Comments on: Fictionalizing Jeter

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:20:38 +0000

How do you know Jeter was batting?

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:26:33 +0000

I don’t know how gritty Jeter is but, according to the Sports Pickle, he did win a game with a dramatic walk-off intangible. I don’t know if Eckstein has ever accomplished that feat.

By: Zoidfarb

Zoidfarb — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:55:12 +0000

I agree with Chuck’s interpretation: that it’s actually “a recognition that the Tigers are now among the elite of the American League.” But you don’t need to hit up baseballreference.com to know that the situation was an amalgam of shots and never really happened: the first establishing shot shows Jeter digging in against a LHP. Jones, obviously, is not a LHP.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:14:53 +0000

Dave, Eckstein is clearly grittier. He has posted a career GrEqP (grit equivalency percentage) of over .700. Jeter, on the other hand, has had seasons over .700, but is only .652 for his career. Pedroia has too small a sample size for an accurate GrEqP. On the other hand, Jeter has led the league for five stright years in RiE (ridiculous expressionlessness), while Eckstein has never even hit the top twenty.

By: K-Man

K-Man — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:51:16 +0000

Dave, I think Jeter’s too tall to be gritty or scrappy. I think it’s written somewhere that you have to be a little guy to be either one. Also, if I were Todd Jones, the next pitch I throw to Jeter is at his head, just to even things up.

By: Rob in Ottawa

Rob in Ottawa — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:20:30 +0000

Watching it, I think the commercial was made with computer animation that started out with still images. Ie. there was a still image of Jeter hitting with Rabelo behind the plant. Then they had Jeter pose in that position and hit a real baseball, thats why he moves while everything else stays still.

Then the shot of him coming around 3rd with Jones looking on must have been based on someone else’s hit to score Jeter. In fact both occasions could have been a totally different player that got ‘overlapped’ by Jeter…who knows.

It would be interesting to get an explanation from Gatorade, or more specifically the ad firm that made the commercial.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:13:50 +0000

Ryan, would you say Jeter is more or less gritty than David Eckstein? What about Dustin Pedroia? And this isn’t even getting into their respective scrappiness.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:46:42 +0000

And the part we all initially missed:

Think this commercial will be played a lot during the AFC championship and thus give San Diego fans something to laugh about?

Manning’s clutchiness really showed from the 5 with a chance to win yeseterday.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:05:01 +0000

There’s a great article in this years Hardball Times annual about just how good (bad) Jeter is defensivly.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:43:27 +0000

I think Ryan’s post nails it. Setting aside the issue of whether this game scenario ever happened versus Detroit or anyone else, and setting aside whether Jeter is an excellent player, which he is, the Gatorade ad is part of a larger Jeter mythology that perpetuates interchanging notions of “clutchness,” upstanding manliness and patriotism, among other things. Joe Buck probably has probably recorded this commercial on Tivo, with “keep until I delete” status, so that he can play it when ever he needs to get in the mood.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:18:30 +0000

Haven’t you all been paying attention? Jeter can do anything, even something that never happened. Plus he’s a gold glove shortstop. Plus he’s just such a gritty leader. And he can destroy cities with his mind.

I just realized that in 10 years, the Sandberg-Whitaker HOF debate will be Jeter-Tejada*. Jeter will be in the HOF, Tejada will not. But who was better?

*Disclaimer – I feel that we’re never going to know the true reach of steroids, so I refuse to assume anyone’s innocence or guilt. Therefore, steroids are not a HOF consideration to me.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:07:27 +0000

Haha, actually I think it’s Mike Rabelo behind the mask. Pretty sure that’s the mask he wore all year. Considering Bilfer’s analysis during the summer of how well Todd Jones and Rabelo do together when closing a game (not so great), perhaps if this match-up ever were to happen with Rabelo behind the plate (impossible, now that’s he’s a Florida Marlin), Jeter would get that game winning HR (or whatever he’s hitting in the commercial). As Bilfer points out though, this is all a fictional game situation meant to sell a sports drink. Any true baseball fan would know the Tigers have had more postseason success in the last few years than the Yankees – at the expense of those same Yankees.

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:14:33 +0000

When was the last time Jeter actually had a game-winning hit? Last time I can remember was 2001 WS.

By: ivantopumpyouup

ivantopumpyouup — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:25:48 +0000

I’m just amused that the catcher in the clip isn’t Pudge, it’s apparently Brad Ausmus. If you go by the styling of the mask.

Okay, I’m a geek.

By: Kyle J

Kyle J — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:16:43 +0000

I noticed this and made a mental note to look up whether anything comparable had ever actually happened–but then forgot about it until seeing this.

I thought the commercial was ironic given that the last time the Tigers and Yankees met in a high-stakes situation, it was the Yankees who walked away with their heads hung low.