ESPN's Jeter docuseries is nauseating
Derek Jeter’s biggest obstacle in his straight-line to the Major Leagues was Andy Pettitte giving him the cold shoulder. It was Jeter’s first season of pro baseball, and the first-round pick was struggling. He couldn’t hit or field, and at the end of the season, the Yankees promoted him to Single-A so he could receive more reps.
When Jeter walked into the locker room, he introduced himself to Pettitte. "You look like my uncle,” an intimidated Jeter told the southpaw.
Pettitte didn’t even look in his direction, never mind say a single word.
Who could imagine those guys would wind up winning four World Series together?
ESPN aired the first episode of its seven-part Jeter docuseries, “The Captain” following the Home Run Derby. As expected, the piece of hero worship would’ve been more appropriate for the YES Network, but there is a lot of summer airtime to fill.
Too bad Jeter is boring.
“The Captain” is framed as a companion piece to “The Last Dance;” but the difference is, Michael Jordan is infinitely more interesting than Jeter. He dealt with a severe gambling addiction, took a bizarre mid-career hiatus to play minor league baseball and engaged in numerous feuds with teammates and management, including the much-maligned Jerry Krause. The premise of “The Last Dance” is the fact that Krause wanted to break-up the Bulls, and they were making one final championship run.
Maybe “The Captain” will touch some of the thornier aspects of the Yankees Dynasty in later episodes, though reviews indicate Jeter tiptoes around scintillating subjects such as his frenemy Alex Rodriguez and any issues related to race. But part one is entirely sycophantic.
It begins with a familiar tale to anyone who followed baseball, or became a baseball fan, in the late 1990s and early aughts. The Yankees were at their nadir in the early 90s, following a series of outrageous outbursts from George Steinbrenner, who was suspended from baseball for hiring a gambler to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield.
Steinbrenner’s absence granted general manager Gene Michael the flexibility to build a powerhouse. The Yankees drafted and developed dynasty linchpins Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Pettitte and Jeter during those years. As the docuseries explains, Michael identified the talent, and manager Buck Showalter molded it.
While Showalter appears on camera a couple of times, there are no inside stories from that time or even amusing anecdotes. The Yankees’ abbreviated 1995 playoff run is told through Jeter’s eyes, even though he was inactive for the ALDS against Seattle.
Tom Brady’s “Man in the Arena” was heavy on idolatry, too, but Brady did cede the stage to many of his teammates. “The Captain” appears to be Jeter’s story, told without much of a supporting cast.
The episode touches on Jeter’s upbringing as a biracial kid in Kalamazoo, Mich., which could’ve been interesting, except Jeter only speaks about his relationship with race in generalities. As a child, he says his parents, both of whom are also featured, sat him down and explained some people would treat him differently. “They prepared us: ‘you’re going to deal with some things.’ And you learn how to deal with it,” Jeter said.
So simple!
It’s apparent the series will play up Jeter’s egotism and hyper-competitive nature, just like with Jordan and Brady. Early on, Jeter talks about his self-confidence in a way that’s straight out of the Jordan playbook.
“Some people don’t like when you say they can’t do something. I love it, personally, because I’ll prove you wrong,” Jeter said. “I’m a big ‘I told you so’ person. When I see you, I’m gonna say, ‘I told you.’ That’s just how I’m wired.”
The problem is, nobody doubted Jeter. He rebounded from a tough minor league debut and was playing in the big leagues three years later. Jeter won four World Series in his first five full seasons.
Who exactly was he proving wrong?
Jeter’s unflappable nature was an essential component to his stardom. He thrived in New York, and amazingly, avoided any off-field scandal.
This docuseries would be better if he were less perfect. Gross.