Derek Jeter, the "G.O.A.T." some New York Yankees fans will say, made his name recognizable in the media by staying out of it. In May 2022, the former shortstop joined Twitter and Instagram, years after his final game's RBI to bring home one last win in 2014. Regardless of his lack of personal accounts during his career, Jeter became a household name due to his ability to remain within arms length of good press, staying out of trouble and his numerous "no comment" responses, withholding the many brand deals over the years. Today's society accredits the professional athletes who are branded positively both on and off the pitch, through endorsements and/or self-advertisements. With that said, athletes work hard to put their best foot forward in this commercialized state in order to achieve their desired portrayal to create an understanding of who they actually are. Therefore, in creating his "classy" image, Derek Jeter assimilated to the favorable side of sports fans. Establishing a marketability that few in sport have been able to reach, Jeter served as the face of baseball while remaining quiet in the largest media market.
It is without a doubt that Derek Jeter accumulated a variety of accolades, from his five World Series rings with 158 post-season games to five Golden Gloves with the same in Silver Sluggers, but what was it about Jeter's present that made him so liked by the media? From the beginning of his career in the infamous "steroid era" to his retirement, Derek Jeter arguably went through the motions with such poise that had his fans adore him and opposing players, managers, and reporters grow to respect his twenty year long career.
THE STEROID ERA
Watching from the stands of a diamond in Kalamazoo, Michigan was Dick Grotch, scouting a high school senior, Derek Jeter. "He's going to Cooperstown" was cycling through Grotch's head as the question of whether the young player was going to the collegiate level or starting his professional career. Growing up spending summers with his grandma in New Jersey, Jeter was a true Yankee fan, and when the time arose for him to lace up his cleats with the pinstripes, he didn't back down. Number 2 debuted in 1995 for his first major league performance. Earning the American League Rookie of the Year title by the fall did not out-shine the over-weighing PED problem of the MLB. Only one year into his career, Derek Jeter created the "Turn 2 Foundation."
The late '90s and early 2000s exposed the battle with performance enhancing drugs in the major leagues. So early in his career, Jeter creating this brand for himself showcased his opposition to steroids. Although his foundation targets high school students, establishing this identity in the media as one who will turn away from drugs was to his benefit when speculation around baseball greats, like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bond arose. Bright stars of '90s baseball, but all recorded their own PEDs scandal. Avoiding shrewd from a cynical era of fans was Derek and rather continued his promotion against it, after T2F's establishment: in 2003, he took part in a "Drug Free America" commercial.
Derek tells the story of how his parents taught him to take challenges head-first. "There weren't any shortcuts to becoming a better player," Jeter says. Rather, you would get better by "jumping in-front of the ball." Featuring young kids swinging on the pitch, there is no age that regiments how far and long you can believe. Using baseball terms, viewers are fooled by the overall message of drug-use. After years of major league players taking the "shortcut" to having better batting averages with PEDs, Jeter became the spokesperson to a "Drug Free America". There was no brand or promotion of a product, just an idea of how children will eventually grow up, but if they learned right, then they will avoid the use of drugs, and in this case, steroids among the MLB athletes.
In an article written to address the PED problem within the MLB, "Does it Pay to be Unethical?", the timeline of the doping scandals are dated back to the first case of acknowledgment in 1994. The MLB Commissioner of the time, Bud Selig, proposed random testing for the players, but with rising opposition from both players themselves and economic hierarchies, the proposal was quickly tabled, especially since there were "no notable issues with PEDs". Fast forward four years, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home run race brought national attention to baseball, and Mark was deemed the winner, until three years past and Barry Bonds toppled his record with 73 "round trippers" in one season. It was soon after that each one of these players were indicted for the use of steroids. As this was Derek Jeter's beginning years, and he had already clinched his first ring the rookie year, it was important for Jeter to take a stand against "taking the shortcut" to these situations. However, it was also during these doping years that franchise owners watch their values increase from an average of $111 million to $286 million from 1994 to 2001. This is where Pantuosco's argument of the unethical ideals behind owners' mindsets come into play, "Clearly, the benefits of enforcing a strict drug policy were pretty low and the cost of enforcing the drug policy was high."
It was not until Barry Bond's personal trainer was exposed for producing an anabolic steroid in 2003 and the federal grand jury issued a subpoena. Without a doubt, the MLB received negative press and led to an agreement between owners and the players union that there will be mandatory drug screening that would begin during the 2005 season. Jeter's "Drug Free America" campaign was released in '03, therefore during the steroids hostility against players who were clean from the game. Being one of the few who created a strong career without the use of PEDs, it is only equitable to recognize a noteworthy career.
Athlete activism tends to tackle a problem by "jumping in-front of the ball." Branding yourself under a campaign and having your fans and followers get behind the same mission. Through his "Turn 2 Foundation" and "Drug Free America" commercial, Jeter showed that he is ready to take that next step as a player. Not only was he shown positively in the media, but he was a leader. That began his "lead by example" mantra that followed him for nearly eleven years once named Yankee captain in '03.
"JETER MENTALITY"
The "Jeter mentality" came to play when 20-year-old Derek stepped foot on the major league field, but it was not as prominent as the newly-named Captain at shortstop in '03 and on. He had a winning mindset that told Jeter to not let anything get in his way of succeeding, and this was also seen off the pitch. It is relevant to acknowledge how mainstream media tends to want to find the flaws in every athlete, celebrity, etc., but there are lessons that are taught to those who want to be great, that it is okay to remain to yourself. Throughout his career, the Captain became known to deflect questions that had a path to potential controversy.
"Just because a reporter asks you a question doesn't mean you have to answer it." Derek admitted to learning this early in this New York career, a principal reason for his scandal-less record. He loved feign innocence, but it became hard to hide from his peers the beauty in how he controls his own environment and image.
Phillies shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, confessed that every player learned how to conduct themselves by watching Jeter. "He can be politically correct and not say things at times, but that's who he is." To the mainstream media, Jeter wants to keep his level-headed image that would never let anyone find his weakness.
Jeter created a mentally tough atmosphere around himself and his team. In one of his fourteen All-Star appearances is this clip from pre-game press in the American league's clubhouse. As his role in Captain, Derek deemed the programming by Joe Buck inappropriate, saying "We got a game to play, Joe". Players, like Mike Trout, are seen breaking their head-in-the-game barrier because of an obvious distraction of cameras, until Buck got around to Jeter. The media questioned if Jeter was being stubborn, and no one can answer that except himself, but what is certain in the video is that he was called "captain" and he reminded reporter Buck that they had an All-Star game to attend to.
As a leader, you are given roles to be the foremost change-maker on the team. That is one quality that Jeter took to the plate. He was not the best player of his era, rather the type of player everyone dreamed of being when they were young. In his captain years, he was playing less-than-stellar defense in a crucial position, but that was the Yankees' problem. What couldn't be denied was his hitting abilities, like the 3,000 hit milestone, and his post-season performance. Regardless of statistics, the media questioned how Jeter became this generation's Joe DiMaggio. The answer is simply through their comparable embodiment of the Yankees' classy essence.
In his early career, the media tried to hate Joe DiMaggio. As one of the most well-known players in Yankee history, it is undeniable that DiMaggio wasn't a great. Setting a 56 consecutive base-hit streak in the summer of 1941, Joe created an image of his own, rather than his preconceived "lazy" and "just another Italian" description, assimilating into American mainstream culture. In an article by Anthony A. Yoseloff, readers understand DiMaggio's Americanization "From Ethnic Hero to National Icon". From being ridiculed in the prevailing media, Joe used his quiet leadership to revive the Yankees' winning tradition. To put bluntly, society was trying to portray their distaste for Joe but he was able to prove them wrong. Whether is was his streak or his title of "American Hero" following his 'failed' military time in World War II, the media slowly adored Joe D. He broke barriers that the media put up for him that gained him cover pages on "Time", as well as "Life" magazine.
The mainstream media found ways to love the player they loved rather than break down for every little mistake. In relation to Derek Jeter, both he and DiMaggio knew how to keep their head-in-the-game that allowed for their eventual adoration in the media. Once retired, DiMaggio devoted the rest of his life to guarding his special status, carefully, wary of doing anything that might harm his reputation. Speaking only to the country as a whole versus various political and social parties. Jeter and DiMaggio are a lot alike in their concerns of letting the media see a point of fragility. Like DiMaggio, Derek reserved his answers to play to all people watching his sport. Although very different generations, the two Yankees revealed that the key to becoming well-liked and known in households is through sticking to yourself rather than showing cracks in the glass.
Leading up to his retirement, this Gatorade commercial captures Derek Jeter's hometown love from the Bronx. Featured in black and white, a usual somber array of colors, a sensitivity is added to the overall happiness all the people on the streets and outside the Stadium felt as they saw their Captain walk by. From a marketing perspective, Gatorade enclosed on the goodbye Jeter was saying to his baseball career, specifically his New York family, rather than any of their products. With Frank Sinatra's famed, 'My Way' sung in the back, the goal of the advertisement was to show that Jeter did what he pleased. From the beginning, the Captain took the streets because he wanted to see his Bronx kin. Smile after smile as Jeter walked by, hearing "Captain" from every which way, it was a "made in New York" moment from the Michigan native because this was his home for twenty years. Walking confidently, it can be recorded that Jeter was not expecting a negative response from anyone walking by, instead a face of surprise, at the least. He made sure to keep his presence in the media positive and well-liked by non-Yankees fans. Towards the end of the commercial shows a plaque with a significant saying:
"I would like to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee." - Joe DiMaggio
Shown hitting the plaque while walking into the clubhouse, the former Captain is able to reflect on his twenty year career. The importance of the DiMaggio quote is how he was struggling to be fond of in the media for numerous years, but it was once he received the positive reflection he deserved, Joe was grateful for the experience. Showing who they both truly are, Jeter and DiMaggio are two of very few players in the MLB who can say they stayed true to themselves, never giving into media norms to please anyone but themselves. The "Jeter mentality" doesn't come easy, but it is obvious that if DiMaggio was playing with number 2, he would've had the same.
RE2PECT
Whether you loved or hated him, you respected him. That is what major league players, sports reporters, or opposing fans of Yankee, Derek Jeter, have said once his retirement from the game. Given numerous titles, rings, and awards, the most important to him was "Captain". Rather than focus directly on himself, he learned how to succeed while leading a team. Arguably not the best shortstop, he made it look like he was through his etiquette and poise, something loved by all NYY fans, and the media from Yankees' perspective made him out to be a better player than he actually was. But asides from the critiques that were thrown from every which way, it was undeniable that he was not respected from the people around him, and in the bigger media.
This Nike, Jordan commercial became the dominating advertisement after Jeter's retirement announcement. To be given a "tip-of-the-hat" is a cultural expression of recognition, gratitude, and respect. In this endorsement video, hundreds of people ranging from Yankees' biggest fans to their absolute adversaries from the Mets and Red Sox are seen tipping their hat to Jeter approaching home plate. In baseball, batters simply play around with their helmet in forms of ritual or literal problem fixing, and whether it is meant by Jeter or not, the media surrounding him used the salutation as a means of showing the "RE2PECT" his career in the major leagues deserves. Although a brand deal showing Jeter's Jordan cleats, and Michael Jordan himself tipping a Jordan hat, there is an outlying goal of reaching the mainstream audience to acknowledge that one the game's greats is moving on.
"A Yankee through and through" author, Chuck Levine of "IN2PIRE" writes to describe Derek Jeter. Acknowledging the story of a young boy looking up to Jeter who struggled to find a reason why he was his favorite. Referring to statistics, he wasn't the best: high average, but it wasn't the best, not the best homerun hitter, either. But, it was when Jeter's values were starting to become noticed to the boy's mind that it was clear why he was the favorite. It could be the Captain's loyalty to the team for so many years, but it was rather the respect he gave and received. Celebrities are seen given their respects to the former captain, like Jay-Z, Billy Crystal, and Spike Lee all show in the video. Therefore, it calls for speculation on how they represent themselves to the media. With their fanbase now interested in the retirement of Jeter, they send their positive energy towards the one who deserves it, even if they don't embody the perfect human. Respect is the mantra Derek Jeter wanted to lead by example with, creating a healthy environment in the major leagues to continue on into the future. And that is exactly what is being done in Yankee Stadium today with Aaron Judge as the new captain, and rookie Anthony Volpe at shortstop. They look up to the great Jeter as someone who played the game right, with #RE2PECT.
Final Remarks
Derek Jeter remained a figure in the media that branded himself as someone who played the fair game, but had a multitude of achievements while doing so. Through his clean record in the steroid era, to his captain years from 2003 to 2014, to his final payments of respect both coming to and from him, there is a prime representation of an athlete in society who leveled the playing field and made sure to create a positive image for future generations to idolize.
Reference Links
Levine, Chuck (2019) "IN2PIRE," The Mall: Vol. 3 , Article 19.
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall/vol3/iss1/19
Pantuosco, Louis J. “DOES IT PAY TO BE UNETHICAL? THE CASE OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS IN MLB.” The American Economist, vol. 56, no. 2, 2011, pp. 58–68. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23240392. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
Anthony A. Yoseloff (1999) From ethnic hero to national icon: the americanization of Joe DiMaggio, The international Journal of the Htory of sport, 16:3, 1-20
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09523369908714082
MacLean, Kevin H. “Idol Worship: Why the Media (and America) Loves Derek Jeter.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 16 May 2017, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/251901-idol-worship-why-the-media-and-america-loves-derek-jeter.
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