Jeter Breaks Gehrig's Record; Lupica Shits On Him

It's been a long time since I posted, mostly due to the Yankees failing to make the playoffs. It's hard to knock a sports journalist when he knocks the Yankees, as bad as they've been playing. One thing I had to look forward to was Jeter breaking Lou Gehrig's record for most hits in Yankee Stadium.

So Jeter went berserk this week and broke the record. Good for him - Gehrig is my favorite Yankee, and it's great to have a guy like Jeter break his record.

So of course, Lupica had to do his best to ruin Jeter's latest feat by writing a "positive" Yankee article. He wrote this worthless piece of shit, "praising" Jeter, yet knocks him through the entire article.

Let's take a look.

- Knock #1

It is good being Jeter even now, when he didn't start hitting until it was too late.

Poor Jeter - not only did he start hitting too late, but he also gets a "positive" article written about him by Lupica, who points out all his shortcomings.

Haha.."Lupica" and "short"...

I bet you never thought you'd see those two words in the same sentence on this website.

It is good being Jeter even with this kind of ending to the Yankee season, and to this version of Yankee Stadium; it's good being Jeter even as the Yankees will be out of the playoffs for the first time in 15 years and this will be eight years since Jeter and the Yankees last won it all.

What the heck, may as well write something disparaging about the Yankees while knocking/praising Jeter.

Raise your hand if you think the phrase "15 years" will replace "$200 million" as Lupica's favorite.

- Knock #2

He didn't do much more than anybody else on the team when the Yankees still had a chance to make it to another baseball October.

Jeter leads the Yankees in hits (for the 5th year in a row) with 176.

Yeah. He's useless.

- Knock #3

He remains the star he has been for such a long time at the Stadium even if he is not the hitter or the shortstop he once was.

Gee, I seem to recall reading this article back in 2000. Or was it 2002?

Maybe 2004.

Whenever Jeter has an "off" year, the sports "experts" love to talk about how Jeter is done.

What a surprise, Lupica is once again driving that bandwagon.

Mo Rivera also hears the kind of cheers that Jeter does at the Stadium. Jeter hears them more often, not just for the records he sets, but because he is still here.

When did Rivera get traded?

- Knock #4

He is not the hitter Alex Rodriguez is, or even close.

Are you trying to say that Jeter isn't one of the best hitters of his generation!?

Jeez, next he's probably gonna compare him to Joe DiMaggio!

(Yes, he really does.)

- Knock #5

At 34, not able to drive the ball the way he did or produce the numbers he did in his glory years

Jeter's OPS+ in his first 3 full seasons
1996 - 101
1997 - 103
1998 - 127

Jeter's OPS+ in his last 3 seasons
2006 - 132
2007 - 121
2008 - 107

While Jeter's OPS+ has been declining, it's clear his last three seasons are better than his first three.

There's only one reason Lupica didn't mention (again) Jeter's 2007 post season failure.

He forgot.

And he still knows how Yankees are supposed to act. The night of the All-Star Game, you looked over in the 14th inning, long after A-Rod had disappeared into the night, there were two people on the top step of the American League dugout: Boston's Terry Francona, managing the game, and Jeter, who'd been out of the game for hours.

ARod left the game before it ended in the 14th inning - it's pretty obvious he left early for one reason…to score some crack!

That is NOT how a Yankee is supposed to act.

- Knock #6

He is not the Yankee that Joe DiMaggio was

This is like saying Mike Lupica isn't tall. It's a given. It doesn't need to be said.

But hey, what's a positive article about a Yankee without unnecessarily putting him down?

He goes across the street with the rest of them next season. It will still be called Yankee Stadium.

Why couldn't they be like every other team and sell out their naming rights…to a company that rhymes with "shitty", for example?

- Knock #7

The new place won't be as good for Jeter

Because, in the new stadium, the bases will be 300 feet apart, and the outfield wall will be 200 feet high!

Poor Jeter.

Lupica can only hope that Reyes will have half the career that Jeter has had.