The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Derek Jeter on Reshaping the Miami Marlins and Giving Athletes a Voice

Episode Date: April 1, 2019

Miami Marlins co-owner Derek Jeter talks about transitioning from MLB star to CEO and providing athletes with a platform to express themselves via The Players' Tribune. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio, on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Please welcome five-time World Series champion and former New York Yankees captain,

Derek Jee-Deele! Wow, that's never, that's never happened to me. I need to, I need a roll, like, people that's never happened to me. I need to roll with you, like people start chawning my name because you, like that's never happened to me. We may actually consider signing you to play for the Marvel. Just to come in. Just with the fan love and the support you get here. Can you play a position? I am the worst person in baseball.

Like wherever the ball won't go, that's where you want to put me. That's where you want me. But welcome to the show. Thanks for having. Let's get into it. I remember when I first came to the United States, I moved to New York, and Derek Jeter was a name that was synonymous with everything amazing. I mean, you were crushing it, you're a legend in baseball.

You know, people still look at you and go like, the greatest shortstop of all time. And you've taken on a different journey in your life right now, because now you are behind a team. Isn't a little bit frustrating when you know what you can do and then like you watch the team sometimes and you just want to go out there? Like is it hard for you to change your mind into being a CEO? Yeah, you know it is it is kind of difficult because you know as a either succeed or you don't, you get a hit or you don't, you win or you lose, and then you go on to the next game. But when you're in an ownership front office role,

you have to have patience, which I am learning I have none. So it's very difficult at times to watch because you want things to happen, you know, very quickly but you know, look, it takes times to time to build a championship caliber team and to build a first class organization. We will get there, but it does take a little bit of time. It's also, what I found particularly interesting is how quickly the media seemed to enjoy the, what they termed downfall of Derek Jeda. I remember reading a headline that specifically said, Derek Jita fails at something finally.

And I was like, it was weird that they said finally as if they had been waiting for you. But like, you've been in a position where for a long time you were the golden boy, like nothing went wrong in your world. Has it been different for you to be on the receiving end of criticism? Has that shaped how you see the world? Or has everything that you've done beforehand prepared you for this moment? Well first of all, listen, I've failed quite a bit in my career. So one thing you learn, especially playing in New York, you have to deal with criticism. And criticism doesn't bother me, it motivates me. And what people I think needed to understand

as we were taking over an organization that had not been successful, have not been in the postseason since 2003, and in my mind that makes it broken. So we need to fix it. So I look at it as a challenge, but more importantly, it's an opportunity that I'm looking forward to. It's an opportunity.

And it's an opportunity that you've grabbed with both hands because what you've done is you've started shaping the team. You know, you've gotten two new prospects. Is it Victor, Victor, Victor and then Victor Mesa, Mesa, Victor? I don't know how that works. I feel like it's the same person twice, which is very slick of you. And we got three victors for the price of two, so we're going to go. But you're bringing in some amazing prospects.

You are reshaping the team. But there's other things that you're doing that feel they're changing they're changing they're changing changing changing, they're changing, the their, their, their, their, their, the dynamic, the dynamic, the dynamic, the dynamic, the dynamic, the dynamic, the dynamic, the dynamic, the in-game experience is, and something even more interesting is, you've encouraged everybody on the team, including yourself, to start learning Spanish. Why? Well, I think... Thank you. I think, you know, when you have players, Hispanic players, that are coming to the United States,

everyone automatically assumes that they speak English. And, you know, that's not always the case the case, the case, the case, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, too, too, toa, toa, toa, toaugh, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, their, their, know, that's not always the case. You know, you're taking players out of their country, you're bringing them to the United States, you're throw them in a new culture, a new environment, and you expect them to speak your language. Now if they took, well, we're in Miami, so most people speak Spanish, they would struggle a little bit. And people are judging them. And I don't necessarily think that's fair. So we're making sure that our educational program with the organization is first class. We're making sure that all of our Hispanic-speaking, or Spanish-speaking players speak English, but more importantly we want our American players to learn how to speak Spanish, and we're

also doing that in the front office. The team, baseball is just part of what you do. You're involved in multiple programs that are related to sport but not sport itself. You have an organization that you started that you know turned into a website that really has become a platform for many players, many sports people to speak out and I guess share themselves with an audience without anyone in the middle. No middleman, no press, no anybody. And one of the more interesting articles that came out of this this collective was Kevin Love, who shared his battles with anxiety and depression,

and was a powerful movement that changed how a lot of people saw sports people in general. Why was that so important to you? And what do you think the long-term goal of this project is? Well, I started the Players Tribune. This is right after I retired in 2014. It sounds strange to say 2004,. I'm getting old. You are my friend. It's showing it's showing everywhere on your face. You look 25. Well a lot a lot of you people are getting old too. I can see some of you out there as well.

But we started this the Players Tribune because we felt as though look athletes are human. There's a human side and we're trying to humanize them. Athletes have interests, things that they want to share share the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. the players. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. and we're trying to humanize them. Athletes have interests, things that they want to share with the fan base, but I think anyone that says that the trust factor between the media and athletes, if you say that's not broken, then you're not being honest. And it's amazing what people will actually share if they trust who they're speaking to. So we've developed that trusts trust, the trust trust, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, their, their, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, you, you, you, you their, you their, you their, you their, you their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, theirthat trust, you know, with the athletes and we have some amazing stories. And people, you know, feel free and they trust us and they talk about things that they normally wouldn't speak to with the media and therefore, it brings the fans closer to them. You have a lot of players in this day and age, not just in baseball who are speaking out of their political affiliations, political beliefs as well. As we can see the NFL has struggled with this, you know, many owners not knowing how to deal with it. You have

Colin Kappenick who's been effectively blackballed. You have conversations where people like, well sports people should just shut up and dribble and then people like LeBron James coming out and saying, no I'm a human being and I have opinions. You have been on both the team owner and a player. how do th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the the thi. to have to have to have to have to have the to have their their their their their their their their their th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. their their their thi. their their their their their th. their th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. I toeeeean. I'm toean. I'm toean. I'm toeooooooean. I'm toean. I'm toeananan player. How do you think you work to balance the relationship between what people want sport to be, which is devoid of all politics, and also still giving your athletes a voice? Yeah, well I think when you're an athlete, you have a platform, obviously, and it's what you do with that platform, which actually is, you know, everyone talks about your legacy on the field, on the court, but I always felt as though it's more important to have a legacy off of the field or off of the court. And athletes, look, they have a

very, yeah, athletes, they have an opportunity to actually be role models for kids and get out and speak their minds and one thing we've always done, I have a foundation that I started 22 years ago. And we try to teach our young students that, listen, your voices are powerful. And learn to get out, speak your mind, and be very comfortable doing that. So when you become an adult, you're comfortable doing it in front of a bigger audience. So our foundation, we're trying to make their their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, to to to to their, their, to their, to their, to be, their, to be, to be, tooomoomoomorrow, their, tooomorrow, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their........................ We, to, to, to, to, to, to, their, their, their, toooomorrow. We. Wea. We're, together. We're, together, together, together, together, together, together, together, together, together, together. Weauuooooomorrow. our foundation, we're trying to make sure

that our young people reach their full potential by promoting leadership development, academic excellence, healthy lifestyles, and social change. Right. And your organization has been really successful. I found this out recently. It's called the Turn 2 Foundation. And you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you've raised over $20 million that you've awarded to the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, thoea, thoea, thea, theaughea, thioue. thioupea, thioul. thioul, thioul, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th, th, th. th, th, th, th, th. th, th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thiiiii. the Turn 2 Foundation. And you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you've raised over $20 million

that you've awarded to these kids to get into schools, to get into scholarships, to get into programs that move them forward. And of all the kids you've mentored, you have a hundred percent graduation rates. That's it. We have. You know, I come you you you you you you thol tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th th th th th th th th th th tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th. I I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I've th. I've th. I've th. I've tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho. I've tho. I've tho. I've thou. I've thou thou thou thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I've tho. I come from a family where if you have a little, you give a little, you give a lot, give a lot. So philanthropy has always been very, very important to me and my family growing up. And at the same time, it's will be very, very important to the Miami-Marlin

organization moving forward, because we have a platform here in Miami and we should be able to give back and effect as many lives as we possibly can here. I love Miami. I've been here for only a year now. At times it seems like I've been here for about 20 years, but I've only been here. I love the diversity, I love the culture, I love the energy, and we're going to be here for a long time. Derek Chita, everybody. The Daily Show with Covernoa, Ears Edition.

Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting you'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about. All the things. to the thir thirty. the thir. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the th. thi. the the to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the th. the the th. the th. the the th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. the the the th. the thi. the the the thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. the the the th. the th. th. th. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on

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