Derek Jeter signed with Fox Sports as an MLB analyst. And there’s certainly no line in his contract that says, “Must deal with lovable mascots of bitter crosstown rivals.”

Yet Jeter found himself in that predicament on Friday night after the New York Mets defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-6 at Citi Field in NLCS Game 5.

During the postgame show, Mr. and Mrs. Met walked over to the MLB on Fox set.

‘My girl is here. Come here, honey,” David Ortiz said to Mrs. Met. She walked over and gave Ortiz a big hug and he kissed her back. Mr. Met began gesturing at Ortiz in mock outrage. Things quickly became difficult.

“Is this a love triangle? What’s going on here?” joked Alex Rodriguez.

“I think this is a show for another network,” host Kevin Burkhardt noted wryly.

As the two mascots danced through the set, Mr. Met grabbed the microphone from Ortiz.

“We jumped the shark here,” Burkhardt noted.

Jeter had played along with the jokers up to that point, but the clowning of the two Mets mascots around him was too much for the New York Yankees legend. And so when Mr. Met sat down next to him, Jeter stood up and walked away. And kept walking.

Papi goes full-on Mr. Steal Yo Girl Mode with Mrs. With 😂💀 pic.twitter.com/YYbLs0RX9e

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 19, 2024

The Mets mascots were understandably in good spirits after the team’s win, following a blowout loss the night before. It’s also hard to fault Jeter for making his exit; hanging out with the Mets characters would be a bad look for a former Yankee.

Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, who recently railed at length about Yankees fans cheering for the Mets this postseason, would have been proud of Jeter.

(The New York Post)