Jeter: This was a wasted year

From Kevin Kernan:

Derek Jeter sat at his locker as the rain came crashing down at Fenway last night and contemplated life without October baseball.

For the first time in his career, the man who always knows what to do on the baseball field does not know what to do with himself in October. Jeter never seems to be frustrated, but it was evident last night that he was hurting now that the reality of this lost Yankees New York Yankees season has hit him in the face with this series against the Red Sox.

"It's a wasted year," Jeter said.

"I'm not even thinking about next year," Jeter said. "I don't sit around and think about what we need to do next year. I'm disappointed over this year. I always said the worst expression in all of sports is 'Get 'em next year.' Next year, that's 12 months later, you only have so many years on your career, you're not thinking about next year, no."

"I've had a wasted year before," he said, "but never before the playoffs start."

"I never make plans in October," he said.

"You work from November to this point for one thing, that's to play in the postseason," Jeter said. "That's the bottom line. And if you don't play for that reason, you shouldn't be playing."

You have to feel bad for guys like Jeter, Mo and Pettitte; this must be especially hard for the three of them. They've all busted their asses this year, and played through injuries, all for a chance at October baseball. And as far as Mariano and Jeter are concerned they've never been in this spot before, and we all know how much they both want to win, it's why they put on the uniform.

In other Jeter news, his hand is still sore and he will sit today. It's also likely he will sit on Sunday, maybe he'll start and get one final at-bat, but I really don't even think Jeet cares at this point. He probably just wants this "wasted year" to end already.

If Jeter doesn't play today or tomorrow he will finish the year hitting .300/.363/.408, with 11 HR, 69 RBI, and 88 runs scored. Not the MVP year that A-Rod had predicted, but still a very solid year.