George Would Never!

Maybe George Steinbrenner was known for calling out star players at some point. It's true that the boss did in fact voice concern about Jeter partying into the night, but that was quite some time ago. In fact, after the two mended their relationship, they goofed on the situation by making it into a credit card commercial. So should we be expecting a Benjamin Moore Paint commercial starring Hank Steinbrenner and Derek Jeter? Something tells me the answer is no.

Jeter claims he was not bothered by Hank's remarkes that "some players were a little too focused on building mansions and doing other things" last season. Jeter grinned his way through an 11 minute interview in which he said all the right things as usual. Jeter pointed out that Steinbrenner at no point said his name so therefore only assumptions can be made. He said "I'm not moving, so we won't have to talk about this again."

Jeter addressed Steinbrenner's mention of a "lack of hunger" as well. Jeter said "Did I see it? No. We got beat by a team that was better than us in that series, that's why we lost." Joe Girardi backed up his player by pointing out that when a team isn't playing well, they usually don't look good. He said' "we didn't play well against Texas." He also acknowledged that whenever a team isn't playing to there full potential, people have the tendency to question hunger.

I do not believe Jeter was hurt by any of the co-owner's remarks. I think he was truthful when he said it didn't bother him. Even after Jeter gave his interview, Steinbrenner did some serious back pedaling by saying that the mansion comment was just a poor euphemism and that without Jeter, this team doesn't win it's last five rings. He said his intension was not to single out Jeter. However, this is a page right out of his dad's book. The only difference is that George Steinbrenner would never question the focus and comittment of Derek Jeter. How can anyone?

Hank still has a bit to learn before he can master his fathers fire. He has to learn when statements are needed and when they are completely uncalled for and unfounded.

Sidenote: Bud Selig called Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine to remind them that owners should not be publicly discussing revenue sharing. In Hank's slew of comments, he also decided to point out that something needs to be done about revenue sharing and that the Commissioner agrees. Even though Steinbrenner's comments did not bother Jeter, they clearly struck a nerve with Selig.

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