Justice: Jeter Needs to Provide Jolt

From YESNetwork.com (hat tip to Steve Lombardi):

Jeter is the captain and that's a lot of responsibility. The personality of your team comes from your manager and at times from your veteran leadership. Jeter has never been a vocal leader. He's always been surrounded by a lot of solid veterans and it's not like he's been the sole leader for all these years. My Yankees team in 2000 had many vocal leaders: Tino Martinez. Paul O'Neill. Jorge Posada. Mariano Rivera. Roger Clemens. You had guys that would keep that bench alive and would not allow a team to play .500. Posada is a heck of a vocal leader. Rivera, is an unbelievable vocal leader, and I used to love watching the fire and intensity in Mo before a game and he doesn't show up until the end of a game.

Jeter is more of a lead-by-example guy. He won't call a team meeting, doesn't stand up in a team meeting and doesn't take the forefront of the floor and say, "This is what we have to do." His leadership comes from playing hard and approaching the game. I don't question the heart of the veterans on this ballclub. What I'm saying is sometimes your team needs a jolt of energy, a spark, something to re-adjust the focus. Nobody has given the Yankees that boost. If the Yankees were, for example, a Lou Piniella team, he would have kicked over something and tried to provide a spark. If this was a Kirby Puckett team, one with vocal leadership, guys would close all the doors, stand in the middle of a room and remind the team that we are the Yankees and we are a championship team, so let's go play like it.

There's nothing like an inspirational speech. Some of the greatest speeches ever spoken, ala Vince Lombardi, have energized a group. Who has given that inspirational speech to the Yankees this year? Nobody. Jeter is like my little brother and if I have to win one game, I want him on my team. But a speech to energize a team? He's not giving it. You have a captain who is laid back in personality with a lot of fire and drive on the field, but he's not a vocal leader.

Today, these players don't have anything to rally around other than playing for the Yankees and the Yankee mystique. You need more than that. There is no way in the world you should be a bit more than a .500 team since May. They're better than that. Look, I love Joe Girardi. The Yankees should not fire him, but he has to figure out a way to get this team to take the field with the energy like the Joe Torre or the Bobby Cox (Atlanta) teams. And I think Jeter has to become more vocal. He knows what it takes to win. Express it. He has the respect of each of his teammates, so vocalize it.

I agree with Justice, as a captain Jeter probably should be more vocal. But he's never been, so I don't really think it's fair to blame him for it now. Can he ever be a vocal leader? Probably not, but if he's ever going to change, coming off a season where he will miss the playoffs for the first time is as good a time as any.

One thing we should all give Jeter credit for is the way he's played down the stretch this season. While most of the rest of the team has been playing like garbage over the last month, Jeter is hitting over hitting around .360.

This may also mean they the Yanks need to start acquiring guys like the vocal leaders of the championship teams. Players who aren't afraid to open their mouth and try to motivate their teammates.

We also can't forget how big losing Jorge Posada - who has always been something of a co-captain on this team - has been. He is one of those vocal leaders Justice is talking about, and he's been gone for most of the year.