If you were relying on tweets from CBS to keep you updated on the Major League Baseball All-Star game Tuesday night, you were probably wondering with the rest of Twitter, “Who is Michael Jeter?”
When @CBSNews tweeted out its report on famed New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter batting in his final All-Star game, the news organization identified him as “Michael Jeter.”
“Whoops, we meant to say DEREK Jeter takes bow at his final All-Star game,” CBS tweeted several minutes later after other news outlets had already had a good laugh over the mistake. “Michael Jeter” became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter.
New York Daily News reporter Daniel O’Leary pardoned CBS for the gaffe, writing, “Hey, mistakes happen.” The folks in Boston were nearly happy that a player from the Red Sox rival team was the subject of the insulting blunder; “Jeter’s a Yankee. So this is an easily forgivable mistake,” wrote Roberto Scalese of Boston.com.
40-year-old Jeter will retire after this season, capping 19 years of MLB play as a life-long New York Yankee. His appearance in Tuesday’s All-Star game was his 14th of such, but apparently that doesn’t qualify him as well-known enough to be a household name, at least on Twitter.
So, who is Michael Jeter, you ask? He was an actor who appeared in films like “The Green Mile” and “Jurassic Park III” before he passed away in 2003.
The nickname isn’t as great as that of one of Jeter’s infamous teammates — ahem, “A-Roid” — but if you’re a Red Sox fan (like me), you’ll take it.
