First there was an incredulous laugh, followed by a quick glance at the American League standings at the bottom of the Green Monster near the left-field line.

Derek Jeter was sitting next to a few Yankees employees in the visitors dugout about 45 minutes before Boston's 8-5, four-hour marathon victory Sunday night.

He was asked about David Ortiz's well-documented slump, which now stands at three hits in 43 at bats (.070) and, even worse, zero for his last 17 at bats.

Jeter, if you remember, had not only been there and done that in 2004, but his bat-toting malaise, which included an 0-for-32 stretch in April of that year, was in the "can't touch this" mode.

"How many games have they played?" said Jeter, looking at the AL East standings in the outfield, knowing all too well the Red Sox had played 12 games entering Sunday night.

"Every player in the league goes through a slump ... every single player," he said. "He's a long ways away from mine."

Jeter is, of course, correct.

Slumps are as much a part of baseball as pitch counts, ground-rule doubles and "God Bless America" in the seventh inning. The difference is that when you play in Boston and New York and are a perennial All-Star and legendary clutch performer, they seem to make the ESPN "SportsCenter" highlights (or lowlights) as much as the web gems do.