New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter did not let FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd get away with a blatant blunder during a conversation between the two on FS1's The Herd. While talking about Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star pitcher and rookie sensation Paul Skenes, Cowhered mentioned that Jeter played in the same era as the legendary hurler Nolan Ryan.
“Paul Skenes, Pirates. Dominant guy. Overpowering. Obviously, you were in the Nolan Ryan era,” Cowherd said before Jeter cut him off.
“No, no, no, no, no, never faced Nolan. Slow down, no. Slow down. I was way after Nolan. Way after Nolan,” Jeter exclaimed.
Perhaps Cowherd was thinking of another pitcher but what's clear is that in this world, Derek Jeter and Nolan Ryan were never in the big leagues at the same time as players. Ryan's first MLB appearance took place in 1966 when Jeter was over seven years away from being born. The last time Ryan pitched in the majors was in 1993.
At that time, Jeter was still playing in the minors with Yankees affiliate Greensboro Hornets. He would not make his MLB debut until 1996. That was a pretty significant gap. Jeter and Ryan played in the same decade but it was still a big stretch for Cowherd to allude to an overlap in the MLB careers of the two Baseball Hall of Famers.
During his memorable 20-year MLB career which he spent entirely in Yankees uniform, Derek Jeter, who just turned 50 last June, hit .310/.377/.440 with 260 home runs and 1,311 RBIs. To date, Jeter is just one of 33 players in MLB history to have amassed at least 3,000 hits. His total of 3,465 hits is sixth-most all-time. To put that into another perspective, Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman is the leader in career hits among active players and he's only got 2,215.
As for Ryan, who is now 77, he played for a total of 27 years in the majors for four different ball clubs. He retired as baseball's all-time leader in strikeouts and it's not even close. To this day, he still holds that record, having recorded 5,714 strikeouts during a career that spanned four decades — but not long enough to make Cowherd's statement true.
Ryan was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 while Jeter got his place in Cooperstown in 2020.
Fans react to Derek Jeter and Colin Cowherd's interaction
Here are some reactions from some Reddit users on r/baseball to the hilarious exchange between Jeter and Cowherd:
“Cracking up laughing at the rapid-fire “no no no no no” answer.” – see_mohn
“It’s obvious Colin Cowherd only talks about MLB because he’s contractually obligated to. He’s a NBA/NFL guy all year round with occasional, but routinely awful, baseball talk.” – BigBootyKim
“Jeter played against multiple inner-circle HoF pitchers, including Pedro Martinez who played his best years for the Red Sox, in their prime. But his mind went to Nolan Ryan?” – ChasingEchoes11.
“Is Cowherd usually good for this stuff? Because I've only ever seen clips of him being bad at his job.” – BAHatesToFly
“Colin (admittedly) doesn’t care for baseball that much. But this also fits the “say things even if they’re wrong” style because all that matters is attention no matter what with shows anymore.” – CarStar12.
“34 plate appearances against Roger Clemons, 11 against Randy Johnson, 99 against Pedro Martinez, and this guy wants to know what it was like facing a guy who debuted when Lyndon Johnson was president.” – thescottreid.
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