4-0.

"Assuming he is truly the guy he has presented himself to be over the past 11 seasons, Jeter would rather be a world champion than an MVP any day of the week and any season of his career."

Every pro athlete would rather win a championship than an MVP award.


"Jeter's detractors use a lot of insults to describe him: cold, condescending, aloof, bloodless, a robot programmed to play baseball."

Is there really some big army of Jeter detractors that the rest of the world is unaware of?

I don't think I've ever heard anybody describe Jeter as cold, condescending, aloof, bloodless, or a robot programmed to play baseball. Only I describe Jeter as cold, condescending, aloof, bloodless, and a robot programmed to play baseball.


By the way, I wish! That would be awesome! A robot programmed to play baseball!

I can imagine Bob Sheppard's voice echoing over the Yankee Stadium speakers: "Batting fifth (fifth) ... number ninety-nine (nine) ... shortstop (stop) ... furby ... number ninety-nine (nine)."


I personally believe Jeter is a phony. But I could google "Jeter" and "phony" and felzball would probably come up 500 times out of 501 hits.

(Amazingly, I just tried this and felzball came up as the top two sites.)

I am apparently the only person on Earth who has ever written "Jeter" and "phony" in the same sentence.

I googled Jeter + condescending and got nothing.

Jeter + aloof got articles that described ARod as aloof.

Jeter + cold returned phrases such as "Jeter's cold determination" and "Jeter's cold spell" and one about Jeter's "cold shoulder" toward Ken Huckaby, the guy who accidentally injured Jeter on Opening Day 2003. Also, one about Jeter on the television show, Cold Pizza.

Jeter + bloodless (yuck!) got nothing.

So, out of 100 million sites on the Interweb, felzball is the only website that qualifies as a Jeter detractor.


Jeter's MVP consolation speech was one of the phoniest things you will ever hear. Perfectly safe and precisely what the fans want to hear. Which is fine. No need to be radically honest.

But please, Wallace Matthews, at least admit this guy is a big phony.


" 'Phony' is not one of them."

Oh, well.


"If he were, he would have publicly embraced A-Rod by now, just to shut everybody up."

Ahem.

Fact 1: Jeter says he'll do anything to win.

Fact 2: Publicly embracing a troubled teammate may help the Yankees win.

Fact 3: Jeter does not like ARod.

Observation: Jeter will not publicly embrace ARod because Jeter does not like ARod.

Conclusion: When Jeter says he will do anything to win, he is being a phony.


"But Jeter doesn't exist to placate teammates or the media, or to accumulate statistics and accolades. By all available evidence, he exists to win baseball games, not awards."

But only on his own terms.

Hasn't Matthews realized that placating teammates can sometimes help win baseball games? It sure couldn't hurt.


"When Alex Rodriguez won the MVP last year as a member of a Yankees team that bombed out in the first round of the playoffs, he said this of his runner-up, David Ortiz: 'I'd certainly trade his World Series championship for this MVP trophy'

Since the sincerity of A-Rod's words is always open to question, you can take that for what it's worth. And you know that if Alex Rodriguez dies without a World Series ring but with his two MVPs, he will die smiling.

...

To Jeter, winning the MVP in a season that ended as badly as 2006 did for the Yankees would be like hitting a solo home run at the end of a 10-run loss. Maybe A-Rod could be satisfied with that, but not Jeter." "

Me Wallace. Me no like ARod.


You know what I think? I think ARod has hunger and drive and resourcefulness. ARod is still out there taking fielding practice rather than getting fat and lazy with his $252 million contract (in case you hadn't heard, ARod signed a $252 million contract).

A player can not accomplish what ARod has accomplished without hunger and drive and resourcefulness.

I also think that nobody in baseball wants a ring more than ARod. Nobody gets crucified more than ARod for failing in the postseason. ARod would give back twenty MVPs for one Championship ring. He doesn't want to go down in history as baseball's version of Dan Marino.

ARod tanked in the playoffs the past two years. Hate the results. Don't hate the effort.


You know what else I think? As I dare to bring up the unspeakable evil that lurks in the heart of men?

I think that Jeter & Torre dislike ARod so much that they'd rather keep the ring count at 4-0 than allow it to become 5-1.

I can't prove it. It's just a hunch. But it may explain why Jeter smirks while ARod gets booed and it may explain why Torre goes out of his way to embarrass ARod in the playoffs.