Jeter: Not Everybody Was Doing It

Derek Jeter apparently had his own steroids related press conference today, and was a lot more open about the issue than he has ever been about, well, anything. After supporting Alex Rodriguez and commending him for owning up to his mistake, Derek had the following to say about the notion that “everybody was doing it:”

“I don’t condone anything he did; he doesn’t condone anything he did,” Jeter said.

“First and foremost you cheat yourself; I think that’s the message that needs to be out there.

“And also I think the biggest message that needs to be out there is everybody wasn’t doing it. … There were a few players in this era taking steroids, but it wasn’t a Steroid Era.”

Jeter mentioned that 104 players reportedly tested positive in 2003, and there are approximately more than 1,200 major leaguers.

“You’ve got 1,100 people that haven’t done it; let’s get that straight,” Jeter said. “That’s sending the wrong message to the baseball community, it’s sending the wrong message to the public, and more importantly it’s sending the wrong message to kids, saying that everybody was doing it.”

I think Jeter is making a fair point. Every player who sees any sort of statistical jump or shows a bit of excessive muscle gain is assumed to be cheating. In a column today, Rick Reilly threw out Adrian Beltre’s 2003 season just because the year is not in line with his career norms. I do not know if Derek is right, as it is unclear exactly what percentage of players were actually using steroids. If half the players were using, I think the suspicion and doubt would certainly be fair. Regardless, it is interesting to see The Captain take a stand on the issue, something that he is usually loathe to do.

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