Derek Jeter's abstention from Twitter came to an end Tuesday, with the Yankees legend finally getting dragged into the depths of the bird app ahead of his 48th birthday in June.
The 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, who apparently quietly joined in April according to his profile, finally said something on the last day of May.
In classic Jeter fashion, it was a joke in response to an eight-year-old tweet.
Looks like I’ve officially run out of excuses. https://t.co/DQwmgjU9jW
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) May 31, 2022
The timing hardly seems accidental. Jeter, a human marketing campaign, is joining Twitter just in time to start promoting ESPN's "The Captain," which will premiere in July. The six-part docuseries continues ESPN's obsession with chronicling the biggest names in their respective sports, following Michael Jordan's "The Last Dance" and Tom Brady's "Man in the Arena."
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Jeter, in some ways, continues to be bizarro-world Tom Brady. Brady, who is actually amazing at social media, is good at it because he fully embraces being hated by a large swath of people. Jeter might have a bit more trouble accepting that energy from Twitter.
The Yankees and MLB gave Jeter a warm reception, though, along with his former teammate Alex Rodriguez.
Hey Yankees Fans! Let's welcome #TheCaptain to Twitter! @derekjeter 👊 pic.twitter.com/VqaomxaEu5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 31, 2022
New account, who dis?
— MLB (@MLB) May 31, 2022
Show some re2pect and follow #TheCaptain @DerekJeter. pic.twitter.com/x1HDoyeCVO
Welcome to Twitter, Captain! #2 https://t.co/74JMRqbP7h
— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) May 31, 2022
There is a fun little air of mystery, as the question now becomes if Jeter is joining Twitter just in time to promote the docuseries or too late to peddle NFTs.
Jeter, who stepped down from his role as CEO of the Marlins before this season, has been having a bit of fun with his newfound void to scream into.
It’s my hair but it’s a shag… a Ralph Tresvant shag. https://t.co/M55MMeyBVk
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) May 31, 2022
Hey @markwahlberg, let me know if you need an extra in the next movie. #FanTweets @Twitter @TwitterSports pic.twitter.com/eqWff5C5bi
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) May 31, 2022
Jeter's potential tweet spectrum is vast. There's a decent chance he ends up like Magic Johnson and says things like "the Yankees won 4-3. Giancarlo Stanton went 2 of 4 with a home run!" He could also try extremely hard to be "Twitter fun guy." But it's equally likely he vanishes as soon as his docuseries finishes up.
Jeter has the entire huge Yankee following behind him, and the Bronx Bombers have been having a strong year. Expect to see a lot of Yankees tweets from The Captain throughout the season. Just don't expect to see videos like this:
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 25, 2021
