Derek Jeter: DJ3K misses the Big Picture

Laughing all the way to the bank.

Much has been made about Derek Jeter's decision not to attend last night's MLB All Star game. Some have criticized him for his absence, while others, most notably commissioner Bud Selig, have come to his defense.

Jeter's excuse for not making the trip out to Arizona was exhaustion from his chase for 3,000 hits. Is it fishy that this suppossed exhaustion comes after being on the DL for nearly two weeks? A little bit. But maybe Jeter's quest for 3,000 hits did get the better of him.

He was certainly, for the first time in his career, active on social media.


What made Jeter's pursuit of the historic 3,000 hit club all the more memorable was that it was the first sports pursuit of a record that got it's own social media campaign and became a social media brand itself. This wasn't known as Jeter's quest for 3,000 hits on social media sites. It was DJ3K, as Jeter so aptly coined the pursuit on his Facebook page. And if you are a big enough fan of Jeter's, you could have DJ3K plastered on everything from wrist bands to t-shirts. With the Yankees being the most storied franchise in major league baseball, Jeter being the first Yankee to ever hit 3,000 hits, and Jeter's strong brand name, it was a marketing match made in heaven.

Jeter launched his Facebook page just before the start of the 2011 season. His landing page was a DJ3K tab. He was determined from the start of the season to raise awareness about his pursuit amongst his fans. It was a smart idea. If Jeter was ever going to have a social media presence now was the perfect time; his relevance as a baseball player was at an all time high.

Jeter's quest for marketing gold

And this is one of the big reasons that Jeter, at the age of 36 and coming off his worst statistical season, swindled a 3 year contract from the Yankees worth $51 million in December. His stats may have been declining, but the Yankees brass clearly saw the extra merchandising dollars and the media coverage that could be gained by having him reach 3,000 hits while in pin strips.

Even the corporate sponsors got on in on the act. On Jeter's facebook page Gatorade allows fans to vote for Jeter's greatest hit of all time. It's not a bad idea and it allows Jeter's fans to have a part in this historic moment in Jeter's career.

The Corporate sponsors were in on DJ3K

Jeter's pursuit made me think of Robin Yount's 3,000th hit back in September of 1992. Would Yount have used social media to try and squeeze some merchandising dollars out of his pursuit? Would he have turned 3,000 into a cash cow? Would Paul Molitor have done it? My guess is no. But maybe that has something to do with playing baseball in Milwaukee and Minnesota rather than down by Madison Avenue.

Yount never launched RY3K but he did create a lemonade brand in Milwaukee

Will other athletes emulate Jeter and turn their record breaking pursuits into social media campaigns? It's possible. Maybe someday C.C. Sabathia will have a CC300 Facebook page if and when he gets close to the 300 wins mark. Maybe Kobe will have the Race to 10,000 points; I can just picture him hobbling around the court at age 38 launching three's from about five feet behind the three point line.

Will Kobe change his number to 10,000. As in points scored.

I'm not mad at Jeter. In fact, I'll give him credit. If a player in the steroid era was going to get 3,000 hits you couldn't think of a better guy to do so. He has played the game admirably and fairly, and he did so in New York. He is now 37, well past his prime, and yet nevertheless he is still baseball's reigning endorsement king with $10 million in endorsements a year.


I can tell you with certainty that Yount and Molitor would have shown up for the All-Star game. It would have been their moment to be honored on a national stage by legends past and current in baseball, in front of a sell out crowd with millions more watching on TV. And more importantly, it would have been good for the game of baseball. The ovation Jeter would have received would have gone beyond DJ3K; it would have been for an outstanding career ready to enter its twilight; It would have been for baseball's White Knight during the steroid era; it would have been a great scene, especially for an All-Star game lacking its stars.

But Jeter doesn't need those moments. He already had his in front of the Yankees faithful on Saturday. One can only wonder what his next move will be. I'm sure Alex Rodriguez will pull a similar marketing stunt if he gets close enough to sniff baseball's all-time home run record. Heck, that possibility was part of the reason the  Yankees handed A-Rod a 10 year 275 million contract in November 2007, a contract that would have him playing with the Yankees until he was 42 years old. Marketing gold I guess.

Or how about "J.T. 006" for 600 Home Runs

There's another baseball milestone sure to happen within the next month. Jim Thome is at 595 home runs, 5 shy of the 600 home run club. While he played in the steroid era, Thome has never been linked to steroids at any point in his career thus far. Yet if you go on Facebook you won't see a page for Jim Thome 600. You won't even see an official page for Jim Thome. He's just not the type of the player that marketer's pine for. It just goes to show you, there's only one Derek Jeter in baseball.