The Yankees will be commemorating the 2000 World Series team at Old-Timers’ Day in August, but a rather crucial member of that team won’t be in attendance.
Derek Jeter isn’t showing up, which has gotten WFAN hosts Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti a bit riled up.
“It’s a little bit insulting … I think he should be there, he should be a part of it,” Esiason said on “Boomer and Gio” on Tuesday. “It seems elitist to me.”
There are more than 30 former Yankees participating, but “The Captain” isn’t one of them.
“Derek Jeter said that he doesn’t want the fans to see him hit again at this age,“ Esiason’s co-host Giannotti said of Jeter’s reasoning.
But all of the players in the game have gotten older since retiring, and the game has been being played for nearly 80 years in some form.
“Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio played in an Old-Timers’ game together,” Esiason said. “If those guys put a uniform back on then [Jeter] certainly can.”
Jeter, 51, last played in 2014.
The Hall of Famer was a 14-time All-Star, five-time World Series champ, five-time Silver Slugger and five-time Gold Glove winner.
Of course, he’s not in the same condition as he was during his playing career, but Giannotti thinks that other players have to worry about that more than Jeter does.
“Derek Jeter’s not gonna embarrass himself. I think he would put the uniform back on and look just like Derek Jeter when we last saw him,” Giannotti said, challenging Jeter’s possible reasoning for not playing. “He’s in great shape, some of these other guys showing up are not — he is.”
And it’s not only that Jeter isn’t playing in the game, it’s the fact that he’s not attending whatsoever.
“Just show up, you don’t have to put the uniform on if you don’t want to,” Giannotti continued.
While Giannotti attempted to reason with Jeter’s wishes, Esiason had one theme that kept returning to his mind with Jeter’s attitude for the game.
“I just think, to me, he’s the captain, he was the guy that was embraced by the fans and loved by the fans and still is to this very day,” he said. “It just feels a little bit elitist, that’s all.”
The WFAN hosts did note that if Jeter has something going on in his life that makes him unable to attend, that, of course, makes sense — but Esiason especially is not buying the rest of the act.