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Not everybody was using, Jeter insists, but voices his support for A-Rod as workouts begin.
New York Yankees’ Mark Teixeria, right, Alex Rodriguez, center, and Xavier Nady (22) stretch in the outfield during a spring training baseball workout in Tampa, Fla. on Wednesday.
AP PHOTO
TAMPA, Fla. — Derek Jeter wants fans to remember the clean guys.
The New York Yankees captain sat in the first-base dugout after his team’s first full-squad workout of the season Wednesday, expressed support for Alex Rodriguez and tried to get a message out that will prevent the public from viewing the entire sport as tainted.
“One thing that is irritating and it really upsets me a lot is when you hear everybody say, ‘It was the steroid era. Everybody was doing it.’ You know, that’s not true. Everybody was not doing it,” he said.
With all the focus on A-Rod and his news conference Tuesday, Jeter bristled at those who group all players together.
“I think it sends the wrong message to fans, to baseball fans; I think it sends the wrong message to kids, saying that everybody was doing it, because that’s just not the truth,” he said. “I understand there’s a lot of people who are big-name players that have come out and allegedly done this and done that, but everybody wasn’t doing it.”
His plea to remember the clean players came after an opening workout in which photographers and cameras tailed behind Rodriguez for two hours at the Yankees’ spring training complex. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said A-Rod’s talent automatically makes him a focal point.
“It would be hard to say that to Michael Jordan when he walked into the stadium, ‘Don’t be the center of attention,”’ Girardi said.
A-Rod was the last of 60-plus Yankees to take the field, sprinting from the right-field corner just as the first shuffle run began. Some of the 1,600 or so fans gathered under a near-cloudless sky at Steinbrenner Field cheered when they saw No. 13. A few yelled out encouraging words. Not a single boo or insult was heard.
Based on Wednesday’s small sample, Yankees fans are as forgiving as Rodriguez’s teammates.
“We’re here to support him through it,” Jeter said. “I don’t condone what he did. We don’t condone what he did. And Alex doesn’t condone what he did. And I think at this point now it’s our jobs to try to help him be as comfortable as he can on the field and try to move past this.”
Rodriguez reported for spring training on Tuesday and held a 32-minute news conference, his first since Sport Illustrated reported on its Web site Feb. 7 that he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids during baseball’s anonymous 2003 survey. He had admitted to ESPN on Feb. 9 that he used banned substances while playing for Texas from 2001-03, and he expanded on his story during his news conference. He claimed a cousin — whom he would not identify — repeatedly injected him during those years with a mysterious substance from the Dominican Republic called “boli.”
Catcher Jorge Posada, seated in the from row Tuesday along with Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, got sad when Rodriguez took a 37-second pause before thanking teammates.
“He just got emotional. I think everybody in that room knew what he was going through at that point. It’s tough to look at your teammates in the eye, and tell them, you know, ‘I’m sorry,”’ Posada said.
He left midway through the news conference because he had to take his family to the airport. More than 20 players attended, and most stayed until the end.
“I think that he’ll be good,” said Pettitte, who had a similar confessional news conference last year. “I think he’ll be able to put it behind him. I know we’re all hoping and pulling for it, that’s for sure.”
With photographers and television cameras tailing him around the complex, Rodriguez spent most of Wednesday’s workout on a back field behind the first-base stands. The three-time AL MVP fielded grounders, hit in an indoor cage with Hideki Matsui and Juan Miranda, took batting practice on the back field with Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira and Colin Curtis, and finished with bunting in the bullpen.
After conditioning on the field behind the third-base stands, A-Rod returned to the clubhouse, went to the players’ lounge and then to the weight room. He showered and dressed, then left without commenting on his day other than to say, “Talk tomorrow.”
Jeter said he maintained his respect for Rodriguez, and he hoped Wednesday would be the last time people questioned him about Rodriguez’s admission. Ever since A-Rod joined the Yankees in 2004, Jeter has had to face questions about his friendship with his former rival, which deteriorated after a 2001 Esquire article in which A-Rod made critical remarks.
“I get tired of hearing about things about our relationship,” Jeter said. “That’s an old story.”
Notes: Matsui, recovering from left knee surgery on Sept. 22, will be limited to DH during spring training, manager Joe Girardi said. Matsui won’t start running until next week. … Switch-hitting Teixeira will bat third and be followed by Rodriguez, with the left-handed-hitting Matsui a possibility for the No. 5 slot. “You got one of the best players in the history of baseball hitting behind you, I think you’re going to get some good pitches to hit,” Teixeira said. … 2B Robinson Cano reiterated that he will play for the Dominican Republic in next month’s World Baseball Classic. Melky Cabrera, competing with Brett Gardner to play center, will not play for the DR and RHP Alfredo Aceves will not play for Mexico.
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