Jeter Corleone: ‘The Captain’ shows how much the Yankee shortstop holds a grudge

I think we all knew that, much like New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, former Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter is a Hall of Fame grudge-holder. But from what I’ve read about the documentary so far, he is even more bitter than even I expected!

So I am very curious to see The Captain, the upcoming seven-part docuseries on ESPN about the shortstop. I’ve been reading up on articles about what Jeter says in it. And I have a lot of thoughts about what I’ve read so far.

According to a puff piece about The Captain in The Daily Beast, the series traces “his famously guarded nature” to what a high school friend once said:

“I remember I had a good friend of mine that was in high school, and after I graduated from high school, I had found out that he had mentioned he doesn’t like to see interracial marriages,” Jeter recalls. “And I’m like, ‘This is somebody I hung out with. I trusted this person.’ It’s been there for a while, but I think it’s been magnified a little bit as my career developed over time.”

Okay, I can understand that. Pretty terrible thing.

And I also get that celebrities have issues we don’t, like others using them for money or fame. (Something I’ve never had to worry about!)

But Jeter takes the grudge-holding to an extreme:

“If someone doubts me, OK, I hear you. But now I’m gonna turn that off, because I don’t want to think about it,” says Jeter early on in The Captain. “I didn’t talk about it. Didn’t tell people about it. But I have a list in my head of people who doubted. I remember exactly what you said, when you said it, and what you were wearing when you said it.”

Okay, Jeter Corleone!

It is one thing to use the slights for fuel. But to keep on holding onto them, decades later, seems a bit much.

Speaking of grudges, Oprah Winfrey is doing something on Oprah Daily this week about forgiveness. It’s for subscribers only. (Full disclosure: I am one of those subscribers!) But her point is that forgiveness isn’t about saying that somebody wronging you is okay.

“Forgiveness you do for you, not for the other person,” she says, “and without the ability to forgive, you’re constantly giving away your power.” Basically, you’re letting those who wronged you live rent-free in your head if you hold onto the grudge.

Did anybody ever have the guts to say that to Derek Jeter? Or would they be worried that he would hold the grudge against him for telling him to let it go?

I mean, one of my favorite expressions is that “Living well is the best revenge.”

And by all accounts, Jeter is living pretty well. He’s won! He’s an MLB Hall of Famer who is still idolized by millions, is worth many millions, has a young, beautiful wife, great children, loving parents, a beloved sister, and is in good health.

Isn’t that enough? Why does he still feel so compelled to hold onto these grudges? This really is like Michael Corleone at the end of The Godfather Part II!

Of course, Jeter’s most infamous grudge is the one he held against Alex Rodriguez. Apparently, the documentary claims that Jeter felt betrayed about multiple times where he thought A-Rod, his former close friend, had dissed him in interviews.

The thing of it is, though, and I’ve been saying this since 2004, is that a good baseball captain has to be the captain for all of the team, not just his buddies. And Jeter holding onto his anger with A-Rod was neither good for the Yankees nor conducive to winning.  That’s not what true leaders do.

The series also talks about the media coverage Jeter got. According to the ESPN press release, Episode 5 features the following:

“The Yankees and Jeter suffer the most historic loss in baseball history. Jeter’s identity is under attack as he faces challenges in the press, on the field and in his clubhouse.”

Excuse me? What were the challenges, exactly, in the press he faced? NOBODY got more positive, fawning coverage by the so-called tough New York media than Derek Jeter did. No matter what self-aggrandizing thing he did, like that ridiculous farewell tour, with the personalized cleats, and the “My Way” theme, the press kissed his tuchis.

In fact, my blog posts here in Subway Squawkers were literally the toughest coverage he ever got. (Sadly, nobody involved with this series ever reached out to me for an interview. Cmon, I would have made a great villain for this documentary!)

And at any rate, Jeter never got the blame for 2004, even though he was the team captain. A-Rod was considered to be the goat (and I don’t mean Greatest of All Time!) of that series. Although I think Joe Torre was the real goat, most notably when he never had the team bunt on the gimpy Curt Schilling. Not that I’m bitter or anything!

The Daily Beast had an additional article about this series, saying that Jeter denied that whole gift basket story. (Too bad — my co-worker and I *still* make jokes about that bit of gossip!)

Jeter also whined about the NYC tabloids writing about his personal life:

Jeter often found himself frustrated by the New York tabloid media, believing them guilty of applying a double standard. ‘Members of the media—they didn’t go around asking Bernie [Williams] what he and his wife did the night before. They didn’t go out and ask Tino [Martinez] or Paul O’Neill where they went to eat, and how late they were there, and who they were with,’ Jeter explains. ‘So, I just didn’t think it was fair to ask me. You know, I think you have to draw the line. I drew the line at a very young age and I just wasn’t going to let them cross it.’”

What nonsense. First of all, Bernie, Tino, and O’Neill were married, and to civilians and not starlets, so this isn’t a good comparison.

Jeter was also not only a heartthrob back then, but he was dating A-listers like Mariah Carey. On what planet would that not be a story?

I worked at The New York Daily News, one of those tabloids, from 2000 to 2008, and the coverage of Jeter’s girlfriends was never nasty or bad. It was more like, “Look at what an amazing life he has!”

The only comparison regarding a baseball player’s personal life would be to compare Jeter to New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza, another single heartthrob who dated famous women, and who also got tabloid coverage about his personal life.

But even then, Piazza had it worse. Remember how he had to hold a press conference to say that he wasn’t gay, after The New York Post ran a gossipy blind item that appeared to be about him?

So yeah, Jeter’s got no right to complain here.

I’m still planning on watching all seven episodes of The Captain, though, even if it will be a puff-piece documentary.

Jeter is really one of the last MLB superstars we have had. (I would argue he is still more famous than many of the current stars of today!)

And since I wrote so much about him and the Yankees from that time frame, I really want to hear what he thinks of it all! Even if it’s all self-aggrandizing nonsense, I will still watch it.