In case you missed it, when I was a completely different person -- you know, like an hour ago -- I questioned Reggie Jackson's qualifications as Mr. October ... and because I am was such a helpful soul, I offered a few candidates to assume the mantle. Which somehow invited this tweet:
@robneyer What's the problem? We need a Mr. November after all.
— Brian D. Silver (@B_D_Silver) October 25, 2013
Okay, so I don't quite understand what that means. But this did remind me that we've already got a Mr. November ... and yes of course it's another Yankee. Derek Jeter picked up the nickname in 2001. Thanks to the 9/11 attacks, the World Series was delayed by a few days, and so Game 4 started on Halloween.
I say it started on Halloween because by the time Jeter came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning, the clocks in New York had just struck midnight, and November. And Jeter did this:
But does Jeter deserve the "Mr. November" nickname? After all, there were still three more games to play in that World Series. There were also three World Series games played in November of 2009, and one in 2010. And it's worth remembering that the Yankees didn't wind up winning the '01 World Series, which the Diamondbacks took when Luis Gonzalez delivered his single in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7.
I looked at everybody. Gonzalez did deliver that hit against Mariano Rivera. But he was just 3 for 13 in November, and his single was a broken-bat looper that just found the right spot. We might also consider Edgar Renteria, whose three-run homer off Cliff Lee accounted for all three Giants runs in their Series-clinching victory three years ago. But that was just Game 5, and Renteria's homer was his only November hit.
Jeter, meanwhile? He's the all-time leader with seven November games, nine November hits, and 25 November at-bats. At least one of which will never bee forgotten by Yankees fans, Diamondbacks fans, or Byung-Hyun Kim. I do think we need to find a new Mr. October. But the old Mr. November is the right Mr. November.