Most observers watched Derek Jeter take Jon Lieber deep in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game and took it simply for what it was: A homer in a game that means nothing.
However, George Steinbrenner saw Jeter’s dinger as an indication that his $189 million investment is ready for a sizzling second half after a pedestrian first semester.
“It was a good homer,” The Boss told The Post yesterday. “I hope he keeps going because we can’t have him hitting like he was. But I believe he will be there when the gong rings.”
Steinbrenner is right on the money when it comes to the Yankees needing Jeter to have a better second half.
While the three-time defending World Series champions have never been about one player, Jeter must hit closer to his .322 career average across the second half than the .294 with eight homers and 42 RBIs he did in the first. Of course, it would help if Chuck Knoblauch and Paul O’Neill picked it up.
“I think it goes along with the same thing that happened with the team,” Jeter said when asked about him having a better second half. “Early on I wasn’t as consistent. Lately, I have been playing a lot better. I haven’t hit a streak where I have been hot. Hopefully, it’s coming. We are playing better and we are in first place. It could be worse.”
As late as June 24, Jeter was hitting just .283. Since then he has raised his average 11 points.
Jeter’s track record indicates he will be better in the second half. And he says the nagging shoulder and leg problems that bothered him for the first six weeks of the season are gone. Going into this year, Jeter was a .332 career hitter after the All-Star break compared to a .313 hitter before.
“I’d like to see Paul O’Neill go on a run,” said manager Joe Torre, whose team leads the plucky Red Sox by 1½ games in the AL East. “And Derek Jeter and Knoblauch, those guys mean a lot to being consistent on this club.”
A month ago, The Boss was getting itchy with the inconsistent play. Now, with the Yankees having rebounded to get into first place by winning 10 of 11, Steinbrenner’s chest is out.
“I think Joe Torre and [GM Brian Cashman] Cash have done a good job,” Steinbrenner said. “I am very proud of the way we have gotten back into first place, especially the hitting.”
Yet, Steinbrenner doesn’t expect the Red Sox to become smaller in the Yankees’ rear-view mirror.
“They are an awful good team,” Steinbrenner said of Boston, which hasn’t had Nomar Garciaparra yet and may be without Pedro Martinez for the remainder of the season. “And that [manager, Jimy] Williams has done a great job.”
Steinbrenner also understands how important a healthy David Justice is to the Yanks.
“We have to get him back at DH,” Steinbrenner said of Justice, who is on the DL for the second time this year with a cranky left groin and has played in just two games since June 15.
Torre says he feels better about this year’s club at the break than he did last, even without Justice.
That’s because the Big Three of Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina have been terrific, the additions of Jay Witasick and Mark Wohlers have stabilized the bullpen and the hitters have been killing baseballs for the past two weeks.
And still, the Red Sox are nipping at the Yankees’ cleats.
“We have a group right on our tails and it’s going to be difficult to the end,” says Bernie Williams, the Yankees’ best player in the first half. “We realize they aren’t going to give up, and we know we can’t take anything for granted.”