SAN DIEGO — The smile still comes easy for Derek Jeter. It is genuine, a connection point. But everything else is so difficult these days.
Jeter has been shut down again, this time because of discomfort in his right calf and hamstring.
“You have to be smart about things,’’ Jeter told The Post before the Yankees’ 3-0 win over the Padres at a sold-out Petco Park. “We have like 50 games left, so you have to be smart about it.’’
When I mentioned to Jeter that David Wright was sent to the disabled list with a strained hamstring, Jeter, 39, asked, “Did he get hurt because he’s old?
“Things happen in baseball,’’ he added.
Things keep happening to Jeter.
“It didn’t look too good,’’ Jeter said Friday night of his awkward slide in the first inning of a 7-2 loss. “I was going to stand up, so I decided to slide and slow down. It’s fine. I thought it might be easier just to slide as opposed to break it down, so I was confused.’’
It is not often that Jeter is confused or looks awkward on the baseball field, but these are the adjustments he is going through as he comes back from a twice fractured ankle and a quad injury and now other leg problems. He has played just five games this season and is hitting .211.
Jeter remains a Yankees icon. He remains the Yankees’ anti-A-Rod.
If Alex Rodriguez does make it back to the Yankees in Chicago to play against the White Sox, it will be fascinating to hear the boos from the crowd for Rodriguez and the cheers for Jeter.
Even though both are on the last legs of their careers, Jeter represents baseball class while Rodriguez, who never has been really able to relate to teammates, fans or the media, is considered a pariah by many in and around the game. Though Curtis Granderson, after hitting a two-run home run last night, said of A-Rod, “I’m excited to see him.’’
When Jeter was asked about A-Rod’s inflammatory comments about Yankees’ management, he smartly sidestepped the issue.
A-Rod came to the Yankees hoping he would develop the same loving relationship with the fans that Jeter possesses. That never happened for a multitude of reasons.
Yes, A-Rod remains the “pink elephant’’ in the room. Jeter remains the classy Yankee, much like Joe DiMaggio was for his fans.
That is the ultimate irony here. As hard as A-Rod tried, and despite a career in which he accumulated 647 home runs, he will never be loved by the Yankees’ fans. He will always remain the outsider and his steroid-stained career is forever linked to the Biogenesis scandal.
Everything A-Rod seems to do is awkward.
Jeter clears every hurdle that comes his way and he is known to do it in the most dramatic of fashions like his welcome-back home run on the first pitch to him last Sunday.
Still, Jeter has some big problems. He does not look right in the field and he has all these issues with his legs. Joe Girardi is deeply concerned, which is why the manager decided to sit Jeter the rest of the series here, knowing he has the designated hitter to use tomorrow in Chicago.
“You have to battle,’’ Jeter said. “Winning isn’t easy. We need to find ways to get the job done.’’
When someone mentioned to Jeter on Friday that Yankees shortstops have hit .210 this season with a 25-percent strikeout rate, Jeter smiled and said, “I didn’t strike out tonight, so the percentage is going to go down, right? I hope I can help, that’s the plan. You can’t change anything that has happened to this point. We’ve got to move forward. All these games we have played, good and bad, are behind us and we need to play good from this point forward.
“Everyone needs to play better.’’
All true. In Jeter’s case, he just has to get out on the field and play.