Derek Jeter, A-Rod reunion to make Yankees-Red Sox Sunday Night Baseball special

When the reeling New York Yankees take on the reeling Boston Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball (ooh, sweet, double reeling!), they’ll be narrated by a pretty interesting pair of ex-Bombers over on the KayRod Cast.

Of course, if things had broken a little differently back in the summer of 2003-04, it might’ve been a Red Sox star pitted against a Yankees captain on the ESPN broadcast, with Michael Kay as the mediator.

As ESPN’s The Captain draws to its conclusion this week — a perfect reminder of what it means to win for Jeter Heads and Yankees fanatics — the Worldwide Leader has reunited Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez for Sunday night’s Yankees-Red Sox finale at Fenway.

Kay is billing this as the duo’s first public appearance since their “last game” in 2013 — Jeter wrapped his career in 2014, Rodriguez in 2016, but the third baseman was suspended for all of 2014.

Based on the juiciest parts of the recently-released documentary, things could get very interesting if both parties are willing to share more about what transpired back in 2004. More interesting than “Jameson Taillon vs TBD,” at least.

Yankees-Red Sox features ESPN Derek Jeter Alex Rodriguez reunion

Jeter’s documentary certainly celebrated his oft-venerated qualities, like the knack for the magnificent and his ability to make massive October moments seem like second nature. Filmmaker Randy Wilkins also dove into several difficult touchpoints, though, like Jeter’s relationship with his race, as well as various criticisms that have been lobbed his way over the years, mainly pertaining to his relationship with A-Rod.

The Yankees’ shortstop got candid in the documentary, outlining how he believed Rodriguez had betrayed him in several disparaging interviews where he compared their skill sets, ultimately leaving the pair cold when Rodriguez arrived in New York. Jeter signed off on the deal, but he didn’t champion it, and admitted to his new third baseman during a rain delay in Chicago that they were, in fact, not OK early on.

Rodriguez was open and honest in ESPN’s piece, too, claiming he’d assured Jeter he had no intention of taking his position and planned to stay at third to build a winner. Jeter was leery of that, too, assuming there must have been some secondary motivation behind the generosity.

Then, of course, came the steroid distractions that preceded the 2009 season, which Jeter did not shy away from commenting on/rolling his eyes at.

Hopefully, the televised reunion will produce the same spark plug moments as the documentary, except with both men reacting to each other live rather than watching back footage in separate rooms.

If we could just learn more about how Jeter was “penalized” in the ’06 MVP race for not “embracing” Rodriguez, that would be illuminating, too…

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