By Joe Schackman
Derek Jeter may or may not be taking steroids, but one thing is for sure: We shouldn't be afraid to ask.
It’s only natural for non-Yankee fans to try to shoot holes through Derek Jeter’s resume. He’s overrated, he’s terrible on defense, he’s got no power. He’s just lucky.
New York fans take that in stride. They laugh off his weaknesses, returning fire with with his numerous awards, records and most importantly, his rings. It’s a fun and harmless back-and-forth.
Mostly. Because when someone links the Captain to steroids, as Skip Bayless did last week, the Yankee faithful draw the line. Jeter would never cheat. He plays the game right, and plays the game clean. How could anyone even entertain that idea? Show some respect.
They might be right. But if we’ve learned one thing from the past two decades, it’s that we can’t underestimate the level to which professional athletes are willing to stoop to get better.
First, a caveat: I don’t in any way believe that Derek Jeter has or ever will take performance-enhancing drugs. He simply has too much to lose, and is already one of the top players of his generation. He’s a marvel, even with the defensive range of a minor league scrub.
But it’s nevertheless reasonable to ask how a 38-year-old shortstop who just finished two unmistakable years on the decline is suddenly putting up All-Star numbers on par with his his 25-year-old self. It’s not enjoyable or fair, but it’s simply the next logical step in a sport that’s seen so-called resurgent athletes exposed as cheaters one too many times. The steroid era is far from over, as evidenced most recently by Bartolo Colon and Melky Cabrera (and Ryan Braun before them), and when millions of dollars, fame and success are on the line, people will always be willing to push the limits.
Like all the other greats, Jeter is hypercompetitive. He’s wired to win, and after an entire career of doing just that, he lost it all almost overnight. His speed, power and athleticism were were just gone. Gone too, were the championships. Jeter dodged much of the criticism, but it’s hard to imagine he was willing to give himself the same break.
“Everyone says they only want one” he told New York’s Journal News in 2010. “But once you get one? Once you get a taste, you can’t ever go back. You just want it again and again. That’s a fact.”
It’s 2012 now, Jeter leads the American League in hits and the Yankees are in first again. It’s a wonderful storyline, the veteran who snaps out of a career-ending slumber to lead his team to the promised land. It’d be a wonderful end to a wonderful career. And hopefully, for the good of everything and everyone involved, that’s what it is. But are we positive that’s the case? Can we take a hard, objective, look at the past and be certain of the future? In short, no.
Admittedly, Skip Bayless is the wrong man to be asking this question. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad question. When it comes to Jeter and all the other prepackaged storylines we’ve been fed for years, the last things fans should be doing is showing some respect.
Joe Schackman is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.
3 comments:
Acceptable to ask. Barely.
Assuming that "barely" means "everyone in their right might should be thinking the same thing." A large proportion of the baseball greats over the past 15 years have used. Ryan Braun used last year to win MVP. What's-his-name, the dude who had a resurgent year this year, got caught using. Another pitcher got caught using. People use steroids! I think the more pertinent question than "Did he use?" is "Should professional athletes be allowed to use?" since they clearly do anyway (and have a huge incentive to). Should the ones who get away with it reap all the rewards? Why don't we level the playing field?
True Ben. I always find it interesting how hurt people get when baseball players use as opposed to the NFL where people don't really seem to care the same way.
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