DARK DAYS FOR DEREK JETER

Dramatic title, and maybe not as bad as it seems. But on the surface, like, right now... it's terrible. Look, this news out of Yankeeland is a shot to the gut. Derek Jeter is out until after the All-Star break because the Captain has a small crack in his already injured ankle. That comes from the Bergen Record's Pete Caldera's Tweet HERE and below, but from many reports today... Twitter exploded with the news fast.

I ask you as a Yankee club and as Yankee fans though... What would Derek want? He'd want us to power through and win without him. He'd want us to not feel sorry for him, but to go out and root as hard as we can and play the best ball we can and win! To Derek, it doesn't matter if he's playing or not, there is 1 goal. Win the games! Now, Jeter WANTS to be there, don't get me wrong, we all know that. But too much work on that ankle and too much of him pushing himself caused this. We all know this now.  Can you blame him for pushing himself? I don't. He wanted to be back for us. He wanted to be back for the team.  He believed that he could be back, and maybe he believed it too much. After all, he is our Captain and our leader and he knows his role. Most likely though he got re-injured trying to perform that role. Again, I don't fault him. Why? Because he plays and lives like a champion. 

Let's not forget, he's tasted victory with the Yankees his entire career and doesn't know life with the Yankees any other way. But now, he'll need to re-adjust, slow down and change the pace. He knows that now more than ever and so do we.

So what did we learn today? The Captain is no longer unstoppable, but he's still the greatest force when he's with our club and we should all be grateful of that. The Captain will be back and he may never be the same, that is the harsh reality. But there's one thing that we can't forget. Derek Jeter would want the team to go on without him and win. And yes, he'll be back one day, be it after the All Star break or later on.  But one thing we can't do as a team and as fans is think the we can't win without him, because the Cap wouldn't stand for that. Bottom line... We can win and we will go on as Yankees. And you know what?  We'll do it without the Captain right now... Why?  Because we're the God Damn Yankees and we don't quit ever. Why? Because that's the way the Captain would want it and that's what we're made of... Champions.

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