PDA

View Full Version : Ruben Rivera / Derek Jeter Incident - old story but informative.



suave1477
02-25-2010, 12:28 PM
This is an old story but I thought I would repost for a couple of reasons.
1) If the new / younger members weren't aware of it
2) Interesting Clemens remarks.

I always wondered if things really do go missing out the back door? If so do the players really notice it. I believe it may have happend a lot years ago. But figuring even for high profile players in more recent times everything would be on pretty much lock down.
Read the Story you'll understand what I mean........

BASEBALL; Yankees Act To Restore Trust on Team

By TYLER KEPNER

Published: March 13, 2002


DUNEDIN, Fla., March 12— Derek Jeter stuffed two black Rawlings gloves in his equipment bag before boarding the team bus this morning. ''Looks like you have all your gloves,'' a reporter said, but Jeter did not bite. He did not want to talk about the incident that led to the release of Ruben Rivera late Monday night.
The Yankees cut loose Rivera, the former top prospect who had returned as a reserve outfielder, after the disclosure that he had taken one of Jeter's gloves and sold it to a memorabilia dealer for $2,500. He returned the glove, and Jeter said he apologized, but that was not enough for Rivera to save his job.
''I have no comment on the whole situation,'' Jeter said. ''Don't need to add fuel to the fire.''
By releasing Rivera and getting back almost all of the $1 million they owed him, the Yankees doused the fire quickly. But the smoke lingers.
''That type of thing is always a shock,'' Manager Joe Torre said.
Rivera's nameplate was removed from his locker and all of his personal items were gone by 9 a.m. His agent, Fernando Cuza, drove to Tampa to see him this afternoon. It is up to Cuza to find a job for a vastly talented player who has shown a disturbing side. Cuza said he hoped teams would contact him about Rivera within a few days.
''I hope that because a person made a mistake, he doesn't have to live with that mistake for the rest of his life,'' Cuza said, ''especially when he feels remorseful for what he did.''
Rivera's talent, especially his defensive skill, will be his selling point. He had previously exasperated various clubs' officials for years with his preference for late-night carousing over on-field commitment, but this incident is different.
''The clubhouse is a special place,'' Torre said. ''We feel it's our sanctuary. I'd like to believe we commit to each other and trust each other. It's a big part of what we do. Trust is very important if you're expected to make a commitment. Anything that threatens that type of balance we have is a negative.''
Relief pitcher Mike Stanton also referred to clubhouse trust.
''It's unsettling,'' Stanton said. ''We look at this as our home, and this is our family. We probably spend more time here than we do with our real families. I think it was something that had to be settled as quickly and discreetly as possible.''
The Yankees veterans had a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss Rivera's situation. One player said Monday night that the meeting was informational, and others reiterated that today. The players' opinions had no impact on the team's decision to release Rivera, Torre said.
''There was never a vote,'' Torre said. ''A meeting was held just to discuss those issues and not to get a vote to see what we're going to do. We were pretty well understood on what we were going to do.''
Center fielder Bernie Williams said: ''We just work here. We don't get to make the decisions.''
Pitcher Roger Clemens said Torre asked for players' opinions during Monday's meeting, and some players were not aware of what had happened until then. He said Torre also mentioned the sanctity of the clubhouse in the meeting, but Clemens did not seem to think Rivera's act was very serious.
Clemens said he regularly finds items missing from his locker, though he said Rivera's incident was related strictly to Jeter.
''These days, you can't even throw your underwear away, your sliding shorts,'' Clemens said. ''You have to cut your number out of it, because they'll probably grab it. It sounds strange, but it happens.''
Left unanswered is why a player earning $1 million would need to sell a teammate's equipment for $2,500. ''There were extenuating circumstances,'' said Stanton, the Yankees' player representative, but Cuza declined to comment on specifics. Williams said he planned to talk with Rivera.
''Right now, I'm just feeling really sad for him, because he was having a great spring and he seemed like he was turning things around in his career,'' Williams said.
Clemens guessed that closer Mariano Rivera, Ruben Rivera's cousin, was taking the incident the hardest. But Mariano Rivera had little to say. ''Disappointed?'' he said. ''Yes, I am.''

sportscentury
02-25-2010, 12:40 PM
I always wondered if things really do go missing out the back door?

Seriously?

suave1477
02-25-2010, 12:46 PM
Seriously?


No not seriously to the point where I didn't think it was possible BUT I thinking going into the mid 1990's I would of figured by that time they would have set up some type of security system or camera system or locks at least to stop things like this from happening.
Basically from Clemens tone it seems like it was more like the normal daily thing.

I am sure it could happen a ton back in the 50's but the 90's I wouldn't think it was so easy. I am not saying impossible I am just saying not easy.

sportscentury
02-25-2010, 12:52 PM
Regardless of sport, tracking system, or era, stuff is always going to leave through the back door. No one has a tighter system than MeiGray, and even Barry will tell you that occasionally items don't make it to their warehouse.

Our hobby is so big and well-known now (Dan Patrick has mentioned game used items a few times on his radio show this week alone) that it is ever more likely that insiders will try to "snag" items here and there in order to cash in.

That Ruben Rivera story still amazes me, though. Clubhouse attendants? Sure. Ball boys? Sure. But you don't really think of players stealing from each other. Pretty nuts.

FENWAY
02-26-2010, 04:01 PM
I had my chance... ;)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff72/mvalz/clubhouse1.jpg

legaleagle92481
03-03-2010, 01:40 AM
Of course things go missing. I bet it happens alot in NFL training camps. Alot of guys there know they have no shot of making it to even a practice squad so what is to stop them from lifting stuff to make some money. Other than that you have the people who work in the clubhouse or who have access to it for one reason or another. Where there is money to be made people will find a way to get in on the action. In the old days where stuff was not sold by the teams or the memorabilia companies they do business with it was probably taken alot more. One of the reasons Steiner entered its deal with the Yanks was to have access to the stuff they had stored up and who knows how much of that stuff was lifted over the years while it was being stored.

jgperro
03-03-2010, 12:37 PM
I remember this story! Thanks for posting it!!!