Where have you gone, Captain Clutch?

I can't believe that I'm about to do this, but someone has to speak up and admit what has become painfully obvious: Yankee Captain Derek Jeter, at least up to this point in the season, has lost his edge (No pun intended, although if I see one more of Jeter's Ford Edge commercials I might throw my television out the window). This might sound like first class Yankee sacrilege, but just hear me out. I'm not accusing the guy of not going hard after ground balls, or dogging it down the first base line. Those kinds of things certainly more aptly fit the profile of an aging star who gets cranky and forces a trade with the Dodgers. That's not Jeter.

But let's not pretend not to see what's been happening all season long: Derek Jeter has been one of the biggest underachievers in a staggeringly pedestrian Yankee lineup (ninth in the MLB in total runs scored) that was supposed to threaten the single season team scoring record this year . . . . There, I've said it (taking a deep breath). I didn't know if I could get that out, but it's done. Let's move along.

Jeter is currently batting a career-low .279, well below his career average of .315, but his lack of production goes beyond the numbers. It's been the Captain's failure to deliver in big situations (something he's always had a knack for in his illustrious career) this season that should disturb Yankees fans across the country. Look no further than last night's 8-6 loss to the Texas Rangers, the latest of the team's crushing defeats, for examples of Jeter's newfound slippage from hero to rally-killer. 

In the top of the third inning the Yankees trailed 3-0, but were set up with runners on first and second with one out. Jeter strolls to the plate with a chance to get back his team back into the game. Here we go, right? Wrong. Routine grounder to third for a tailor-made, inning-ending double play (Jeter now ranks second in the league with 18 twin-killings. 18!). Threat over. The top of the seventh gave Jeter another chance: bases loaded, two outs, Yanks down 5-2. A few years ago Captain Clutch would have knocked a single to right center with his patented inside-out swing and drove in two runs. This year's Jeter? A weak liner right to the second baseman.

Maybe I'm being too hard on Jeter. Perhaps Yankees fans have grown so accustomed to watching him always fueling an important rally or making the big defensive play in a tight game, that we expect it from him every single at-bat of every single game. That's not fair to any player, even Derek Sanderson Jeter. But we get confused when he see him fail. It just doesn't seem right. Where's the World Series walk-off home run? Where's the impossible "flip play" to catch the runner at home? Where's the crashing into the front row of the box seats to catch a foul ball in a close game against the hated Red Sox?

At 34, Jeter is obviously on the down slope of his career, but here's hoping he still has enough left in the tank to give us something to cheer about. It's not easy to watch our heroes slide from the top of the world into mediocrity, or sometimes even lower. I still cry when I think about Chevy Chase's collapse from thriving in comedic gems like Caddyshack and Fletch to almost complete oblivion. Anyone seen him lately? Scary.

Thankfully Jeter is not Chevy Chase. He'll remain relevant in the world of sports, entertainment, and commercial marketing as long as he likes. But it would be a shame to think that the only highlights left in Jeter's career include operating the sunroof on his Ford Edge, hitting line drives into a supermarket display of Gillette Fusion razors, or chumming around with tools like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer in the locker room.