by Dunbar Stevens
NEW YORK -- In an exclusive interview with the New York Post on Friday, Yankees captain Derek Jeter took a swing at Oakland ace Barry Zito, claiming the young star "simply isn't that good," and that his curveball is "easy to spot." Jeter said the A's as a team are over-hyped, offensively weak, and "full of a bunch of bone-heads." He cited last year's ALDS as proof that the A's aren't post-season ready.
"You stand in the on-deck circle and look at a guy like Zito and guess what you're thinking? You're thinking: this guy is a one pitch pitcher, that's it," Jeter said. "He doesn't throw hard, he's not going to beat you on that fastball. All he has is that curve, which is easy to spot, anyway. If you can lay-off the curve, Zito doesn't know what to do."
Jeter said that the A's staff overachieve because of the ample foul ground space they're awarded at Network Associates Coliseum.
"The foul territory there is ridiculous. You could stick ten white elephants out there in that space. Of course Hudson and Zito are going to look good when any pop-up off the bat is an easy out. Please. These guys live in this baked-out California world, living easy, but when it comes playoff time they lack the grit. No support from fans, no real expectations, no media presence. It's all about collecting checks out there. That's why come playoff time they're always overmatched."
For the record, Jeter hit .375 off Zito in 2001 with a home run and two RBI's. Jeter was one of Zito's toughest outs outside Garret Anderson (.462).
It's unknown why Jeter went public with these comments. There is no known animosity between the teams. When asked if he read what Jeter wrote, Zito said, "Yeah, I read it. All I have to say is 'Okay....?' "
The A's will host the Yankees April 23-25 of the season. We expect a chorus of boos to rain on Jeter from the A's faithful.
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