Two Yankees legends are teaming up again to broadcast one of the biggest rivalries in sports -- and tensions aren’t confined to the two teams on the field.
Derek Jeter will join Alex Rodriguez and Yankees announcer Michael Kay on ESPN's "KayRod Cast" during this Sunday’s matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees at Fenway Park.
Rodriguez and Kay host a special broadcast that debuted earlier this season when the two American League division rivals faced off at Yankee Stadium. This will be their sixth segment of the season.
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The three-game series comes at the conclusion of ESPN’s new seven-episode documentary on Jeter’s career titled “The Captain.” While the seventh and final episode is set to premiere this Thursday, the tense relationship between the two longtime teammates was on full display from the onset of the series.
Jeter spent two decades with the Yankees, winning five World Series, four of which came in his first six seasons with the Pinstripers. On the opposite coast, Rodriguez started his major league career one season earlier with the Mariners, followed by a brief stop with the Rangers, before eventually landing in New York for 12 seasons.
Together, they won the 2009 World Series for an astounding 29th time in Yankees history. The next closest team? The St. Louis Cardinals with a mere 11 championships.
While they delivered on-field success, their relationship was often described as contentious. The first public sign of conflict dates back before the two even joined forces in New York.
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In a 2001 interview with Esquire magazine, Rodriguez knocked Jeter’s success, attributing it in part to the teammates he was surrounded by.
“Jeter’s been blessed with great talent around him,” Rodriguez said. “So he’s never had to lead.”
Rodriguez went on to say “hitting second is totally different than hitting third or fourth in a lineup … You never say ‘Don’t let Derek beat you.’ That’s never your concern.”
Over the course of the next decade, rumors or snide comments occasionally rose to the surface indicating that some old wounds remained between the two.
Both participated in “The Captain” and seem to have moved past their professional rivalry, but the collaboration to broadcast together is no doubt a big one for Yankees fans.
The Yankees currently lead the American League and are tied with their crosstown rival, the New York Mets, and the Houston Astros for the second-best record in the MLB. The Red Sox are last in the AL East and struggling to stop the slide coming out of the All-Star break, going 6-11 since July 22nd.
Sunday’s matchup will be the finale of the three-game series. The two teams will meet six more times in September.
