Derek Jeter, Defensive Liability

Remember when Derek Jeter was rehabbing his leg, and Eduardo Nunez was supposed to be an enormous improvement over the aging captain? Remember how ol' Noonie was going to make up for Jeter's lack of range and show us how shortstop is really supposed to be played?

I give you the 11th inning of Wednesday's game (and in fact, a bunch of other games) as evidence that such thinking was, let's say, a little off in terms of accuracy.

You hold your breath when Nunez is at short and the ball is hit to him. You never have to do that with Jeter. The captain might not get to as many grounders as the statheads think he should but you know what? When he does get to them, they become outs.

And yes, I understand that these were awful playing conditions, the ball was slick, the grass was wet and the dirt was mud. I fully realize there had been a game played until the wee hours of the morning less than a half-day before this one began. I get that everybody was really tired.

But the young guys are supposed to show the old grizzled veterans how energy and verve and youth are all assets. They're supposed to be faster and slicker. They're supposed to pick up the damn ball.

Oddly, the errors at first base ended when Mark Teixiera entered the game. A really good play was made at second, when Robinson Cano (hardly grizzled, he) came in to hit and stayed for fielding. If Derek Jeter had been at short, maybe he wouldn't have reached the ball that Nunez booted, which turned into the winning run.

But if he'd gotten to it, it would have been an out.