Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter manned the left side of the infield for the New York Yankees for a number of years in the 2000s.
And every time they took the field together, people wondered what their relationship was like. There were often stories written and discussed that said that the two mega-stars didn't get along. Now, Rodriguez says that the coverage of their relationship was overblown. He made the comments to Dan Le Batard, with the information below coming from "Awful Announcing."
“In that 30-plus-year history, we’ve had some ups and we’ve had some downs,” he told Dan Le Batard on South Beach Sessions. “The media was obsessed with our relationship in New York. It was a very meaty story, and negativity sells, and big names sell.”
Rodriguez believes if it had not been the Yankees or New York City, any perceived issues between him and Jeter would not have been amplified much at all. He believes the intensity of that coverage harmed the connection between them.
“It was a mega media story,” Rodriguez said. “And he did a nice job of being super disciplined. I wasn’t as disciplined, and it created some noise. Through it all, what I remember is what a great player he was, good teammate. We won a championship together, and now we’re teammates at Fox doing the playoffs and World Series every year.”
All of this might be true, and the coverage might have been overblown, but wondering about their relationship certainly wasn't unfair. Rodriguez had won an MVP with the Texas Rangers and had the biggest contract in the sport. It would have been normal for him to see himself as the biggest star, while it would have been normal for Jeter to be protective of his own star, considering he had helped lead the Yankees to four World Series titles by the time Rodriguez got there.
Rodriguez also moved off shortstop in New York, which likely dented his ego, which was reported to be very big, so it would have been understandable if he was sensitive to other perceived slights.
All in all, Rodriguez spent 22 years in the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Yankees. He starred for Seattle from 1994-2000, Texas from 2001-2003 and the Yankees from 2004-2016, minus the 2014 season when he was suspended.
He was a 14-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glover, a 10-time Silver Slugger, a three-time MVP and a batting champion.
He led the league in home runs in five different seasons, including hitting 57 in 2002. He led the league in RBIs twice, slugging four times and OPS twice.
He also helped the Yankees win the World Series in 2009 by beating the Philadelphia Phillies.
Jeter was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2020. He was a five-time World Series champion, a 14-time All-Star and a Rookie of the Year winner. He hit .310 for his career.
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