Derek Jeter Photo Credit: MLB on Fox
By Sam Neumann on

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Derek Jeter had somewhere else to be.

During Fox’s extended pregame coverage of Tuesday’s rain-delayed ALDS Game 3 between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers, Jeter’s phone started ringing on air.

“Sorry, it’s a rain delay,” Jeter said as his phone went off. “I have an appointment, a parent-teacher conference that I’m gonna miss. Sorry, guys.”

The scheduled 4:08 p.m. ET first pitch was pushed back due to inclement weather in Detroit, forcing Fox Sports to air an expanded pregame show featuring Jeter, Kevin Burkhardt, Alex Rodriguez, and David Ortiz. They were discussing the Yankees being down 2-0 to the Blue Jays in their ALDS when A-Rod asked Jeter about New York’s 2001 comeback against Oakland after falling behind 0-2.

Jeter began to answer before his phone interrupted the segment.

Burkhardt, sensing an opportunity, suggested Jeter could take the call on air. It would’ve been solid content for a baseball-less broadcast. But the notoriously private Jeter declined, saying, “I might, I might” before trailing off and returning to his point about the Yankees.

It’s a rare glimpse behind the curtain for someone who has spent years carefully controlling his public image. Jeter joined Fox in 2023 after stepping down from his role with the Miami Marlins, and he’s maintained the same guarded approach to broadcasting that defined his playing career.

The Hall of Famer initially told Fox, “absolutely not,” when the network approached him about his current analyst role, later admitting he had to think about it before committing. He’s made it clear that he has no interest in doing full-game broadcasts, preferring the pre- and post-game studio format that allows him to speak his mind in shorter segments.

Jeter’s time at Fox has featured moments that reveal just how uncomfortable he is with anything that disrupts his carefully maintained image. He walked off the set when Mr. and Mrs. Met showed up during the NLCS, refusing to interact with his crosstown rival’s mascots. He’s been criticized for appearing stiff and disengaged on air, displaying what Jesse Pantuosco called “the annoyed body language of someone who’d rather be loading up a dishwasher.”

A parent-teacher conference interrupting a playoff broadcast fits perfectly with who Jeter has been throughout his media career. He’s a father first, an analyst second. And unlike some of his colleagues in the media, he’s not interested in manufacturing moments or playing up his personality for the cameras.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann