Is it just me, or does Derek Jeter look perpetually unhappy?
Granted, there hasn’t been much joy around the Yankees this spring. Injuries continue to plague an aging team, the three free agents are tense and tight—CC’s gem last night notwithstanding—and the new Yankee Stadium is an embarrassment, a monument to the greed and excess of an era that ended when the economy melted last October.
All of this, and more, seems to etched on Derek’s no longer boyish face. Never engaging with the media and always cautious, Derek nonetheless made us feel good because it was so clear that he loved what he was doing. Now it feels like he’d rather be somewhere else, maybe with Joe Torre in Los Angeles.
Watching him in the field is getting painful. Not quite Willie Mays in the Mets outfield painful, but even ardent defenders — and count me in that group — have to admit that too many balls are going through the left side of the infield. He’s even having some trouble with his trademark, back-to-the-the infield catches of pop fly balls.
Watching him in an interview is worse. Yes, he always answered in monotone cliches. But there was still an excitement in his voice and a joy in his eyes that jumped through the screen and made you feel good to be a Yankees fan. That is gone now, replaced by a vacant gaze away from the camera.
Will this change if/when the Yankees begin to win again? I’m hoping so. But I’m not counting on it.
