Thinking About Derek Jeter and a Hidden Injury

I broke my ankle last September (shattered may be the more correct term; after I had surgery and a plate installed, the doctor told me he had screwed the two biggest pieces back to my leg, but the rest of the pieces were too small to reattach so he threw them out). I'm better now, but still not 100%. The swelling has largely gone down, it rarely hurts even after I exercise, and the other muscles in my foot and leg have mostly recovered from their atrophy.

I'd say I'm fine, but there are some days when it does bother me and I'll catch myself limping a little, for instance, while walking around the mall or through the city, and I know I can't run as well as I used to run (if you know me you'll agree, I never ran anything close to quickly; now I'm Posada-esque). I wonder if Derek Jeter had something hurting him the way my ankle hurts me? Maybe his hamstring was a little tight and he chalked it up to getting older, or to a change in his offseason workout routine?

In the 34 games since Jeter came back from the disabled list, he's hit .326/.382/.457 and gone 6-2 in stolen base attempts. That's in line with April 2010 and the 2009 season. Of course you can cry Small Sample Size, and Jeter's .377 BABIP is above his .354 career mark. But one look tells you that Jeter's swinging the bat better, getting beat by fewer fastballs, and chasing fewer pitches.

My memory is failing in my old age, and the google isn't cooperating- wasn't Jeter hit on the hand early in 2010? Or were there hints of a leg injury earlier in 2011 that we missed?

Maybe it's all just small sample size noise, but my ankle aches when I climb the two flights of stairs here at the office for staff meetings, and I keep walking because I figure it'll either get better or it won't. I wonder if Jeter didn't spend part of the season feeling the same way.