Derek Jeter, happy 40th birthday. Everyone's covering for you.

Derek Jeter, your OPS+ is 83, a career low.  You're playing shortstop like third base.  You may have made more mental mistakes so far this season than in all your previous seasons combined.  Two days ago you made two inexcusable fielding blunders and your starting pitcher, David Phelps, took the blame afterwards.  Even your bunting is off.

But you still hustle.

Jeter at SS, Rodriguez at 3B June 20, 2007
by User Onetwo1 via Wikimedia Commons

A few days ago you beat out a grounder with a leaping final stride into first base.  All I could think was that your former teammate Robinson Cano, for whom you covered, would not have even attempted that.  The only old player who would have is your former best buddy Alex Rodriguez, who served game 77 of his 162 game suspension.  This week I wrote three posts recommending that commissioner Allan Huber "Bud" Selig commute A-Rod's sentence, maybe to 100 games.  Then he could rejoin you.  What do you say, Derek, how about joining my recommendation?

Next season we'll miss you but we won't miss your play.  It's clear that you should have retired but I don't blame you for not.  We all want to play, think we can play.  You seem to have almost no self doubt, the kind that plagues pretty much all other players, no matter how great.  I guess that's your foundation, what makes you indomitable.

Your manager and former teammate Joe Girardi doesn't bench you for poor play, nor does he drop you in the batting order.  You're not a slugger, so it would be easier to have you bat at the bottom of the order but in the games you've started you've batted leadoff in one and second in all the rest.  That's forced Girardi to bat Brett Gardner at the bottom instead of you, which probably hurts the team.  Gardner's 114 OPS+ is second on the Yankees to 129 for Mark Teixeira.

To your credit your teammates are not complaining.  No one is grumbling, not even your slick fielding backup Brendan Ryan who has the same OPS+ as you: 83.  That's a sign of respect, maybe even affection.

Your "mental" lapses in the field are probably due to uncertainty you sense in your ability to make routine plays.

There have been only 50 player seasons for players at least 40 years of age, including multiples for some and including yours in 2014 if you can reach the required 502 plate appearances (PA).  You are ranked ... number 40.  Happy birthday, Derek.

Baseball-Reference.com:
From 1903 to 2014, From Age 40 to 99, (requiring Qualified for league batting title), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+
Player ages are computed as their age on June 30th

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Willie Mays	158	1971	40	SFG	NL	136	537	417	82	113	24	5	18	61	112	11	123	3	1	4	8	23	3	.271	.425	.482	.907	*83H
2	Edgar Martinez	141	2003	40	SEA	AL	145	603	497	72	146	25	0	24	98	92	7	95	7	0	7	17	0	1	.294	.406	.489	.895	*D/H
3	Dave Winfield	138	1992	40	TOR	AL	156	670	583	92	169	33	3	26	108	82	10	89	1	1	3	10	2	3	.290	.377	.491	.867	*D9
4	Stan Musial	137	1962	41	STL	NL	135	505	433	57	143	18	1	19	82	64	4	46	3	0	5	13	3	0	.330	.416	.508	.924	*79H
5	Darrell Evans	135	1987	40	DET	AL	150	609	499	90	128	20	0	34	99	100	8	84	2	2	6	2	6	5	.257	.379	.501	.880	*3DH/5
6	Carlton Fisk	134	1990	42	CHW	AL	137	521	452	65	129	21	0	18	65	61	8	73	7	0	1	12	7	2	.285	.378	.451	.829	*2DH
7	Ty Cobb	134	1927	40	PHA	AL	133	574	490	104	175	32	7	5	93	67		12	5	12			22	16	.357	.440	.482	.921	*98/H
8	Rickey Henderson	128	1999	40	NYM	NL	121	526	438	89	138	30	0	12	42	82	1	82	2	1	3	4	37	14	.315	.423	.466	.889	*7/HD
9	Honus Wagner	127	1915	41	PIT	NL	156	625	566	68	155	32	17	6	78	39		64	4	16			22	15	.274	.325	.422	.747	*643
10	Luke Appling	126	1947	40	CHW	AL	139	573	503	67	154	29	0	8	49	64		28	1	4		15	8	6	.306	.386	.412	.797	*6/H5
11	Luke Appling	125	1949	42	CHW	AL	142	619	492	82	148	21	5	5	58	121		24	0	6		23	7	12	.301	.439	.394	.833	*6/H
12	Honus Wagner	121	1916	42	PIT	NL	124	485	432	45	124	15	9	1	39	34		36	8	10			11		.287	.350	.370	.721	*63/H4
13	Graig Nettles	120	1985	40	SDP	NL	137	515	440	66	115	23	1	15	61	72	5	59	0	0	3	10	0	0	.261	.363	.420	.784	*5H
14	Pete Rose	118	1981	40	PHI	NL	107	486	431	73	140	18	5	0	33	46	5	26	3	1	3	8	4	4	.325	.391	.390	.781	*3
15	Sam Rice	118	1930	40	WSH	AL	147	669	593	121	207	35	13	1	73	55		14	3	17			13	8	.349	.407	.457	.864	*98/H
16	Reggie Jackson	116	1986	40	CAL	AL	132	517	419	65	101	12	2	18	58	92	11	115	3	0	3	14	1	1	.241	.379	.408	.787	*DH/9
17	Sam Rice	116	1932	42	WSH	AL	106	323	288	58	93	16	7	1	34	32		6	0	3			7	4	.323	.391	.438	.828	9H87
18	Johnny Cooney	115	1941	40	BSN	NL	123	477	442	52	141	25	2	0	29	27		15	0	9		13	3		.319	.358	.385	.743	*8/H3
19	Carl Yastrzemski	111	1982	42	BOS	AL	131	523	459	53	126	22	1	16	72	59	1	50	2	0	3	12	0	1	.275	.358	.431	.789	*DH3/8
20	Luke Appling	111	1948	41	CHW	AL	139	594	497	63	156	16	2	0	47	94		35	0	3		17	10	4	.314	.423	.354	.777	*56/H
21	Kenny Lofton	105	2007	40	TOT	AL	136	559	490	86	145	25	6	7	38	56	1	51	2	6	5	6	23	7	.296	.367	.414	.781	*87H/D
22	Dave Winfield	105	1993	41	MIN	AL	143	594	547	72	148	27	2	21	76	45	2	106	0	0	2	15	2	3	.271	.325	.442	.767	*D9/H3
23	Darrell Evans	105	1988	41	DET	AL	144	522	437	48	91	9	0	22	64	84	4	89	1	0	0	14	1	4	.208	.337	.380	.717	*D3H
24	Paul Molitor	104	1997	40	MIN	AL	135	597	538	63	164	32	4	10	89	45	8	73	0	2	12	8	11	4	.305	.351	.435	.786	*D3/H
25	Sam Rice	100	1931	41	WSH	AL	120	460	413	81	128	21	8	0	42	35		11	1	11			6	5	.310	.365	.400	.765	*9H78
Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
26	Nap Lajoie	100	1915	40	PHA	AL	129	521	490	40	137	24	5	1	61	11		16	4	15			10	6	.280	.301	.355	.656	*46/35
27	Lave Cross	100	1906	40	WSH	AL	130	538	494	55	130	14	6	1	46	28		16	0	16			19		.263	.303	.322	.625	*5
28	Jimmy Ryan	97	1903	40	WSH	AL	114	474	437	42	109	25	4	7	46	17		29	8	12			9		.249	.290	.373	.663	*8
29	Carl Yastrzemski	96	1981	41	BOS	AL	91	390	338	36	83	14	1	7	53	49	4	28	0	0	3	10	0	1	.246	.338	.355	.693	*D3/H
30	Hank Aaron	95	1975	41	MIL	AL	137	543	465	45	109	16	2	12	60	70	3	51	1	1	6	15	0	1	.234	.332	.355	.687	*D/H7
31	George Brett	94	1993	40	KCR	AL	145	612	560	69	149	31	3	19	75	39	9	67	3	0	10	20	7	5	.266	.312	.434	.746	*D/H
32	Honus Wagner	94	1914	40	PIT	NL	150	616	552	60	139	15	9	1	50	51		51	2	11			23		.252	.317	.317	.634	*65/3
33	Edgar Martinez	92	2004	41	SEA	AL	141	549	486	45	128	23	0	12	63	58	10	107	2	0	3	15	1	0	.263	.342	.385	.727	*DH
34	Pete Rose	90	1982	41	PHI	NL	162	720	634	80	172	25	4	3	54	66	9	32	7	8	3	12	8	8	.271	.345	.338	.683	*3
35	Jake Daubert	88	1924	40	CIN	NL	102	448	405	47	114	14	9	1	31	28		17	2	13			5	10	.281	.331	.368	.699	*3
36	Eddie Murray	87	1996	40	TOT	AL	152	637	566	69	147	21	1	22	79	61	6	87	0	0	10	19	4	0	.260	.327	.417	.743	*D/H3
37	Jeff Conine	86	2006	40	TOT	ML	142	539	489	54	131	26	4	10	66	40	4	65	4	1	5	13	3	2	.268	.325	.399	.724	*379H/D5
38	Paul Molitor	86	1998	41	MIN	AL	126	559	502	75	141	29	5	4	69	45	5	41	1	1	10	19	9	2	.281	.335	.382	.718	*D/3H
39	Craig Biggio	84	2006	40	HOU	NL	145	607	548	79	135	33	0	21	62	40	1	84	9	5	5	15	3	2	.246	.306	.422	.727	*4H/D
40	Derek Jeter	83	2014	40	NYY	AL	67	297	269	26	72	8	1	2	17	20	0	42	3	4	1	7	3	1	.268	.324	.327	.651	*6/DH
41	Dave Parker	81	1991	40	TOT	AL	132	541	502	47	120	26	2	11	59	33	3	98	3	0	3	9	3	3	.239	.288	.365	.653	*D/H
42	Nap Lajoie	80	1916	41	PHA	AL	113	455	426	33	105	14	4	2	35	14		26	1	14			15		.246	.272	.312	.584	*4/37H
43	Rickey Henderson	78	2000	41	TOT	ML	123	519	420	75	98	14	2	4	32	88	1	75	4	3	4	11	36	11	.233	.368	.305	.673	*7/HD
44	Craig Biggio	71	2007	41	HOU	NL	141	555	517	68	130	31	3	10	50	23	0	112	3	7	5	5	4	3	.251	.285	.381	.666	*4H/D2
45	Cal Ripken	70	2001	40	BAL	AL	128	516	477	43	114	16	0	14	68	26	1	63	2	2	9	15	0	2	.239	.276	.361	.637	*5D/H
46	Pete Rose	69	1983	42	PHI	NL	151	555	493	52	121	14	3	0	45	52	5	28	2	1	7	11	7	7	.245	.316	.286	.602	*39H/7
47	Deacon McGuire	66	1904	40	NYY	AL	101	357	322	17	67	12	2	0	20	27		45	3	5			2		.208	.276	.258	.533	*2/3
48	Omar Vizquel	61	2007	40	SFG	NL	145	575	513	54	126	18	3	4	51	44	6	48	1	14	3	14	14	6	.246	.305	.316	.621	*6/H
49	Rabbit Maranville	60	1933	41	BSN	NL	143	533	478	46	104	15	4	0	38	36		34	1	17		17	2		.218	.274	.266	.539	*4/H
50	Rabbit Maranville	59	1932	40	BSN	NL	149	635	571	67	134	20	4	0	37	46		28	3	15			4		.235	.295	.284	.579	*4
Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/26/2014.