There are several reasonable arguments to make when it comes to debating the greatest New York Yankee of all time, but Stephen A. Smith bypassed all of them for Derek Jeter.
ESPN took First Take on the road Friday morning to take part in Fanatics Fest from the Javits Center in New York City. During the show, First Take decided to play to their crowd of mostly New York sports fans by asking Stephen A. Smith and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo the question of ‘who is the greatest Yankee of all time?’
The sports historian that Russo is selected was Babe Ruth. Smith, however, went right past the Yankees’ Mount Rushmore of Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle, opting for Derek Jeter. Maybe Smith looked at the crowd and saw a lot of 20- —and 30-something-year-olds and thought talking up Jeter would placate the fans, but even they seemed surprised by the ridiculous GOAT pick. No one, however, was more upset over Jeter getting the nod than Russo.
“I’M THE LUCKIEST MAN ALIVE! GARY COOPER! GARY COOPER!” Russo screamed, referencing Gehrig’s iconic farewell speech and Gary Cooper playing the Yankee legend in the 1942 classic The Pride of the Yankees, a movie that literally no one in this particular First Take crowd has ever watched or probably even heard of.
“Lou Gehrig played 2,000 straight games. DIED! DIED at Yankee Stadium! And you bring up El Capitan?” Russo ranted. “You should be ashamed of yourself! YOU’RE NUTS! YOU’RE NUTS!”
Russo wasn’t even arguing Ruth anymore. Now he was just arguing for second place, ranting that Smith didn’t even go with Gehrig to challenge Ruth as the Yankee GOAT.
Maybe Smith was just attempting to get a crowd of younger Yankees fans to rally behind him, and he thought Jeter would do the trick. But he probably would have been better off going the Aaron Judge route because the audience didn’t appear to support his Jeter take. Probably because even the biggest Jeter fans know he isn’t close to being the greatest Yankee of all time, despite his popularity.
The only thing Smith succeeded in was causing Dog to nearly explode. But anyone can do that in a GOAT argument. Now try doing it in a debate about bathrooms. That takes real talent.
[ESPN]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com