By quitting the Marlins and the Mess, Jeter saves his reputation

Many years ago, when asked to sum up all of human history in one sentence, the great historian Charles A. Beard offered four:

The bee always fertilizes the flower it robs.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.

The gristmills of God grind slowly, but infinitely small.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

Somehow, whenever the world goes crazy, those four lines give me hope.

Yesterday, the actions of Derek Jeter also brought a smile. He jumped ship on the dismal, money-grubbing Marlins, using a respectful tone to tell them to - as they say on Snake Island - go fuck themselves. He'd had enough of losing. He'd had enough of lending his name to an organization that didn't care about winning. (And, I suspect, to an ownership that is willing to tank the 2022 season.) 

But you know what really brought a smile? It shows we've always been right about Jeter. He is truly a great one. And once and for all, he shows himself to be a player, a warrior, rather than one of the reanimated cadavers who squeeze the game for money. Jeter will escape this colossal mess with his reputation intact. Rob Manfred? I'm not so sure. 

Oh, one other thing: If we're lucky, maybe Jeter will return to the team where he belongs. 

Today, baseball's negotiators have moved their opening day "deadline" to 5 pm. It's hard to tell what's happening. But they had three months to negotiate, and they did nothing. Now, they're on the verge of losing everything.

Sorta like the ferret-faced creep, who is about to go down in history as a criminal, a fool, a pariah, and a loser.

The sounds of those missiles, they're the buzzing of the bees, fertilizing the flower for the inevitable roll of history's dice. Yeah, it's dark, but if you look up, we can see the stars.