“Just Embarrassing”: Astros Highly-Lauded Shortstop Jeremy Pena Attempts Trademark Derek Jeter Play, Fails Miserably

In the world of sports, following an example is probably the best way to learn. This learning can either take place through improvisation or replication. Following the latter, Game 6 of the Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers battle witnessed Jeremy Pena, a highly regarded shortstop, try and pull a Jeter, but something strange happened.

The friendship that former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter has with Jeremy Pena is not new to the baseball world. While the two have been spotted off the field engaging in recreational activities, Pena views the 5X World Series winner with a lot of respect. In the process of trying too hard to gain Jeter-like solidity, he might have flopped at this particular moment. And that did not slip the fans’ attention.

Can Jeremy Pena mimicking Derek Jeter always be a good thing?

Though the Astros lost to the Texas Rangers with a 9-2 score, there were some great skills that Houston displayed. In fact, Minute Maid Park saw the recreation of the trademark Jeter play. Alas! It wasn’t up to the mark. @yanksfangii tweeted a clip displaying what the 26-year-old shortstop tried to a jump throw which met an uncanny resemblance with the iconic move by The Captain. The user captioned the tweet, “no one is posting this so i will. what the absolute F**K was that?😭”.

Leody Taveras blasted a powerful ground ball into the hole off Framber Valdez’s pitch, giving Texas a runner on base. Pena attempted to jump-throw it after getting a glove on it, but it was already too late to catch the quick Taveras. When fans noticed that the jump throw bore the exact moves of Mr. November around 20 years ago, the fans could not keep calm.

This, however, was not the only time Pena has tried to ‘Jeter-it’ on the diamond. The young star emulated his famous ‘The Flip’ last year and the rookie gold glove winner’s gameplay reminded almost everyone of Derek Jeter as a kid running around the infield.

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While Houston played against the Yankees in 2022 @_dadler commented on his emulation. He said, “Peña made an 87.3 mph throw to 1st in 0.67 seconds after Bregman deflected Gleyber Torres’ grounder to him“. With that, came a flood of comments on social media.

Here’s what MLB world had to say about the emulation

From bringing back old clips of Jeter to comparing them with today’s Houston shortstop, the fans did everything. Not only did they troll Pena for trying to mimic the Yankees legend, but also gave Jeter an unmatched position. With that started the fan flurry.

One fan teased the poor outcome of Pena’s attempt, comparing it to Jeter’s skills that remain unmatched to this day. 

Some highlighted how Pena is trying too hard to be like Jeter. 

Another user made a detailed comparison of the technicalities of what both players did then. 

There was another fan who blatantly called it an “Embarrassing” attempt.

Amidst the sea of negative reactions, few fans commended Pena for his attempt. One of them said he was far from what Derek did back in the day but the action still looked “nice”. 

More comments about the comparison went on. Though there are many instances that Pena has given the MLB world to figure out how he wants to follow in the footsteps of Jeter, he is lauded for his originality too. As a young starter in baseball, it is considered natural to follow what role models do, however, fans remain hysterical about Pena’s delivery of the legendary moves.

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