For the first time in his professional life, Derek Jeter today
will be the Yankees’ opponent.  Barring a last-minute meeting of
the wallets, Jeter and the Yankees will be foes in a Tampa
hearing room this morning to argue before three arbitrators
whether the star shortstop receives $5 million (his asking
price) or $3.2 million (the team’s offer).  In this version of
Casey at the Bat, Jeter will be represented by his agent, Casey
Close, and the Yankees by Frank Casey, a lawyer hired for these
occasions. Will there be joy in Yankeeville when it is all over?
That appears the first major question of a Yankee spring-
training camp that opens this week just 10 minutes from the
hearing room. Players and teams always talk about how they will
not let these matters become personnel. Yet, almost inevitably,
they do.  Teams are annoyed with what they see as players asking
too much and refusing settlement offers, a combination that
grows worse should the player win (as Bernie Williams did for $3
million in 1996 to add a p