Derek Jeter... Inside and Outside the Box

By C.J. Lanet

Other questions answered in full details:

What the public doesn't know about Jeter's reconstruction ankle surgery?

Who demanded, over Jeter's continually objections, that he receive steroid hormone injections to treat a bone bruise to his left foot during September and October 2012? Did such injections directly contributed to his ankle break?

Why didn't Dr. Anderson, the surgeon who operated on Jeter's ankle, disclose that a second operation would be needed in improve blood flow and other factors?

Did the Steinbrenner group offer Jeter an equity interest in the New York Yankees?

Was Jeter responsible for Alex Rodriguez torn labrum and impingement to his left hip?

What's the true story behind Jeter's recent desire to only date white women?

What do women say about Jeter's sexual prowess and package?

What really happened at the 1999 arbitration hearings to cause deep resentment to this day between Brian Cashman, general manger of the New York Yankees, and Jeter?
What are Jeter's plans upon his retirement from playing baseball?

Do lucky charms and rituals rule Jeter's life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.J. Lanet
• Release date: Apr 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301295630

C.J. Lanet

If you dare to waste one hour of time you lost the value of life. From my pen is this creed - the golden rule to prevent the mind from rusting. I have often regretted my writing, never my silence. Yet through it all - my words are not faked. Hands-on experience makes the difference. Indeed, it's impossible to be a writer without having lived. My short list of skills may offer an insight to what I say. Artist Gambler Gangster Industrialist Inventor Pilot Pirate Prizefighter Prophet Tycoon "Magic happens only when you make it happen." ________

Book preview

C

.J. Lanet publishes at Smashwords DEREK JETER... Inside and Outside the Box. Copyright 2013 as Excerpt from Author's Scrapbook Series Two - C.J. Lanet.

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED

What's Derek Jeter worth as a New York Yankee?

What's next for the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter?

Is Jeter's ankle injury a career game changer?

How did Derek Jeter cope with prejudice, success, and fame to garner more money than he can personally count in a year?

What was Jeter's private relationship with George Steinbrenner?

Did Derek Jeter learn the basic skills of playing baseball as merely a physical endeavor with no greater aspirations than wishful thinking?

Was one in two hundred million the odds for Derek Jeter to play baseball for the New York Yankees?

Waiting for Derek Jeter's success to run out or does the rules of chance have more to say?

What is Derek Jeter's unique situational circumstance?

What evidence supports the conclusions that Alex Rodriguez' hip injuries and subsequent surgery indirectly caused by Jeter's poor defensive performance?

Does superstition rule Derek Jeter?

Did Derek Jeter ever admit being lucky? If so, what's its significance?

Who are Jeter's girls and all the noise that goes with them?

What in the stars holds true for Derek Jeter?

What will Derek Jeter do outside of baseball?

Will Jeter follow the advise of Joe DiMaggio when he said at the age of 36 on the day of his premature retirement due to injuries? When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game.

_____

Notes from the Bleachers: True - Derek Jeter is a very private person. As such Jeter doesn't enjoy talking about more personal matters. But being a public person has its darker side since being marked a celebrity makes him venerable to speculation, heresy and all the other kinds of noise. Therefore, Jeter must be more calculating and smarter to insure his visible attentions do not interfere with his private actions. The result is analogous to a caricature of himself during interviews and what he projections outside of the game.

As for being an expert on DEREK JETER - that fact is irrelevant. Niels Bohr, a Nobel Prize winner in physics and philosopher keenly said it best, An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field. At my disposal are observations and statistics. Meanwhile, the media reports rumors and speculations as facts by quoting some expert who'll say anything about something. What we hear is an opinion, not a fact. What we see is not truth.

Moreover, describing the life of a famous person without applying psychology is like reading a history book by the pictures only. To achieve unblemished objectivity requires dealing with the impossible since private thoughts and actions are rarely visible. As for past mistakes and compromised judgments, they are usually forgotten and extraneous if the individual remains invisible and without celebrity. Only fame makes secrets tangible and more discernible. Indeed, I avoid thinking like an expert and apply the yardstick of commonsense and perspective to my bleachers' observations.

_____

Chapter One

- What's Derek Jeter worth as a New York Yankee?

Prior to the 1997 season, Jeter earned $540,000 with performances bonuses. In 1998 $750,000 was the number. Salary arbitration eligibility for the first time in the 1999 season awarded him a salary of $5 million. During the 1990-2000 off-season he agreed to a $118.5 million long-term contract, but was rejected by Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees. Consequently to avoid arbitration, Jeter agreed to a one-year salary of $10 million for the 2000 season.

As for performance for the 1997-2000 period:

1997 - .291 batting average, 10 home runs, 70 RBI. Jeter he hit two home runs during the American League Division Series, the Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, three-games-to-two.

1998 - .324 batting average, 19 home runs, 84 RBI. He batted .353 in the World Series, as the Yankees defeated the San Diego Padres in four games.

1999 - .349 batting average, 24 home runs, 102 RBI. In the postseason, Jeter batted .455 in the ALDS, .350 in the ALCS, and .353 in the World Series, as the Yankees defeated the Braves to win another championship.

2000 - .339 batting average, 15 home runs, 73 RBI. He hit .318 against the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, and .409 in the World Series against the New York Mets.

Before the 2011 and with one year remaining until Jeter was eligible for free agency, he signed a ten-year, $189 million contract. Thus, Jeter became the second highest paid athlete in all of sports.

As for performance from the 2001 to the present:

In 2001, Jeter batted .311 with 21 home runs and 74 RBI. As a result of 9/11, the playoffs were delayed and extended past the October timeframe. The Yankees advanced to the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Game 4 was in November, and thus setting into motion Jeter being called Mr. November. Jeter hit a home run in extra innings to win the game. However, the team lost the series in seven games, as Jeter batted .148, denying prior hamstring injury for the poor performance.

In 2002, Jeter batted .297, 18 home runs and 75 RBI, while in the post season the Yankees defeated Anaheim Angles in the World Series. He led both leagues in stolen base percentage, being caught only three times; made a fifth All-Star appearance.

During the first day of the 2003 season, Jeter dislocated his shoulder and placed on the disabled list for six weeks, missing 36 games. However, he still managed to hit .324, finished third in overall ML batting average. That year, Steinbrenner named Jeter the Yankees captain, an honor last given to former player Don Mattingly, eight seasons before. In the 2003 post season, he hit .314 with two home runs, while the Yankees lost the World Series to the Florida Marlins.

In the 2004 season, Alex Rodriguez, a recent acquisition from the Texas Rangers, played third base even though he was a Gold Glove Shortstop. While Jeter never earned a gold glove, he remained at short. In addition, Rodriguez's fielding range allowed Jeter to concede ground to his right to Rodriguez and cheat to his left. Fielding balls hit to Jeter's left is a weakness identified by scouts and never effectively corrected. Because of Rodriguez covering Jeter's defensive weakness, Jeter earned his first Gold Glove. Jeter batted .292, 23 home runs and 78 RBI. In the post season the Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox in seven games, as Jeter batted .200.

In the 2005 season, Jeter hit .305, 19 home runs and 70 RBI. He garnered his second consecutive Gold Glove even though critics continued to see Jeter as a liability defensively, while Rodriguez continued to do the heavy fielding on Jeter's right, which may have contributed to Rodriguez' hip problems in later years. Again the Yankees lost the World Series, this time to the Angles.

In the 2006 season, Jeter hit .343, 14 home runs and 97 RBI, voted to his seventh All-Star team. Again the Yankees lost the World Series, this time to the Detroit Tigers. He won the Hank Aaron Award given for his superior offensive performance and his third consecutive Gold Glove Award. The Yankees lost the ALDS to the Detroit Tigers, three-games-to-one.

In the 2007 season, Jeter hit .322, 12 home runs and 73 RBI, with the Yankees lost the ALDS to the Cleveland Indians.

In the 2008 season, Jeter hit .300, 11 home runs and 69 RBI. The Yankees were eliminated from postseason contention, the only full season in Jeter's career where he did not compete in the playoffs.

In the 2009 season, Jeter hit .334, 18 home runs and 66 RBI. The addition of Gold Glove-winning first baseman Mark Teixeira allowed second baseman Robinson Cano to shift his focus to his right, helping Jeter with going to the left. During the season, the Sporting News named Jeter eighth on their list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. In the postseason, Jeter batted .355, including .407 in the World Series, as he won his fifth World Series championship and final prize.

In the 2010 season, Jeter hit .270, 10 home runs and 67 RBI. After the 2010 season, Jeter became a free agent for the first time in his career. At age 36, Jeter appeared to be in decline as consensus suggested that Jeter, once a good, not great shortstop, had declined to become below average defensively, to the extent that he would likely need to change positions. Brian Cashmani later acknowledged that Jeter might shift to the outfield. Though Jeter stated that he wanted to remain with the Yankees, negotiations became tense. Jeter's agent, Casey Close, stated that he was baffled by the Yankees' approach to the negotiations, and Cashman, now the team's general manager, responded publicly that Jeter should test the open market to ascertain his value, which angered Jeter. Jeter reached an agreement with the Yankees on a three-year contract for $51 million with an option for a fourth year.

In the 2011 season, Jeter hit .297, 6 home runs and 61 RBI. He suffered a calf injury on June 13 that required his fifth stint on the 15-day disabled list. At the time, he was batting .260. Rehabilitating from his injury in Tampa, Jeter worked with Denbo, his former minor league manager on mental conditioning to stimulate his focus. Following his activation from the disabled list, he hit .326 in his last 64 games of the season. He credited the turnaround to his work with Denbo. Jeter recorded his 3,000th career hit on July 9, 2011, against David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays, going five hits in five at bats.

In the 2012 season, Jeter hit .316, 15 home runs and 58 RBI. He fractured his left ankle during Game 1 of the ALCS against the Detroit Tiger reaching for a ground ball. The blame for the accident pointed to a cortisone injection to treat a bone bruise in his left foot in September, but the real reason was managing a greater fielding range at shortstop, especially to his left that created undue strain on his already compromised and unstable talus. With Rodriguez unable to provide a fielding custom to protect Jeter's range, the compromised shortstop was vulnerable to injury.

Jeter had reconstruction surgery on his broken left ankle in October 20, 2012 by Dr. Robert Anderson. Apparently, he had a non-displaced fracture of the talus. This small bone sits between the heel bone (calcaneus) and the two bones of the lower leg (tibia and fibula), and has an odd turtle like humped shape. The bones of the lower leg ride on top and around the sides to form the ankle joint. Where the talus meets the bones of the foot, it forms the subtalar joint, which is important for walking on uneven ground and is an important connector between the foot and the leg and body, helping to transfer weight and pressure forces across the ankle joint. An area less than one cm square cracked, which was previously compromised and unhealthy since the old fracture never properly healed and the ankle remained unstable due to loss of blood supply rendering it dead. When Jeter fell in October's '12 AL Championship Series opener he compressed the talus and displaced that piece of broken and dead connective tissue, called OCD cartilage. Since his ankle had recurrent instability, surgery was necessary and a bone graft required. Because the injury is difficult to threat additional surgical procedures are likely to improve the blood supply to the injured cartilage. Look for Jeter to be under the knife again by May 2013.