It’s time to put the baseball season to bed after seven months of insight and analysis. And since the Yankees are the World Series champions, I will break down the biggest story of the season. In case you missed it following the Yankees’ series-clinching victory over the Phils on Wednesday evening, the players celebrated together as if they actually liked each other. It almost looked like a Yankees championship celebration, circa 1996. As was often the case in the moments after the Yankees clinched World Series titles in the 1990s, Derek Jeter was in the middle of it all. He spent a good amount of time celebrating with the veterans with whom he’s now shared five championships over the better part of 15 years — Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. Then he even mixed it up with the first-time champs, guys such as CC Sabathia, Nick Swisher, A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain and, yes, even Alex Rodriguez.

"Let's pretend we like each other." (AP)

And that’s when it hit me. In order for the Yankees to win the title, Jeter and A-Rod had to figure out how to make their relationship work. For the first five years of A-Rod’s Yankees experience, it didn’t work at all. When A-Rod went to the Yankees in 2004, he envisioned a situation in which he and Jeter would become best friends immediately. Right after the trade from the Rangers, A-Rod volunteered to switch to third base in order to make a concession for his new “buddy.” He figured the key to becoming beloved in New York was winning over Jeter.

On the other hand, Jeter already had the perfect life in New York. He was making $20 million a year, dating the best-looking women in the country, and had little interest in forming a bromance with A-Rod. Add all that to the fact that it’s well documented that A-Rod is socially awkward and even borderline creepy, and you can see why this relationship didn’t inspire fireworks right off the bat.

We’ve all been in Jeter’s situation before. You have a few close buddies at work. Everyone gets along well. No one stretches the relationship beyond the acceptable limitations of a work friendship (happy hour is OK, weekend plans are not). Then a new guy is hired, and he immediately hears you talking about happy hour. He invites himself, shows up just in time for the first round, and proceeds to talk about how much he hates work for the next two hours. You’re not going to want to go out with that guy again, particularly when he checks on your weekend plans on the way out of the bar. The new guy thinks he’s doing you a favor by hanging out … kind of like how A-Rod thought he was doing Jeter a favor by always saying they were best friends.

Well, how do you avoid spending time with the new annoying guy at work? You stop going to happy hour. You stop making plans with your other work buddies. You discontinue everything you used to enjoy just so the new guy won’t call your cell phone 14 times on a random Saturday. And when Monday rolls around, you make up lies about your weekend so he doesn’t think you blew him off. “What’d I do this weekend? Nothing.” At that point, you become the guy at work with no personality.

Well, this is what happened to Jeter from 2004-08. In order to distance himself from A-Rod, he distanced himself from all of his teammates. That way, he could pretend it wasn’t just A-Rod he avoided, it was all of his teammates. The glue guy for four championship teams turned into the biggest loner on the team.

What was different this year? A-Rod was different. We all know last offseason was absolutely horrendous for him. He had the Madonna saga, an ugly divorce, and then the steroid scandal. If anyone didn’t hate A-Rod before, they certainly hated him now. Jeter didn’t even have to pretend anymore.

Who would have imagined that situation would only make A-Rod stronger? Instead of pouting, he went public with the fact that he and Jeter were never friends. He had the steroids admission. When he was rehabbing his injured hip this spring, he stayed away from the team. All the while, this allowed Jeter a chance to befriend his teammates. He didn’t need to lie to A-Rod anymore, so he could openly have friendships with other teammates. A-Rod knew the deal and so did Jeter. They didn’t need to be friends, but Jeter needed to be friends with everyone else.

At some point, A-Rod even embraced the loner role. He started dating a celebrity and sitting on the opposite side of the bench as Jeter. He didn’t struggle in the postseason because he didn’t care about letting down his teammates. A-Rod was free to care about the only thing that ever mattered to him — himself. And Jeter could go back to being the consummate teammate. Now the Yankees finally have their 27th championship. And it’s because it took six years for A-Rod and Jeter to realize they only had to be co-workers, not friends. Either that, or it’s because the Yankees spent $455 million last offseason. One or the other.

Before I get to the Best of the Week, I want to thank everyone who came out to the Pollard Library last evening for the Parker Lecture Series in Lowell. I really enjoyed the evening.

Story of the Week: Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski is on fire with the anti-Rajon Rondo columns. First, he wrote a story on Oct. 22 that depicted a scene last season in which Rondo organized a team meeting on the back of a flight home from a road game. After Rondo gathered everyone in the back of the plane, he challenged the Big Three to hand over the reins of the team to him. This week, Wojnarowski has a story about Rondo’s showdown with Chris Paul last Sunday night, when the two traded technicals and had a verbal altercation after the final whistle. Apparently, in the heat of the battle, Rondo said, “I’ve got a ring, and you’re never gonna get one.” Following the game, Ray Allen walked over to the Hornets locker room and — according to the story but denied by Allen — apologized to Paul for his teammate’s behavior. Weird stuff.

Quote of the Week: Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark is returning to Denver this weekend for the first time since 2007, when the change in altitude caused such severe health problems due to his sickle cell condition that he was hospitalized and eventually had to have his spleen removed. He lost 30 pounds and missed the remainder of the 2007 season. Doctors have cleared Clark to play again in Denver this weekend. Here are Hines Ward’s thoughts on the matter.

“If it were me, no, I wouldn’t go,” Ward said. “You know what? Football’s second when it comes to someone’s life. Life is more important than football to me.”

E-mail of the Week: My brother, cousin and I had an e-mail chain going throughout the course of the World Series. My brother’s work computer is restricted from reading most sports sites (ESPN, Yahoo!, etc.), so he’s unable to track down any actual stats. He always goes on what he sees with his own eyes when he’s trying to make sports arguments. Here’s my brother’s e-mail regarding Game 6 of the World Series.

“And here’s a tidbit I only know because I go to a Philly bar every Wednesday. I go for cheap wings and beer with a couple of buddies and it annoys us that the place gets packed late in the year for the Phils fans. BUT, the Phils’ success on Wednesdays is unreal. They won the World Series road game in Tampa last year on a Wednesday. They completed Game 5 and won the World Series last year on a Wednesday. They won the NLCS this year on a Wednesday. Cliff Lee’s Game 1 win was on a Wednesday. I’m 95 percent sure they even clinched the playoffs this year on a Wednesday. And it’s Wednesday.”

And here’s my cousin’s response:

“Wednesday? I like Wednesdays, too. Yankees are 21-7 on Wednesdays since April, while the Phils are 14-15. I know you didn’t see that one coming! I’d say the Wednesday thing is a wash.”

Comment of the Week: There were some funny comments this week, but I laughed hardest at The Gravy’s comment on yesterday’s blog regarding Brett Favre. That was some creative imagery. I’m not even sure I’m allowed to post that in this section of the blog, so you’ll have to find that on your own.

Conversation Starter of the Week: Go out in your Halloween costume again this Saturday night. When people make comments or shoot you looks, call them snobs. “So, I’m wearing the same outfit twice in a week, get a life.”

Tip of the Week: Every New York fan should be redirected to the following topics of conversation for the next year: 1.) the New York Knicks, 2.) Bernie Madoff, 3.) college sports, 4.) Wall Street arrogance, 5.) Elliot Spitzer’s decision to make love in his socks, 6.) Plaxico Burress and the 2009 Giants, 7.) Joba’s third DUI (coming soon), 8. the cost of living, 9. the Stephon Marbury experience, and 10.) universal health care.

What Would Hideki Matsui Do? Let’s pretend you have a sick dog. You bring your pet to the veterinarian for a check-up, and he determines the dog has incurable cancer. The veterinarian breaks the news to you, and you ask for one final moment with your old buddy. If the veterinarian was Hideki Matsui, what would he do? He’d ignore your request and inject the dog on the spot. When you screamed at him with a horrified look on your face, he’d glare at the dog stoically and push his eyelids shut.

Stat of the Week: 3 — the number of times all four major sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey) have been played all on the same day. Two of those days occurred last week. The other was on Oct. 29, 2001.

Video of the Week: In appreciation of a two-year run in which the Phillies posted 205 total wins, including 20 in the playoffs, made it to two World Series and won one, let’s have a Charlie Manuel tribute video. Enjoy.

6 Comments for “Jeter and A-Rod played nice”

1. Primo Deano Says:
   November 6th, 2009 at 8:47 am

   Gotta love a Wednesday. Order is restored!

2. TheGravy Says:
   November 6th, 2009 at 10:11 am

   Cat fights!!
   http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4628040&categoryid=2378529

   ….
   The Book of Gravy
   $9.99 + S/H

3. Jon Says:
   November 6th, 2009 at 11:09 am

   This is all nice and good and I totally agree with your A-Rod Jeter failed bromance theory.

   But what is up with the complete meltdown of Lambert in the BYU New Mexico game. How was that girl even still in the game? Multiple Red Card infractions as well as many Yellow Card opportunities. This will be in the sports highlight pantheon for years.

4. Stephen Kovacs Says:
   November 6th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

   In regards to your request to throw around the frisbee Saturday in the WEEI parking lot…

   I’ve been really busy lately. And if I’m going to make this work with Robin, I’m going to have to try real hard. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I don’t have any room in my life for a new friend.

5. RAY Says:
   November 6th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

   THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN JETER AND A-ROD IS VERY STRONG DID YOU SEE HIM GRAB TWO ASS CHEEKS FULL OF HAND CELEBRATING DURING THE PLAYOFFS I GUESS THATS WHY HIS WIFE DIVORCED HIM CAUGHT HIM IN THE CLOSET

6. Chip Douglas Says:
   November 7th, 2009 at 3:39 pm

   Free cable is the ultimate aphrodisiac, Steven.

Leave a Reply