Jeter Discusses All-Star Game Criticism

From MLB.com:

"I understand disappointment," Jeter said. "I was disappointed; I told [the media] I was disappointed when I made the decision. It wasn't an easy decision, but I felt it was a decision that was best for our team for the second half of the season. I understand the disappointment, but I was just surprised by the coverage of it, especially considering that it wasn't a story until Tuesday."

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Among those was the Mets' Carlos Beltran, who said, "I don't know if his calf's still bothering him or not. Jose [Reyes] is on the DL, [but] Jose decided to come. I do believe that as a ballplayer, if you have no injuries, you should be here, because the fans are the ones who vote for you, who want to see you here. But if those players have injuries, sometimes they prefer to get the rest and take treatments, and try to get better for the season."

Jeter responded by saying, "If I went out there, I was going to play. If I went out there, that was the plan, to play."

And when told about the comments made by Beltran and the Cardinals' Lance Berkman, who made a similar statement, he said, "I'm happy they had good first halves. Congratulations to them for making the All-Star Game. I've never commented on people unless I know all the facts. I guess that's the best way to put it."

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"Last I checked," he said, "the head baseball official had no problem with it."

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"I do," he said. "It's just interesting, because when I got hurt, everybody's talking about how difficult an injury it is and [how] it takes until the offseason and it's serious, and you don't want to come back too soon. And then I decided to take some days to help out, and it turned into this. Yeah, the days help."

It's also mentioned in the article that Jeter dismissed the FOX report that he missed the game because of "emotional and physical exhaustion."