Derek Jeter was met with raucous applause at Yankee Stadium on Friday night when the team honored his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but cheers quickly turned to boos when Hal Steinbrenner emerged, and at the mere mention of general manager Brian Cashman.
Jeter, who told fans “you better cheer, trust me,” when Steinbrenner heard jeers, was asked about the booing after his ceremony.
“Yeah, I was surprised,” Jeter said. “But they boo everybody here. I’ve been booed before. I got in trouble once for not telling them to stop booing, so I figured I’d tell them this time so no one gets on me.”
That was an obvious reference to when many felt Jeter should urge fans to support the struggling Alex Rodriguez rather than to boo him, but Jeter had always said fans have the right to boo, and that he heard some boos himself during his career, but none like what Steinbrenner has heard in recent years, as many fans grow upset with his seemingly tighter budget and the product that has been put on the field.
“Yankee fans, we’ve all been spoiled, right?” Jeter said. “A lot of success that we’ve had over the course of my career, over the last 20-something years. Yankee fans expect excellence. They’re never satisfied, which is a good thing. Yankee fans boo because they want to cheer.”
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