The Texas Rangers are getting closer to their first World Series appearance since 2011, but Derek Jeter knows from experience, there’s still plenty of time to blow it!
Monday afternoon, Texas beat the Houston Astros 5-4 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series. During the Fox postgame show, Jeter reiterated the Astros aren’t dead yet by broaching a sensitive subject.
David Ortiz is the best pic.twitter.com/VlRLctyqjc
— Robert Alvarez (@ralvarez617) October 17, 2023
“Look, just because they’re down two games, it’s not over. We lost a series being up 3-0,” Jeter said to pique a rather depressing memory for him and his Fox teammate Alex Rodriguez. But the nightmarish memory for Jeter and A-Rod was a dream reference for David Ortiz.
“You did?” Ortiz asked sarcastically, not so subtly reminding everyone that he was on the winning end of Jeter and A-Rod blowing a 3-0 playoff series lead.
“We did,” Jeter reluctantly admitted, garnering a laugh out of Ortiz and a cringey chuckle from A-Rod. “But my point is, everyone in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse knows this series is not over.”
Obviously, the series being referenced was the 2004 ALCS. For any younger baseball fan who might be absolved of history, the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 19-8 in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS to go up 3-0 in the series. Boston, however, went on to dramatically win the next four games in the series, and the next eight games of their season, beating the Yankees in the ALCS and sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, successfully ending their 86-year championship drought. Ortiz and the Red Sox also came back from down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 ALCS on their way to another World Series championship.
Despite A-Rod getting on Jeter’s nerves throughout their tenure in New York, along with Ortiz being a fierce rival in Boston, the former Yankees captain signed on to work with both at Fox this season. In their first year as a trio, the MLB on Fox studio team has largely been deemed a success.
[Fox]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com