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The Spectacle Blog
ESPN’s Skip Bayless is in hot water for wondering if New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is “using something.”
As of this writing, the 38-year old Jeter is leading the AL in hits with 169 this season. Jeter just passed Eddie Murray to move into 12th place on MLB’s all-time hit list. He now has 3,257 hits for his career and needs 27 hits to pass Willie Mays and exactly 1,000 hits to pass Pete Rose for the number one spot. During 2010 and 2011, it had been suggested that Jeter was on his last legs. But everybody loves a comeback story.
When Bayless was making his argument (which stopped short of accusing Jeter of actually using PEDs), Stephen A. Smith went ballistic on him. At one point, Smith absurdly compared Jeter to “a decorated soldier.” However, Smith is correct to say that Jeter is an “institution” in Major League Baseball. But the same could have been said for the likes of Jeter’s former teammate Roger Clemens, his current teammate Alex Rodriguez and, for that matter, Pete Rose.
But Bayless stuck to his guns. “I am not saying he uses a thing. I have no idea. But within the confines of his sport, it is fair for all of us, in fact you are remiss, if you don’t at least think about this.”
Well, I must admit that the thought has crossed my mind that Derek Jeter has been using PEDs. Indeed, it has been a subject of conversation with my Dad during our regular phone calls about baseball. Granted, I am a Red Sox fan and Jeter has long been a thorn in the side of Red Sox pitching. So you can take my thoughts with however many grains of salt you wish. But how can a 38-year old man run down to first base faster than he did five years ago?
Now one could certainly argue that it would be irresponsible to make such a speculation without more compelling evidence. One could also argue that it is unfair to single out Jeter. After all, given MLB’s more stringent drug testing procedures I would imagine that Jeter has passed hundreds of these tests in recent years. Even if Jeter using PEDs has crossed my mind, it has done so because of my heart, not my head.
For his part, when Jeter was asked about Bayless’ comments he suggested in jest that Bayless ought to be tested. Well, I hope for Jeter’s sake that he’s telling the truth. If Jeter retired today he would be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Of course, he does have an outside shot at eclipsing Pete Rose and if he does that would be a magnificent accomplishment. But if Jeter does test positive for PEDs then he, like Pete Rose, can kiss the Hall of Fame goodbye and for that matter all the goodwill he has built up over the past 15 years or so. He would become yet another of baseball’s discredited institutions.
There would also be a lot of people who would owe Skip Bayless an apology starting with Stephen A. Smith.
View all comments (13) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/08/23/is-derek-jeter-a-cheater
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ejp| 8.23.12 @ 1:56PM
Shame on you, Aaron Goldstein for giving any kind of credence to this based on ZERO evidence other than a whining sportswriter's hunch, and your lapdog devotion to a team that's become a national joke.
JimH| 8.23.12 @ 1:59PM
We do know that Derek is not above pretending to have been hit by a pitch when in fact he wasn’t; cheating or gamesmanship?
Bob K| 8.23.12 @ 2:27PM
Good health, avoiding injury and the good luck to have skills that have not deteriorated are the determining factors in records like this. If you experiment with drugs to increase your strength and speed you run the risk of getting an injury.
Playing for all of your career on teams that have excellent hitters batting before you and after you also helps greatly because you will see better pitches to hit and you won't be getting any of those "unintentional" intentional walks.
Perhaps the best thing he could do is what Rose did for his entire career. Refuse to wait for walks, don't worry about home runs or extra base hits and swing away and hope he stays healthy enough to get 1000 more hits.
ejp| 8.23.12 @ 4:36PM
You are a disgrace, Goldstein. Why are you now borrowing a page from Harry Reid to promote this crap?
Crassus| 8.23.12 @ 6:03PM
Why is anyone from TAS quoting Homo Skip Bayless or agreeing with anything that pitiful assclown says on ESPN? Shame on you, Goldstein. Shame on you. You need your butt kicked.
Bob K| 8.23.12 @ 7:02PM
I'll tell you how it is he runs to first faster than he did 5 years ago. All baseball numbers involved with speed are inflated. Hell, you can't watch a game on TV anymore without the announcer announcing that the last pitch was "timed at 98 mph!"
Occam's Tool| 8.23.12 @ 7:17PM
Time to pass the piss tests from hell and sue Bayless to death.
Look at Jeter's body. What PEDs are we talking about?
Tom Kyba| 8.23.12 @ 7:18PM
Skip Bayless is now the subject of discussion. Motivation question answered. The speed to 1st base difference must be miniscule, as I've watched Jeter from day one and don't see the difference. He also plays with a lot of nagging injuries, perhaps this year he's healthier than in recent seasons.
sam1953| 8.24.12 @ 7:49AM
Sounds more like that jerk Senator from Nevada.
He never paid taxes, kind of comment.
aroundthetrack| 8.24.12 @ 8:23AM
Clemens,Rodriguez and Rose as institutions? If by institutions you mean idols, you're wrong for the first two. Neither Clemens nor Rodriguez was hero worshipped like Jeter. Both had considerable unpopularity with fans. Rose was a hero until his gambling became known
Occam's Tool| 8.24.12 @ 10:47AM
Again, raising allegations on someone without any proof and airing it to the National Press is a Liberal, not Conservative, maneuver.
Paul Windels| 8.24.12 @ 11:15AM
Jeter has made it to where he is based on three factors which have enabled him to maximize his talents. First, he probably has the best on-field baseball smarts this side of Joe DiMaggio. Second, he always hustles. Third, despite the temptations of New York, he always comes to the park ready to play.
I seriously doubt that Jeter has used anything illegal. Aside from the fact that he probably gets tested a whole lot and has been over the years, there never has been the slightest rumor of his using illegal substances. This is very different from Pete Rose -- the gambling stories about him were out there for a long time, and the drug speculation about him goes back to Ball Four.
As a lawyer, my feeling is that, unless Bayless has some real evidence to support his insinuations, his conduct constitutes actual malice as defined in NY Times v. Sullivan, and this is reinforced by his "I'm not saying anything but only asking a question" game.
It's really too bad that Red Sox fans can't enjoy the fact that they won two world series in the last ten years and give credit to one of the all time greats who happened to play for a different team. I am a Yankee fan and I felt genuinely sorry that the Red Sox dumped the two men who led them to those championships, both of whom I consider class acts and worthy rivals. Any true baseball fan can appreciate what Jeter has brought to the game just the way they could appreciate Ted Williams.
ejp| 8.24.12 @ 1:29PM
"Conservatives" who root for the Red Sox should apologize for the fact that there's is the team of Bill Lee, drug user, Communist and all-around jerk.