The Strange Desire To Mythologize Derek Jeter Above All Things

I also read last night or today that at some point during Dimaggio's streak, the teammate ahead of him in the order bunted with one out in the ninth inning to make sure he didn't hit into a double play, and Joe D extended the streak with his last chance.

 

There were several instances late in Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak that he would hit or play the field in the top of the first inning, then be replaced in the lineup/in the field in the bottom of the inning. This was particularly true in late September doubleheaders once the pennant race had been decided.

Look for "GS-0" in the "Inngs" column:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=gehrilo01&t=b&year=1936

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=gehrilo01&t=b&year=1937

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=gehrilo01&t=b&year=1938

 

Amen.

 

Molitor's streak ended when a player scored the winning run with Molitor on deck and the first thing the player did was apologize to Molitor, who was just happy to have won the game.

 

so Wainwright grooves a pitch that Jeter doubles and then bears down and Trout triples and Cabrera homers. So that just means Trout and Cabrera are much, much better than Jeter and will be treated accordingly in their final seasons by Fox and the WWL, right?

 

The outcome of the All-Star Game determines HFA in the World Series, and Adam Wainwright purposely tanked his outing, which led directly to the American League winning the game.

Uh, shouldn't this be something that is punished?

 

Ban him for life.

 

The issue here should be about the reporters - both the ones in on the first interview and the ones on Twitter saying Wainwright shouldn't have said anything - and the Wainwright interview with Erin Andrews.

First, who told Wainwright to do the Andrews interview? Maybe he thought about doing it himself, but I suspect some PR folks urged him to "set the record straight" to preserve the Jeter mythos.

Second, if Wainwright backtracked and said he didn't mean what he said to the reporters, how are we OK with that? No reporters, from what I saw, took anything away from the first interview that might indicate he was being sarcastic. Did someone go up to him after the Andrews interview and say, "So, you were lying to us earlier? Have any other instances where you've lied in the past that you'd like to get off your chest?"

Third, Andrews shit the bed. She's not a journalist, and suspect nobody really thinks she is, so I guess that's not a huge deal.

Fourth, the reporters who said Wainwright shouldn't have said anything need to find a better grasp of what their job entails.

 

MVP Mike Trout was pulled in the fifth inning of a 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 run performance, even though he wasn't injured.

Shouldn't that be punished?

 

Honestly? Yes.

Or let's stop this idiotic THIS TIME IT COUNTS stuff. One of the worst ideas in the history of American sports.

 

As far as opponents taking it easy, I always remember the end of the 92 NBA All-Star game -- the Magic MVP game. His 3-pointers at the end stand out, of course -- including the final push one that remains one of my favorite shots of his, and ended the game when the players simply stopped playing -- but on the defensive end, Isiah and Jordan both went 1 on 1 against him at the end. I'll always remember him standing out there with MJ. Magic had no chance, not if Michael really wanted to go to the basket. Michael instead took a few dribbles and shot a pull-up jumper, which he missed. Enberg even said, "Michael -- kind" as he took the shot.

Meaningless game, but something I can still picture.

 

Let's all take a moment and admire this great philosophical truth from MisterCreosote.

I've seen beat guys ranging from high school reporters at small dailies to Big State U beat reporters do this. Nothing says impartial like leaving a nice record of your opinions for each game.