Jeter's Heroics in Atlanta Give All-Star Game an October Feel
NJ Star-Ledger, July 12, 2000
By David Waldstein
ATLANTA -- Once again, it seemed, the Yankees beat the Braves. Obviously, every team in baseball was represented at this 71st All-Star Game, and many of their players had a role in the outcome. But with Bobby Cox in the loser's dugout and Joe Torre on the winner's side, with Derek Jeter winning the MVP award, and with Chipper Jones being the hometown hero but coming up short, it just seemed like a little October all over again.
Jeter had three hits, knocked in two runs and scored a third to lead the American league to a 6-3 victory over the Braves ... er, the National League. In being named the MVP, Jeter became the first Yankee ever to win the award, which is obviously stunning considering how many great Yankees there have been along the route to 25 World Series Championships.
But Jones was fairly heroic in his own right. Playing in front of his hometown fans at Turner Field, Jones, also went 3-for-3, with the game's only home run, a blast off James Baldwin in the third inning. In so many ways, Jones is to the Braves what Jeter is to the Yankees, so maybe it was appropriate that they each led their teams offensively, and yet Jeter's team won again, just like it did in Octobers 1996 and 1999.
Somehow Jeter and the Yankees always seem to end up on top against Atlanta, but this is shaping up like a pretty remarkable season for Jones and the first-place Braves too.
Here's the scary part. Jones didn't even make the All-Star team last year, and he still won the National League Most Valuable Player Award. This year he not only made the team, he was one of the heroes. So, imagine what he might do the rest of this year.
"I don't know," Jones said when asked how last night would portend for the rest of the season. "Win the World Series and the MVP?"
As the Mets know all too well from their series at the end of last season, Jones is one of those players who rises to meet the challenges of big moments. During that September series when the Mets were breathing hot air on Atlanta's necks, Jones hit four huge home run in three games as the Braves swept the Mets, and in most people's eyes, he won the MVP Award that week.
Last night Jones became the 13th player to hit a home run in his home stadium in the All-Star Game. Some of the people he joined on the list include the greats of the great, like Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Hanks Aaron and Harmon Killebrew.
Jones, who also joined Jeter in becoming the 32nd and 33rd players to get three hits in one All-Star Game, doesn't have quite the same reputation off the field that Jeter does either. While not considered a bad guy, he doesn't have the golden image that Jeter does, and in his first few years he had a reputation as a little bit of a cocky pain in the neck. But over the past few years he has become a team leader, and that reputation has softened.
"He's one of those guys that gets under your skin when he's on the other team," said Al Leiter, who took the loss last night. "But I've been around him the last couple of days and he's not a bad guy t all. He really bothered you as an opposing player, but he's good to have on your team, and he really does rise to the occasion."
Now, hitting a home run at home on July 11 isn't exactly Reggie Jackson in the 1977 World Series, but as Leiter says, last night was another small example of how Jones is a big-moment player, especially since he really wanted to do well in this game.
"It was awesome," Jones said. "It's every little boys dream to hit a home run in the All-Star Game. It's not too often a player gets to play on his home field, much less start the game. Then to hit a home run, it's just awesome. I can't explain it."
Here is one of the beautiful things about this all-star game as opposed to those in other sports. Not many young kids dream of scoring a goal in the NHL All-Star Game. And if there is a little boy out there who dreams of throwing a touchdown pass in the Pro Bowl, he should wake up now.
But the Midsummer Classic is special, which is why Jones was a little peeved last year when then National League manager Bruce Bochy neglected to bring him along. Matt Williams won the voting, and Bochy brought along Ed Sprague as his replacement. Jones, who was hitting .313 with 21 home runs and 57 runs batted in at the time, went fishing for three days.
"It was disappointing," Jones said. "But I don't envy the All-Star manager. That's a tough position. people are going to get snubbed. Do I hold any grudges? No. It's a tough job."
Jones has a tough baseball role to play too. For the past five years, he has played a kind of second virtuoso to Jeter's first.