Derek Jeter apparently had a good laugh after unflattering photos of himself were splashed across the tabloids last week which suggested the
New York Yankees star had packed on a few pounds while undergoing recovery from ankle surgery.
The Yankees Captain was even dubbed "Captain Munch" and "Derek Eater."
Jeter, was a guest on
Michael Kay's ESPN-NY radio show Monday and made several jokes about the recent photos that led the media to declare that the Yankees shortstop had let himself go.
"I thought it was pretty funny," Jeter said with a laugh. The funny thing is, a day or two before then, people were telling me that I looked like I lost a lot of weight."
Later in the day, Jeter's buddy
Harold Reynolds, the former player and current MLB Network analyst, offered photographic proof that Jeter hadn't gone to pot by
tweeting a photo of himself and Jeter after they had lunch together on Sunday. The photo shows an actually svelte looking Jeets resembling his old 195-pound self.
Jeter, who had not spoken publicly since having his left ankle surgically repaired in October, told Kay that, after the frumpy
fat photos ran, the phone started to ring.
"I had a lot of messages from a lot of different people asking me what I had been doing," he said.
Later in the interview, when he was asked what an athlete with a recovering ankle can do to stay in shape, Jeter joked, "Evidently, I haven't been staying in shape."
At least Reynolds' photo put to rest the perception that the 38-year-old Jeter was turning into a chubby-chaser's dreamboat. In fact, Jeter — who will be in a walking boot for "another few weeks" —insisted that he will be ready by Opening Day.
"We still have a long way to go before the season starts. I'll be ready," he said. "If you think about it, every year when the season is over, you take a few weeks off before you start working out. Quite honestly, I'm not behind schedule on anything right now."
Start spreading the news, The Captain is back on the market and it isn't Shoprite anymore.
