Rivera-Jeter: Which Yankee is “Sportsman of the Year”?

It’s a split decision among future Yankee hall-of-famers.

Sports illustrated has selected their 2009 “Sportsman of the Year” and it is Derek Jeter.

The Sporting News has selected its 2009 “Pro Athlete of the Year” and it’s Mariano Rivera.

The Sports Illustrated honor is generally considered more prestigious, and amazingly, a Yankee has never received the honor since Sports Illustrated’s inception in 1954. Not Mickey Mantle in ‘56 after winning the Triple Crown, not Roger Maris in ‘61 after blasting 61, and not Reggie Jackson in ‘77 after smacking three homers in the World Series clincher. (Note: Sprinter Bobby Morrow, college hoops great Jerry Lucas, and jockey Steve Cauthen won SI’s honor in those years).

So which Yankee deserves the 2009 honors more?

Of course, the real answer is neither. Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, and Manny Pacquiao are all more deserving. But those individuals would represent other countries in every way, and the turf rules of American sports media do not allow such things. (Federer snubs have become an almost annual occurrence in sports honor tragedy.) At minimum, you need to wear an American uniform to be considered. But for our purposes, let’s put the subject of American sports media xenophobia aside (sort of — Rivera is from Panama). Let’s also put aside that when judging solely on-field performance that Alex Rodriguez is the most deserving Yankee in 2009, but probably disqualified himself with that whole steroid admission thing.

The Jeter-Rivera question is important because making the correct choice represents more than a yearly magazine award, but is symbolic of the thinking around an entire modern Yankee era stretching back to 1995. The answer is no contest.

It’s Mariano Rivera.

This fact does not diminish Jeter who had one of his finest all around years in the regular season (batted .334; .406 OBP), in the field (won Gold Glove), and in the post-season (batted .344; .407 in World Series). Forget media. Every real Yankee fan has known that Rivera has always been this era’s most valuable Yankee, and 2009 was no different for the greatest post-season player in baseball history.

To win the World Series a team must win 11 games. Rivera closed out 10 of those playoff victories and six of those outings were more than one inning. When it comes to playoff victories, Rivera IS an everyday player! In fact, he has pitched in over 80% of Yankee playoff victories in all of their championship years (’96, ‘98-00, ‘09). His career post-season ERA is 0.74. In 2009 playoffs, he posted a 0.54 (one run in 16 innings with five saves). This came after a 1.74 ERA during the regular season. On any given year, you can find a star player on a championship team who has posted something similar to Jeter’s numbers during the regular and post-season. Not so for Rivera. What made Mariano’s work stand out even more was that every other closer blew a game for their team during the post-season. Yes — every single one. That includes notable collapses by Jon Papelbon, Brad Lidge, and Joe Nathan. It is extremely hard to quantify the pressure on a closer during the post-season, but Rivera is always as cool as ice.

Sports Illustrated stated that it was a “combination of on- and off-field achievement that helped make Jeter this year’s Sportsman.” Said Sports Illustrated Group Editor Terry McDonell, “Derek Jeter has always presented himself with class; he does numerous good works for the community with his Turn 2 Foundation, which is one of the most efficient, effective foundations of its kind; and he’s extremely generous with not just his money but with his time, which in many cases is more valuable.”

Rivera has also contributed to philanthropic causes both in New York through his foundation, and in his native Panama where he helped finance the construction of a new elementary school and a new church building. Rivera has also “presented himself with class”, but the difference between Jeter and Rivera is that the humility of the latter is 100% positively genuine. Rivera is a devout Christian, and his religion permeates every interview he gives, and how he conducts himself. In a profound statement, Peter Gammons recently said[1]:

“In the past 15 years, Rivera is the sport’s MVP and Cy Young, and in my 20 years at ESPN, he might be the most distinctive person.”

Whatever the opposite of “most distinctive person” is — Derek Jeter is that (at least the media persona he projects).

Jeter has simply mastered playing the media game. The media asks him questions after every game. Jeter politely answers those questions according to the Bull Durham manual the media gave him. He looks the reporter in the eye, makes sure to call that reporter by their first name, and gives extended time if necessary. Jeter never really says a word of substance and all parties walk away satisfied. The reporter might walk away with an autographed ball for their kid, and Jeter walks away to the nearest club with his latest super-model under his arm. And no cameras follow him.

The next thing we know, the sports media decides to “get Tiger in a back alley”…

Is the coverage of their sexcapades only that Tiger was married, and Jeter was not? Semantics. No, not the difference between the acts. We are just talking about the media’s response. There are tons of philanderers the media lets slide. The difference is how each interacts with sports media members (note: the mainstream discussion became so convoluted that Jason Whitlock was left to point out the obvious!). If the media wanted to follow Jeter’s off-field happenings more closely to sell more papers, they could.

The point is not to denounce Jeter for mastering the media game (more power to him). It is that he shouldn’t be rewarded with any additional high honors for that mastery. Jeter’s newest SI accolade a curious statement at a time when Tiger-fueled pundits continue to say things like: “He is just a corporate brand” and “I mean, do we REALLY know anything about these athletes anyway?”…

Honoring Jeter over Rivera is not about on-field performance, philanthropic causes, or even off-field humility. Rivera wins easily by this score. Jeter-over-Rivera is about confirming that the media (SI in this case) has no interest in knowing athletes as long as you tell them what they want to hear, and are really kind and polite in delivering that bullshit. In this world, Jeter’s sweet lies trump Rivera’s real truth. Ultimately, honoring Jeter as “Sportsman of the Year” is an exercise in media control, and a message to other athletes to follow the manual closely should they covet such prestige.

But don’t hate Derek Jeter, hate the media game.

And if someone ever asks who was the Yankee ’sportsman” of 2009, the greatest Yankee of this generation, and the greatest post-season player in baseball history, you should hold up a copy of The Sporting News cover.