Spread the Love, Jeter

In one of the most purposefully transparent displays of unity and accord, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada walked to the front of the media room right behind troubled pitcher Andy Pettitte. They walked behind him with stone cold faces, oblivious to ranting media, flashing lights, and awkward glares that Pettitte was receiving. And as Pettitte took on questions about his role in the Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee saga, none of the three New York Yankee greats so much as blinked at any of the questions by the media or the answers by Pettitte. The facial expressions on their faces were unwavering, and projected one unified message to the media and to the on looking public:

"We've got your back, Andy."

And so that appears to be the case. With all the trouble Pettitte has gone through with the Mitchell Report, lawyers, Congressional depositions, and the media, the leaders of the Yankees were not going to pile on top of the list of Pettitte's problems. Especially not Derek Jeter, who wants to support Pettitte, but at the same time he does not want Pettitte's issues to disrupt the team.

"There should be no problems with the team. It's Andy's issue," said Jeter. "It has no effect on anyone else on the team... You've got to put it behind you at some point, sooner rather than later... That's why it's good he's addressing it today. Hopefully, it's over with after that..."

Well, it's unlikely that the story will be over with just because Pettitte answered questions from the media for a mere hour. Roger Clemens sat in front of Congress and answered questions for over four hours, and there was still a lot more that could have been asked of him had the Congress members had half an objective brain.

Sure, Pettitte was forthcoming, seemed honest, and wore his religion on his sleeve throughout most of the press conference, but he will be questioned about this down the road, especially once the season starts. That first road game will probably welcome him to a chorus of boos, but that really is nothing new for Yankees players, especially when Alex Rodriguez has been booed more than the Bill O'Reily on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Speaking of A-Rod, where's his love? Where is the show of support for Alex Rodriguez that Pettitte is getting? Afterall, Pettitte is a cheater. There is no "ifs," "ands," or "buts" about it. He is a cheater! He can talk about how in his "heart of hearts" he knows that he was just trying to do what's right for his team and recover from injury, but even if I were to buy that (and I would have accompany that with a purchase of a bridge in Brooklyn), he still used an illegal drug to give him an added boost in his physical make-up that was anything but natural. So let me say it one more time, he's a cheater! He brought shame on the Yankees organization, their fans, and his fans.

And yet Jeter, the captain of captains, has no problem giving a show of public support for Pettitte. And yet, he has never offered such support to Alex Rodriguez on far more trivial and less damaging things. When A-Rod was having a hard time hitting the ball for a lot of the 2006 season, I'm sure it would have helped if Jeter made a statement that unequivocally showed that he was behind his teammate and that his woes at the plate were not going to deter from A-Rod's relationship with the team.

Or how about when A-Rod was continually getting crushed for his poor performance in the post-season? Much of the criticism was unfair when you consider the actual effect of A-Rod's performance and its effect on the out come of the some of those particular series that they lost. But Jeter didn't stick his neck out there for A-Rod on that issue.

And then of course there is this past off-season, in which A-Rod left the team, maybe rejoined the team, and is now apart of the Yankees organization for probably the rest of his career. Now would be as good a time as any other to make nice with A-Rod, especially considering he is the most valuable player on the team, and will be.

But don't expect Jeter to do that, despite the fact that he should. His support of Pettitte withstanding, as the captain of this team, shouldn't he be the one to, at least, support everyone on the team? I understand that A-Rod and Jeter do not have to have anything more than a professional relationship, but the public perception does not even hold A-Rod's status on the team as that high. Right now, in the eyes of the fans and media, A-Rod is viewed more as an outsider than an accepted teammate. And don't tell me that Jeter doesn't care about the outside perception of it all, because if that were the case, he could have given Pettitte and coke and smile in the locker room instead of his transparent PDA for Pettitte.

But it appears as if the captain of captains does not want to embrace A-Rod as he has embraced Pettitte, or as he has done for Jason Giambi in the past. That's fine. He is perfectly within his rights not to do so. Afterall, he is the greatest Yankee since the Bambino himself. It would just seem to me that the guy who has been touted as the greatest team players and captains in the world of sports today wouldn't pick and choose his spots when trying to "support" his teammates.