Jeter, Yankees await Red Sox rematch tonight

Bryan Hoch has reported that Derek Jeter is back in Tampa from the World Baseball Classic and will make his '09 spring training debut tonight against the Red Sox, which will air on YES Network at 7:15 p.m.

The USA was eliminated by Japan in the semi-finals two nights ago, and Jeter was not a positive factor at all. His throwing error in the bottom of the eighth led to three unearned runs for Japan. It was particularly untimely because the USA had just scored twice in the top of the eighth and brought the score to 6-4. Jeter also went 1-for-5 in the game and was 8-for-29 in the whole tournament. His slugging percentage was a mere .345.

There was a lot of talk throughout the tournament that Jeter was a liability for team USA, despite him actually being the captain. My dad and I noticed him grounding out especially frequently during the classic, and neither of us are excited about that.

Jeter really has to step it up in these last couple of weeks for spring training for him to get ready for the season. I will not be a happy camper if his high number of ground outs continue to be a lingering issue this season.

"It's good to get back and now get into a routine of playing every day," Jeter
said. "We had a lot of off-days in this tournament -- we had two or three days
in between games at some times. There's a reason you play every single day, so
I've got this last week to 10 days to get into a routine."

Jeter better find that routine, as I adamantly believe the W.B.C. should not be an excuse for a slow start. The Yanks desperately need a hot start this season, and Jeter must be on his A-game for this to happen.


World Baseball Classic Finals
Japan ended up winning it all last night against Korea in a thrilling 5-3 win in 10 innings. Ichiro Suzuki went 4-for-4 on the night and hit a two-run single in the top of the tenth to lead Japan to it's second consecutive W.B.C. Championship.

For a game that seemed meaningless to most U.S.A. natives, I thought it was a very exciting and well-played championship game. Although, I am looking forward to the next two spring trainings hopefully being filled with all of the Yankees.