Derek Jeter made a guest appearance on ESPN2’s Kay-Rod Cast of Sunday’s Red Sox-Yankees game, but he didn’t exactly have the best time doing so.
Jeter appeared in the studio alongside Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay and former teammate Alex Rodriguez, and the broadcast produced some awkward moments. Perhaps the strangest and funniest was the telecast bringing up the infamous shirtless photo of shortstops Jeter, Rodriguez, Rey Ordonez, and Edgar Renteria, which was taken for a 1997 Sports Illustrated feature. The photo has lived on through the internet, and Jeter quite clearly is not a fan of seeing it dredged up.
Jeter threatened that it would be “my last visit here” if the photo was put up on-screen. It immediately was, and Jeter didn’t even crack a smile.
Kudos to #KayRod producer Joe McCoy for not letting Derek Jeter bully him into not showing the infamous shirtless shortstops photo. pic.twitter.com/61KMdXZfZd
— Ian Casselberry (@iancass) August 15, 2022
Jeter isn’t typically one for frequent media appearances anyway, though he has recently been making the rounds to promote his ESPN docuseries “The Captain.” It isn’t necessarily anything personal if he makes good on his promise. Still, Jeter did not look even remotely amused, even while Rodriguez got a laugh out of it.
Jeter and A-Rod have long had a famously tense relationship, even when they played together as teammates. Jeter actually shed some light as to why that was recently. If trust was at the heart of it, this probably isn’t going to help mend any more fences.
