Turns out that Jay-Z, not Derek Jeter, was the real captain of the 2009 Yankees
I would like to begin by apologizing for this blatant and willful lack of re2pect. For while it seems almost impossible to consider anyone but Derek Jeter the captain of the Yankees, there is one man who managed to supersede him at the top of New York's pecking order during the team's run to the 2009 World Series -- and he wasn't even a baseball player. Rather, he's arguably the most famous person to don the interlocking N and Y since Babe Ruth: Hip-hop artist, media mogul and (most impressively) husband to Beyoncé, Jay-Z.
A good friend of CC Sabathia, Jay-Z found himself a central figure in the Yankees clubhouse during the 2009 World Series-championship season. And, according to "Mission 27," the new book by MLB.com writers Mark Feinsand and Bryan Hoch, that was enough to make him the team's actual captain.
“[Jay-Z] was a part of the team,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “I don’t know if Jeet’s going to take this the right way, but he might’ve been the team captain.”
But that's not the only amazing fact we learned from the excerpts that were recently published by the New York Post.
Don't ever try to dunk on Jay-Z
"The party continued late into the evening, and as the music thumped and booze continued to flow, someone suggested that they should shoot around on the mansion’s impressive basketball court. That turned out to be a poor decision for Phil Hughes, who attempted to dunk over Jay-Z and fell to the hard court, an act that his teammates still chuckle about a decade later."
This is the kind of thing that deserves an entire "30 For 30" episode on its own.
The Yankees actually had an "everyone jump in the pool with their clothes on" party
It's a common trope of high school and college comedies: Inspired by one intrepid partygoer leaping into the pool fully dressed, everyone else follows suit. The thing is, no one ever actually does that in real life -- at least ever since cell phones were invented. But A-Rod and the Yankees actually did it.
"[Rodriguez[ blew out his candles and ran and jumped in that pool,” Burnett said. “I looked at CC, CC looked at me, and we ran and jumped in. Then everybody runs and jumps in. It was wild. Phones, watches, everything on. It was just, ‘Oh, he did it. We’ve got to go.’ ”
Current Phillies reliever David Robertson is not a fan of the move, though
“I didn’t want to get in the pool,” Robertson said. “I didn’t think I would be at a high-school party. I was past college and past high school and just didn’t think it warranted it. I was wearing a brand-new suit because I had just been to an event with Johnny Damon. I had one suit and, yeah, I wasn’t into it.”
Hey, someone's gotta be the adult around the team.
Michael Clair writes for MLB.com. He spends a lot of time thinking about walk-up music and believes stirrup socks are an integral part of every formal outfit.
