Derek Jeter’s return to the lineup yesterday was spoiled when he swung through Toronto closer Billy Koch’s slider to end Yankees’ 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays at the Stadium.NY Post: Nury Hernandez
Sometimes life is like a poem. Sometimes the Mighty Derek does strike out. Better in April than October, though.
It was Derek Jeter Opening Day at Yankee Stadium yesterday and after eight innings of rather routine baseball, there was a bottom of the ninth to remember. What made this one so different was that Jeter was not the hero.
Oh, the stage was set for what could have been another chapter in the Amazin’ Jeter Saga, the life we dream about, but in the end, an angry slider from Toronto closer Billy Koch was too much for Jeter, who had been marooned in Florida on the disabled list until yesterday.
It ended with a 3-2 loss to the bludgeoning Blue Jays with runners on first and second after the Yankees had mounted a dramatic comeback in the ninth, thanks to a two-run home run from Jorge Posada into the right-field bleachers.
It ended with the kind of drama that can be found nowhere else but on a baseball diamond. It ended with the kind of pride and dignity that Jeter brings to the Yankees every day. Being in that spot – win or lose – is the reason they play this game.
“You have to enjoy it,” Jeter said of the pressure situation. “I’ve been successful in those types of situations before and I failed. I’m not afraid to fail. Hopefully, you get another opportunity. And I’m sure I’ll be in that spot again sometime.”
He will; you can be sure of that. That’s why Jeter has four championship rings in five years in the majors. A few stalls down from Jeter, Luis Sojo, who had been holding down the shortstop position until Jeter returned, said, “This time they got Derek. If this would have been October, it would have been a different story.”
Despite the loss, the Yankees are whole again with Jeter back at short and Orlando Hernandez back on the mound. Hernandez came up the losing pitcher after falling behind 3-0 with Shannon Stewart and Jose Cruz Jr., slugging solo home runs. Cruz’ moon shot in the fourth landed in the upper deck in right. The Jays added what turned out to be the winning run in the fifth on a one-out, RBI single by Brad Fullmer. That was to be the last batter that Hernandez faced.
But this day all came down to the final at-bat.
“Even if you’re comfortable when you’re facing him, [Koch] throws hard,” said Jeter, who finished 1-for-5, getting an infield single in the sixth. “He made a good pitch. He had thrown fastballs straight up until that moment and then he threw a cutter. He’s a guy who throws 97-98, he can be tough on you. He threw a cutter in a tough spot and he got me.”
Actually, Koch insisted that the strikeout pitch was a slider.
“I had thrown him fastballs and I don’t think he was expecting a slider,” Koch said.
After Posada’s home run brought the Yankees within a run, Scott Brosius launched a two-out double to left-center, and Clay Bellinger came in to run for him. Chuck Knoblauch drew a walk, bringing Jeter to the plate as what was left of the crowd of 30,487 stood, expecting another magical moment.
Koch got ahead on a fastball for a called strike, then blew a fastball past Jeter, who had seen nothing but minor-league pitching in Tampa as he was recovering from a strained right quadriceps and sore right shoulder. Koch reared back and fired again and Jeter did not go for the high heat. Ball one. He fouled back another fastball. Ball two followed. This was the moment. Jeter dug deep in the box, Koch dug a little deeper and unleashed the nastiest of sliders. Jeter swung and missed for strike three.
He was not to be the returning conquering hero.
Early in the morning, Jeter told a small circle of reporters that it was frustrating staying behind in Florida.
“I feel like a kid who wasn’t allowed to play with the other kids,” he said.
The Yankees have not been able to match up with the other kids for two days as the Blue Jays have now won six straight against them dating back to last season.
These Blue Jays will pound the ball but there’s no way the Yankees expected to be tied in knots by vagabond left-hander Chris Michalak. The 30-year-old Michalak, who has been with seven different organizations, was making his first major-league start. The son of a Joliet, Ill. factory worker, he did not allow a run over 51/3 innings and struck out five to earn his first major-league victory.
“This,” said a breathless Michalak, who watched the final at-bat from the dugout, “is what baseball is all about.”
