Jeter Commits Errors of Omission

Derek Jeter has never done anything during his professional career to bring shame upon himself or the New York Yankees.

But twice, what he hasn’t done has shown that Jeter, as admirable a sports star as almost any of his generation, is not perfect. Twice now he has shown he is not in touch with the rest of us.

The first was his failure to show up last year at Bob Sheppard’s funeral. The second, actually, hasn’t happened yet, but it will happen tonight, when Jeter will fail to appear at the All-Star Game in Arizona.

Jeter’s sterling reputation has been built upon his incredible baseball accomplishments, especially in those moments when the spotlight shone most brightly, and upon his reverence for the traditions of the Yankees and of baseball. Jeter – and every other Yankee player and coach – showed a complete disconnect with Yankee tradition a year ago by not appearing at Bob Sheppard’s funeral. Sheppard’s voice was Yankee tradition. Jeter has to know this. He is the captain and the face of the team. His absence at Sheppard’s funeral showed a disregard for the tradition he has always claimed to revere.

His absence tonight will do the same thing. Jeter accomplished something Saturday only 27 other players have accomplished when he collected his 3,000th hit. Twenty-eight men. That’s two players for every decade of Major League Baseball’s existence. When you do something only two people every 10 years can do, the rest of baseball would like to celebrate it.

Jeter will not give baseball that opportunity. That’s not right. All the dog-and-pony shows in sports have gotten so nauseating; these scripted stage performances when a team wins a championship or someone breaks a record. But since there’s already one going on tonight – which is pretty much all that is left of the All-Star Game – the show should honor one of its own taking his place in baseball history only 72 hours ago.

But Jeter won’t let it happen. His reason – that he is physically and emotionally worn out from the chase for 3,000 hits – is completely legitimate. It also is not good enough. Jeter has given so much to the game, but the game has given as much to him, if not more. He owes baseball this opportunity to celebrate his place in its history. He doesn’t have to play. He is coming off an injury.

But he has to make the trip. It’s the least he can do.