter did was clearly selfish. We're taught from a very young age that the team always come before the player. Always.
However, Jeter's selfishness last night is not the issue (However I don't condone his selfish play either). It's fairly common for players to play for their stats rather than their team.
The issue is that amidst a highly contested AL MVP race, every player should reciever EQUAL media attention. Good or bad. And yet this is a clear example of media favoritism.
Especially given some of the MVP criteria, if more were aware of what Jeter did, who knows how this might affect the AL MVP race. But the fact of the matter is, it seems most will never know.
The opposing pitcher throws Jeter three straight balls, and now Jeter has the great fortune to find himself in a 3 - 0 count. Because a walk is so likely, the chances that Jeter will continue his hit streak are almost dead, but Jeter will have none of that. The next pitch is clearly low and away and yet Jeter swings away. He ends up grounding out to the 1st basemen for the 2nd out of the inning. Jeter significantly kills the Yankee's chances of padding their lead in a very close ballgame. The Yankees would go onto lose that game 5 to 4.
The consensus is that Jeter clearly swung to extend his hit streak. And yet there is NO discussion about it. The ESPN announcers didn't even bother to mention it and the event hardly got any publicity whatsoever.
Now what Jeter did was clearly selfish. We're taught from a very young age that the team always come before the player. Always.
However, Jeter's selfishness last night is not the issue (However I don't condone his selfish play either). It's fairly common for players to play for their stats rather than their team.
The issue is that amidst a highly contested AL MVP race, every player should reciever EQUAL media attention. Good or bad. And yet this is a clear example of media favoritism.
Especially given some of the MVP criteria, if more were aware of what Jeter did, who knows how this might affect the AL MVP race. But the fact of the matter is, it seems most will never know.