Jeter's Response to Big Papi

This is classic stuff from ESPN:

Don't get me wrong -- he's a great player, having a great season, but he's got a lot of guys in that lineup," Ortiz said of Jeter. "Top to bottom, you've got a guy who can hurt you. Come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be."

To that, Jeter replied "I don't have to do it in his lineup."

"I'm not thinking about the MVP right now," he told reporters Monday. "We're thinking about winning a division. We've still got something to play for."

He then added, "No one here's focused on individual awards."

This is classic Jeter and classic Yankee quotes during the Joe Torre era. We are here to win the World Series and nothing else matters. They will not allow themselves to be dragged into a pissing contest and let the results show on the field. At the end of the year if Jeter wins the MVP and the Yankees don't win the World Series, I am sure he will say in the greater scheme of things the MVP award does not matter since we didn't do what we are paid to do, win the World Series.

I also thought it was interesting in the same article on ESPN quoted above Johnny Damon, who played with Ortiz in Boston and said almost the same stuff I did in my earlier post. Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon said Ortiz's comments didn't sound like the Big Papi he played with for three seasons in Boston.

"It doesn't sound like Ortiz," Damon told reporters. "I can't believe he would say something like that."

Damon said he thought Ortiz was a "shoo-in" for MVP last season, but lost out to Alex Rodriguez last year because being a DH hurt him with the voters.

I hope Ortiz comes out and retracts this, since he has always been above this petty stuff.