Watch New York Yankees’ ‘Captain’ Put Rivalries Aside in Surprising Viral Moment

During the second part of Derek Jeter's illustrious baseball career, it was always he and the New York Yankees, versus David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox, competing in one of the best rivalries in sports.

While that was happening, internally, it always appeared to be Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees, versus Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees.

Either way, A-Rod and Big Papi are always going to be viewed as rivals of Derek Jeter, especially after watching the interactions between Jeter and Rodriguez following the release of ESPN's "The Captain" documentary.

It wasn't for long, but it was for long enough to go viral, that Jeter put rivalries aside to share the desk with A-Rod and Big Papi ahead of World Series Game 4.

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Fox Pregame Show Features Derek Jeter Sitting with A-Rod, Big Papi

Ahead of first pitch for Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, Fox was in the midst of their pregame coverage, when a special guest was invited to join the quartet of analysts on-set. The camera widened out to show Derek Jeter, former captain of the New York Yankees and current Baseball Hall of Famer, walking on-stage.

MLB on Fox's Twitter account captured the rest:

Whether you're a fan of the New York Yankees, or the Boston Red Sox, it will always be jarring to see Derek Jeter embrace David Ortiz in any way. It's also probably fairly odd as a fan of the Yankees, to see Jeter and A-Rod be as friendly as they were.

Don't let appearances fool you completely, however, as Jeter made sure to draw a line in the sand with Ortiz:

The hijinks largely ended after that exchange, with Jeter joining Rodriguez, Ortiz, Frank Thomas and host Kevin Burkhardt for a normal segment of their show. Within the segment, Jeter touched on the rabid fans in Philadelphia, and their heroic manager, Rob Thomson:

Here's what Jeter shared on those topics:

Then, as quickly as it began, it was over, and Derek Jeter vanished into the night. The quartet on the Fox broadcast would return following Game 4 to break down the game they had just witnessed, and set the stage for a pivotal Game 5 in Philadelphia.

The viral moments shared above, however, will not be going anywhere anytime soon. It's a unique experience to watch athletes who were rivals for so many years, come together and share laughs and smiles in their post-playing years.

I do genuinely wonder what Jeter, A-Rod and Ortiz think of each other, now that all three are retired. Is it truly all smiles and laughs, or is there still a part of each of them that wants to beat them every chance they get?

The world may never know, but if you're a fan of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, you may hope that the big smiles are nothing more than an act, as that rivalry is still very much alive and well.