How much Jeter is too much?
— -- As the saying goes, you should always play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back of the jersey. But what if your name is on the sleeve of the jersey?
Derek Jeter might be contemplating that question right about now. That's because he and the rest of the Yankees have started wearing a Derek Jeter tribute patch on their sleeves (and also on their caps, for good measure). The patch was added to the team's uniforms this past Sunday and will be worn through the end of the season -- which is, of course, Jeter's final season in the bigs.
Not everyone is thrilled about the patch. Some see it as the latest example of overkill in Jeter's farewell tour; others think it's inappropriate to wear a patch for an active player and even more unseemly for the player himself to be wearing his own patch. When ESPNNewYork.com's Yankees Blog recently ran a reader poll about the Jeter patch, only about half of the respondents approved of it -- and that's for a blog whose readership presumably consists of Yankees fans.
Unseemly or not, though, this isn't the first time an active MLB player has worn his own tribute patch. By Uni Watch's count, there have been three previous examples:
• In 2001, the Padres commemorated Tony Gwynn's imminent retirement with players wearing a right-sleeve patch for the final series of the season.
• 2001 was also Cal Ripken Jr.'s final season, and the Orioles marked the occasion with players wearing a right-sleeve patch for their final two games.
• In what might now be viewed as something of a warmup for the current Jeter patch, the Yankees wore Mariano Rivera patches on their left sleeves and caps this past season. The patches were added Sept. 22 and worn for the team's remaining home games -- but not on the road -- for the final week of the season.
As you can see, the shelf life for these gestures is getting longer: a couple of games for Ripken and Gwynn, a week for Rivera and now three weeks for Jeter. Some of this might be due to the sports world's increasing tendency toward bigger and more extensive promotions -- the baseball equivalent of mission creep. But it's likely also due to financial considerations. As ESPN.com's Darren Rovell has reported, the game-used uniforms with the Jeter patch will be sold by a major memorabilia house. The more games the patch appears in and the more exposure it gets, the more those uniforms will be worth.
So will the next patch for an active player be rolled out at the All-Star break? On Opening Day? Maybe, except that it's hard to imagine who that next player might be. Gwynn, Ripken, Rivera and Jeter all wrapped up their careers as surefire Hall of Famers who played for only one team. Given the increased player movement caused by free agency and salary dumps, along with the cloud of uncertainty that steroids have cast on Hall of Fame elections, it's hard to think of another current player who meets that two-pronged test.
Interestingly, Chipper Jones fit the bill, but the Braves chose not to wear a patch to mark his retirement in 2012. They did create a logo for him, but it appeared on the Braves' on-deck circle and on bases during the team's final home series of the season -- not as a patch.
(As a footnote, it's worth mentioning that Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens -- but not his teammates -- wore a "300 Wins" patch on his glove on May 26, 2003. The odd thing is that Clemens had only 299 wins at the time. He was attempting to win his 300th, but he hadn't yet won it, which gave the patch a presumptuous "Don't count your chickens" aspect. As it turned out, home plate umpire Bill Miller ruled the patch was an illegal distraction, so Clemens had to switch to a patch-free glove. Just as well because he lost the game.)
What about other sports? To Uni Watch's knowledge, only one player in any of the other major professional sports leagues has ever been honored with a patch while still active: Chicago Bears linebacker Mike Singletary. In 1992, his final year, the Bears honored him with a chest patch for the final three games of the season. And just as with the MLB examples, this created the odd spectacle of a player wearing his own patch.
Are there other active players who've been honored with a patch? If you know of any additional examples, please speak up. Thanks.
More Jeter Oddness
The patch isn't the only uni-related issue that's surfaced during Jeter's victory lap. This past week there was a report the Yankees would be retiring his number this past Sunday. here.
