I’ve been saying for years that Joe Torre is a phony, and here’s more proof. Torre took time out from his Brett Favre-esque act about whether or not he will be back with the Dodgers next year to comment about Derek Jeter’s deking the umpire in Wednesday night’s game. Here’s what he said:
“Hell, yeah, (Jeter) did the right thing. It’s not like running a red light. Stuff you can do out on the field, whether you can get away with it, it’s not being immoral. We allow people to steal second base. Anything you can get away with is fine. To me, that’s aboveboard. It’s not like he’s loading his bat.”
Funny that the manager who refused to call for a bunt against Curt Schilling in the 2004 ALCS would say such a thing. It’s also amusing how hypocritical J-Fraud is on the Jeter issue, given what he said after Alex Rodriguez did the Ha Play:
Even Joe Torre says Alex Rodriguez was out of line….
“He may have been excited about the fact that we were leading the ballgame,” Torre said Friday before his team’s series opener at Boston. “It was probably inappropriate to do it at the time he did it, but you can’t change it, unfortunately.”….
“[The Blue Jays] were angry,” Torre said. “Oh, there’s no question. I can’t say I blame them, but what are you going to do about it? What’s happened has happened.”….
Torre said he spoke with Rodriguez after the game.
“It’s probably something he shouldn’t have done,” Torre said. “I don’t sense he’s going to do it again.”
FOX broadcaster Tim McCarver, who last made the news when he compared the Yankee front office to Nazis and Communists for supposedly airbrushing Torre out of Yankee Stadium, also supported Jeter’s fake injury move:
“I can’t believe anyone would say that’s cheating. Once again, it points out Jeter’s wherewithal. What upset some people perhaps is that he was so demonstrative … but to think that quickly is remarkable.”
Left unsaid was what McCarver’s buddy Bob Gibson, the pitcher McCarver constantly uses as the arbiter of what is correct in baseball, would do if a hitter tried that act on him. Gee, I wonder why.
Of course, when A-Rod did quick thinking of his own against Dallas Braden, McCarver was not amused, and cited Gibson in that scenario when asked about Braden demanding Rodriguez get off his mound:
“Absolutely — I love that,” McCarver said. “That’s his space. You don’t see any starting pitchers in the batter’s box, do you? You don’t see pitchers go in the batter’s box, dig in, anything like that. So why should hitters be allowed on the mound?”….
“[Pete Rose] tried that once with Gibson in the mid-60s and Gibson threw at him the next time up. Pete spat at him. And the next one was a lot closer. Pete didn’t spit the second time.”
And ESPN.com’s Rob Neyer thrice called Chicago White Sox A.J. Pierzynski a cheater for feigning injury to get on base, and suggested that he be suspended from baseball. But when Jeter did the very same thing as A.J., Neyer’s opinion was much more muted, and he would not call Jeter a cheater. Read my Faster Times piece on Neyer to see his differing positions in the similar situations.
Since I didn’t have any problem with A-Rod’s Ha Play, Slap Play, or him walking on Dallas Braden’s mound, I didn’t have any problem with what Jeter did. But my brother disagrees. He thinks that the reigning SI Sportsman of the Year should be held to a tougher standard:
Jeter is considered so highly that some fans believe that Yankee Stadium should be renamed in his honor. When you are at that level, claiming that a pitcher hit you is a more serious offense than it is for a scrub. What if the pitcher was suspended for throwing at a player that some (Colin Cowherd to name one ESPN personality) consider greater than Babe Ruth?
Anyhow, what do you think? Tell us about it!
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