NEW YORK -- With the Yankees commemorating their 2000 championship team and bringing an alumni baseball game back for Old-Timers' Day on Saturday, one notable member of that World Series squad was not at Yankee Stadium.
That would be Derek Jeter, who only appeared via a video message on the jumbotron. It was previously reported that the former captain already had plans to attend his daughter's birthday party, but that didn't stop rumors from spreading that he skipped Old-Timers' Day over his stated desire to not play in a game ever again.
Saturday marked the first Old-Timers' Day alumni game since 2019. However, the person in charge of organizing Old-Timers' Day said the return of the exhibition had nothing to do with Jeter's absence.
Of course, it would be surprising to hear anyone in the organization publicly blame one of the franchise's most iconic players for the hiatus.
"I think it was very convenient for people to want to point out Derek didn't want to play, but Derek doesn't make these decisions," Debbie Tymon, the Yankees' senior vice president of marketing, told the New York Daily News.
Tymon and her department are in charge of planning Old-Timers' Day. That includes picking the guest list and date, sending out invites, and choosing a theme, such as Saturday's celebration of the 2000 squad. Once Old-Timers RSVP, Tymon's team has to figure out who is willing to play and who is not. Her team also has to coordinate travel, uniform sizes and getting waivers signed.
According to Tymon, the Yankees can't plan each Old-Timers' Day sooner than six months in advance. The team has to wait not only for the regular-season schedule to be announced, but also the game times.
Once they have that information and a date, they send out save-the-date reminders.
Tymon also said that pandemic-era restrictions made it impossible or difficult to play a game from 2020-2023. The Yankees didn't host an alumni game last year either with Jeter in attendance as a first-time Old-Timer, but Tymon noted other invitees were coming off surgeries and that it would have been difficult to field two teams.
An organizational source confirmed that, adding that it was not "cut and dry" that Jeter's unwillingness to participate in a game prevented one from happening. They likened the whispers to a bad game of telephone.
"The interesting thing is, and this is my perspective, these men have given their whole lives to the Yankee organization," Tymon said. "They're retired. They're catching up with their family, their friends. They have weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties. Just because we pick a date, it doesn't mean we're not going to have conflicts with people who can't come. And then we have people who come, for example, like last year, who had knee replacements, hip replacements."
Tymon also said that there was a "terrible amount of speculation" that the Old-Timers would play softball this year, but that "was never the case."
"We were very happy to announce that the [baseball] game was back," she continued. "And as you can see, people that were accused of not wanting to play last year are in uniform, taking BP and wanting to play."
Still, don't expect Jeter to be one of those people in the future.
While the 2000 World Series MVP's video on Saturday said that he hopes to see fans "soon," Jeter made it clear last year that he's not interested in playing baseball these days.
"You're looking at me?" Jeter replied when a reporter asked why there had not been an alumni game in years. "You're giving me way too much power here, man."
Jeter, the Yankees' all-time hits leader, added that fans would not see him bat again.
"I would be afraid I would hurt myself," the ex-shortstop explained. "But that's not saying the reason there's no game is because I'm not playing. I don't make those decisions, contrary to your belief."
Jeter's playing days appear over, but a few of his former teammates were happy to have the alumni game back on Saturday.
"It's something that makes our Old-Timers' Day unique," Aaron Boone said. "Seeing these guys out there, seeing your heroes that are well past their prime going out and still flashing a little bit, that makes for a cool thing."
Andy Pettitte, meanwhile, said it was "great" to have the game back before throwing a handful of pitches in the not-so-serious contest.
"To me, this is better than an interview or whatever," Pettitte said, referring to the on-field Q&A panels that had replaced the game in recent years. "Debbie's like, 'Hey, if we play a game, would you play?' I'm like, 'Sure, whatever you want me to do.' It's been fun. It's always good. It's always great to see old teammates."
One of Jeter's closest friends, however, seemed more aligned with No. 2.
"You know what? I'm more, 'We can't play anymore,'" said Jorge Posada, who caught on Saturday. "We're here trying to look somewhat good."
But Posada also knows the point of the game isn't for players to relive their glory days.
"It's for the fans," he noted, "and the fans deserve to see us again."