Jeter doc sad in light of split with Kelly

I’m sure, like me, you are all broken up about the news that Derek Jeter and long-time girlfriend Minka Kelly have split.

In all seriousness, I kind of feel bad for Jeter and Kelly not being able to make their relationship work. Ironically, I was set to visit my sister Friday night to finally see the Derek Jeter 3K documentary (I don’t have HBO so I had not yet seen it). Watching the documentary after hearing news of the split, it was really sad seeing the interviews with Jeter and Kelly. Under normal circumstances, it would have been hilarious when Kelly admitted to a shocking lack of baseball knowledge and Jeter teasingly said she had a poster of him on her wall at as teenager. I can’t help but wonder if Jeter, who said he agreed to the documentary for his future children, is now sorry that Kelly was featured so prominently in it.

But there were plenty of enlightening moments when we got to see some of the real Derek Jeter. The captain of the New York Yankees has always been very good at hiding his emotions so it was interesting seeing him talk about his frustration about his forced stint on the disabled list. But he also acknowledged that it was a blessing in disguise because it gave him a chance to work on his swing with Gary Denbo, the coach Jeter says knows his swing better than anyone.

One of my favorite moments in the documentary was the scene of Jeter having lunch with his diverse group of friends because it was both revealing and hilarious, especially when they jokingly lamented the absence of minorities on The Bachelor. Another favorite moment was when Jeter and Kelly talked about his lack of preparation for the very moving speech he gave at the closing of the old Yankee Stadium, with Kelly praising his ability to be in the moment and really speak from the heart, which was clear to anyone who watched that speech that night.

We also saw how the young minor leaguers in Trenton were in complete awe of the future Hall of Famer during his rehab stint, but more interesting to me was the brief moment that showed Jeter clearly in awe of his childhood idol Dave Winfield. Jeter is such an old pro you would think that he would have gotten over that astonishment by now, but it shows that even the captain of the Yankees is still just a big kid at heart.