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In a sit-down March 21 interview with Bloomberg, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez shared memories of their early friendship in the mid-1990s to begin their legendary MLB careers.
“We had a conversation, I think this was in 1995 towards the end of the year. We [the Yankees] were playing Seattle, and you [A-Rod] had mentioned man I wish they’d just give us an orientation year where we could just hit .260 our first year and get comfortable,” Jeter said on Bloomberg’s “The Deal,” recalling a conversation he had with Rodriguez nearly 30 years ago.
Jeter debuted with the Yankees in May 1995 as a 21 year old and hit .250 in 15 games before he was sent back down to Triple-A. Jeter started Opening Day for the Yankees in 1996, won Rookie of the Year honors, and the rest is history as the Yankees won four World Series championships through 2000.
Taxicab Confessions: A-Rod, Jeter On Their First Million
Rodriguez, who debuted with the Seattle Mariners in 1994 as an 18 year old, laughed with Jeter in the Bloomberg interview over remembering a mid-90s cab ride where they said they would sign away their future career salary earnings in exchange for a guaranteed $1 million contract.
“I don’t know if you remember this one, we were here in LA, probably after that year in ’95. And we’re in a cab ride. I think we both might’ve left our money back, that’s when we actually needed to have cash unlike now,” Rodriguez said to Jeter. “We were just like man, if we could just make a million dollars in our careers—if they put a contract right in front of me for a million dollars for my career, I think I would sign it, would you,” A-rod recalls asking Jeter.
“He’s [Jeter’s] like hell yeah, a million dollars is a lot of money,” Rodriguez said. “I’m glad we didn’t have a contract floor plan.”
Jeter’s career salary and signing bonus earnings from the Yankees ended up reaching $266 million, while Rodriguez earned $455 million in salary and bonuses, according to Spotrac. Both entered team ownership after their playing career with Jeter having owned a minority stake in the Miami Marlins and A-rod still owning a piece of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A-rod’s Repeated Media Stumbles Frustrated Jeter
The collapse of the close friendship between A-Rod and Jeter has been well-documented, with Jeter being upset over multiple comments A-Rod about him to the media around 2001. But that wasn’t all, as A-Rod’s arrival in 2004 as Jeter’s Yankees teammate for the next decade still brought some headaches—and a 2009 World Series ring—from the slugger whose steroid use has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.
“I remember how much I failed and tripped, and the more I tried it was like quick sand, the deeper I would get myself into it,” Rodriguez told Bloomberg. “Derek used to say two things to me—all you have to do is make contact, you’re so damn strong, stop striking out. And he would say to me, you don’t have to tell them [the media] anything. When he told me that, it didn’t make sense.”
“I just knew I would try whatever I could in my mind to limit distractions. I would address something once, that’s it, I wouldn’t talk about it again. The more you talk about, the more the story continues on,” said Jeter, the antithesis of Rodriguez’s constant media hiccups.
“And I would talk about it every week. And [Jeter’s] like dude, you’re killing me. You don’t have to answer,” Rodriguez said. “I never thought we would ever get close again because we’ve had our setbacks partly because of my shortcomings.”
Jeter and A-Rod are now teammates at Fox Sports, where they broadcast national MLB games alongside Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz and Kevin Burkhardt. And as much as The Captain wants this story to go away, fans can’t seem to forget about this relationship dynamic and history.
“People need to put it to bed I think,” Jeter told Bloomberg on interest around their relationship. “At some point I mean, Jesus. This was 20-something years—I’ve know [A-Rod] for 30 years, you know what I mean. I get asked more about our relationship than I do my wife and I’s. Just put it to bed. We said we’re fine, we’re working together again. You can’t change history, history happened. It’s over and done with and you move on.”
