Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter was a guest on the “Kay-Rod” broadcast, an alternative broadcast that ESPN2 runs during its “Sunday Night Baseball” game, hosted by Michael Kay and Jeter’s former teammate Alex Rodriguez.
As most know, Jeter and A-Rod haven’t had the best relationship over the years. But reports of a meet-up a couple months ago between the two, allowed for some things to be hashed out and reportedly some beefs were quashed.
If not, why else would Derek Jeter agree to come on the telecast?
Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez met recently to squash beef: 'A lot of cocktails' https://t.co/HeRnx2EGUl pic.twitter.com/BV3l17xHne
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) August 15, 2022
During the telecast, Kay talked about a shirtless photo shoot from 1997, that featured five shirtless players including Jeter. “The Captain,” as Jeter is affectionately known denounced showing the picture, saying this.
“No please man, no. This will be my last visit here.”
After some tense moments that didn’t stop the show’s producer from showing the photo anyways, A-Rod, hoping to turn the mood of the situation said this
“It was nice having you.”
A not-so-happy Jeter once again repeated his previous statement
“This is my last time here, yeah.”
Jeter has always been the reserved, private type, while A-Rod has long lived his life in the public eye. So one can see why Jeter wasn’t interested in having an old pic of himself from 25 years shown on television.
This story of @AROD going through @derekjeter's fridge 😂#KayRodCast pic.twitter.com/xkGyQRxFM2
— ESPN (@espn) August 15, 2022
Jeter And A-Rod Rift Stems From An Interview In 2000
From 1996 to 2000 Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees won four World Series titles while Alex Rodriguez, a great generational talent himself, was in Seattle on a good team but one that couldn’t beat Jeter’s Yankees.
In an early 2000s interview with Esquire, Rodriguez questioned Jeter’s ability to put a team on his back.
“He’s reserved, quiet. Jeter’s been blessed with great talent around him. So he’s never had to lead. He doesn’t have to, he can just go and play and have fun, and hit second. I mean, you know, hitting second is totally different than hitting third or fourth in a lineup because you go into New York trying to stop Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill and everybody. You never say, ‘Don’t let Derek Jeter beat you.’
“That’s never your concern.”
“You can compare statistics all you want. … I compare who won more.” @derekjeter on the rivalry with A-Rod #TheCaptain pic.twitter.com/m8IN8fjIQD
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 22, 2022
While Rodriguez did eventually apologize, he again piggybacked those same sentiments in another interview on the “Dan Patrick” show.
Jeter considered the comments scathing and he never let them go. He carried that with him, and in his “The Captain” documentary Jeter addressed the elephant in the room, so to speak.
“Those comments bothered me because, like I said, I’m very loyal. As a friend, I’m loyal, I just look at it as, I wouldn’t have done it. And then it was the media. The constant hammer to the nail. They just kept hammering it in. It just became noise.
Differences Put Aside For Yankees Championship In 2009
After years of back-and-forth the two megastars led the New York Yankees to the 2009 World Series title. And while their relationship may not have always been great, they were able to put that off-the-field stuff to the side for the betterment of the team and the greater good, which was hoisting the WS trophy.
