‘I Don’t Have to Be Your Best Friend but…’- Derek Jeter’s Insane Drive to Win Subliminally Reveals True Nature of His Relationship With Yankees Teammate, Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez

The fact that the Hall of Famer Derek Jeter puts everything aside for winning isn’t hidden from anyone. Whether it be a rivalry or friendship with a team member, it will have to come later because winning for the team comes first for the Yankees legend.

Jeter and A-Rod’s relationship over the years had its ups and downs. They were best friends, then enemies, and then teammates for the New York Yankees.

To tell his side of the story, a documentary, ‘The Captain,’ consisting of seven episodes, is currently on air. It is based on the life of the New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter and is directed by his fan, Randy Wilkins.

Derek Jeter only wanted to win

Time and time again, Jeter has proved that he does not care about anything but winning the game. Jeter has spoken about his relationship with Alex Rodriguez in his documentary, ‘The Captain.’ He has said, “I don’t have to be your best friend. But when we’re on the field, if you care about winning, I have zero problems with you.” 

To keep it uncomplicated, Jeter has always played to win the game. “It’s simple if you look at it as: Try to win,” Jeter said. “That’s the bottom line. If you win, everybody benefits. It’s not like, ‘I won, I lost.’ It’s, ‘We win, we lost.’ That’s the only way I’ve thought about it.”

Jeter had his mental peace, and he never let anything sway him from his target. “If you constantly sit around worrying about your stats, once you get in a funk, you’ll never get out,” Jeter said. “Because all you’re worried about is yourself. If you’re worried about how we can win today, that’s your only concern.” 

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With exceptional skills, he made his dream come true of playing for the New York Yankees, got multiple titles named after him, and eventually got inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

It became unbearable to be in the locker room

Jeter and A-Rod met for the first time in 1992 at a college baseball game. A-Rod felt fascinated by the Hall of Famer. They became friends after their first meet only. In 1996, Jeter won the ‘Rookie of the Year,’ award. This was the time when Rodriguez started to feel envious of his friend. 

The breakdown of the friendship came when A-Rod said that Jeter certainly won’t be able to break his record of the largest contract of $252 million in history at that time. To this, Jeter has replied that he doesn’t care about it. Things started to fall out, even more, when A-Rod said things like, “You never say, ‘Don’t let Derek beat you.’ He’s never your concern.”

Things were not the same after this. They became teammates in 2004. Things became so bad that the coach had to tell Jeter to ‘fake it’ for the sake of the game.

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They never got to the place of becoming best friends again, as they once were.