Posted on 09/29/2014 10:15:39 AM PDT by Oldpuppymax
For most of the last twenty years the rest of the Baseball world watched Derek Jeter and his team play in October. Yes time and the odds finally caught to the Yankees over the past few seasons and on a few occasions the tables have turned, but that was inevitable.
Now Jeter is stepping away from baseball as one of the all-time greats of the game. He doesn’t sit on a tiny plateau at the top of baseball lore by default for being around a long time and being one of those who have besmirched and embarrassed baseball. He’s at the top because he earned it. His steadfast high character has served as a counter balance to those who have cheated and blackened the sport’s reputation. He wasn’t quite Babe Ruth saving baseball after the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal; but Jeter was one of the most consistent “good guys” for Major League Baseball (MLB) to point to in the wake of the recent “juicing scandal.”
MLB owes Jeter a deep debt of gratitude. Along with his team, he made going to the ballpark to see your team play the Yankees – even when you knew they would lose – worth spending your hard earned money. All over MLB’s map fans and owners love to see the Yankees come to town; and there is strong evidence that inter-league play was designed to spread the Yankees and Jeter around.
By all outward indications, Derek Jeter is an intelligent man who could have succeeded in most any career he decided to enter. Nevertheless, he has spent the last two decades selling his baseball skills to a grateful Yankee organization. Now that phase of his life is...
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...
He and Rivera were the only two Yankees I respect in the last 35 years or so.
He will most likely go low profile for a while at least.
Oh yes, “Mr. Sandman.”
“I think Coach’s observattion that Jeter gave baseball fans someone to admire, while so many others were wallowing in steroid mud, is spot on.”
I agree. As a sports fan, it just feels good to watch the celebration for one of the “good guys”.
“He got injured last season. I think Mrs. Jeter put her foot down....
The kids are almost grown, she would like to have her husband home ...
? ? ? Please explain - thanks !
I had to smile and chuckle when I read that line- been there, done that. Now, as an old dude those pickup basketball sessions demand a two-day price be paid.
The kids are almost grown . . .
We're not talking about the same Derek Jeter, but here's a gift bag for your effort.
And that paltry HR number of 260?
Nice total hit count at 3465. That's the only "great" stat he's got.
The Yankees will have a true "greatest" return in the Spring.
Say what you will about ARod, he's a legit, for-the-ages player.
He'll start the season at 654 HR and 1969 RBI. He'll turn 40 in June of 2015.
But Derek Jeter is one of the classiest guys to ever play the game and one of the few whose talent actually exceeds his ego.
Should be, He’ll start the season at 654* HR
The following year, Rodriguez took over as the Mariners' regular shortstop (SS) and hit 36 HR, drove in 123 runs, and led the American League (AL) with a .358 batting average, the highest for an AL right-handed batter since Joe DiMaggio hit .381 in 1939 and the 3rd highest ever for a SS. At 21 years and one month, he was the 3rd youngest AL batting leader ever behind Al Kaline (20) in 1955 and Ty Cobb (20) in 1907, and the 3rd youngest player in history with 35+ homers. He was also the 1st major league SS to win a batting title since 1960, and the 1st in the AL since 1944, and at 20 years, 11 months, was the youngest SS in All-Star Game history. He also led the AL in runs (141), total bases (379), and doubles (54) and ranked among the league leaders in base hits (2nd, 215), extra base hits (2nd, 91), multi-hit games (3rd, 65), slugging (4th, .631), RBI (8th, 123), and on-base percentage (8th, .414). Rodriguez posted the highest totals ever for a shortstop in runs, hits, doubles, extra base hits, and slugging, and tied most total bases, and established Seattle club records for average, runs, hits, doubles, and total bases, in a season that statistical analysts consider the best ever by an SS.[20]
I doubt A-Roid will ever be back in any regular capacity.
You think the Yankees will release him and pay his exorbitant salary for nothing?
He'll play and he'll play for the Yankees.
They’ve paid him to sit in playoffs before.
Derek should have made babies.
.310 career average.
I can't stand the Yankees. I have a lot of respect for Jeter and couldn't help but be a fan.
I think the Rangers are still paying A-Rod a few million a year.
With Jeter gone, they need the help.
Rivera and Jeter both received lavish send offs for having played the game right: With dignity, class, and staying with the same team for so long. In essence, they did what lots of players used to do before free agency turned each season into a game of 52-pickup. Jeter’s most amazing stat is that, in 20 seasons, he played about 10 games where his team had been eliminated from the playoffs. He had played two going into this year.
Derek Jeter hasn’t married, but he’s had numerous notable relationships and, if the gossip is true, countless low profile, short term (as in a long weekend or less) relationships.
I’d suspect he settles down now whole in his forties.
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