Best Of Mike & Mad Dog: Yankees Name Jeter Captain, Russo Flips Out
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- On June 3, 2003, the Yankees held a news conference announcing that Derek Jeter was being named team captain.
Neither Mike Francesa nor Chris "Mad Dog" Russo believed it was that big of a deal.
MORE: Best Of Mike & The Mad Dog
"I guess it's noteworthy because it's the Yankee captain, but ... to me, he's been the captain since he got here," Francesa said.
"The Yankees gotta take a chill pill," Mad Dog said. "Nobody cares."
"It doesn't mean anything who's the silly captain on the Yankees," he continued. "It means nothing whatsoever."
The Yankees then called in to dispute the assertion that they were calling it a "major" news conference, and Russo started to back down from his criticism of the team.
Later in the show, Russo flipped his lid after seeing all the pomp and circumstance on TV.
"It's an absolute disgrace!" Mad Dog said. "Cashman's there, the Yankee banner is there, the podium is up, they're saying it's the greatest day in Yankee history. And the Yankees called me up an hour ago and say, 'Chris, please calm down. We didn't make a big deal about this.' OK, fine, I'll shut up. And then they put it on TV, and they've got a major press conference for something that some Yankee fans could care less about, whether Jeter's the Yankee team captain. Oh, that's a bunch of garbage. This is why people hate the Yankees."
