The Captain

Joey Korn           

Re2pect for the Captain

                Baseball might have just lost not only one of the best all-around players, but one of the most honored and respected ones as well. Over the past 20 years, Derek Jeter has solidified himself into baseball history with over 3,645 hits, a career batting average of .316 and an average fielding percentage of .975, ranking 9^th out of all shortstops still playing today. Team-mates and opposing players and managers have agreed that Jeter is a true professional and is one of the best players in this generation.

                Derek Jeter grew up in New Jersey, and was a hard worker from the start. He never gave up on things and his parents even had him sign a contract that forbid the use of the word “can’t” and any other negative words. This behavior followed him all the way through high school and into the Yankees Minor League system. He had some brief struggles in the Minor Leagues, but eventually his turn came when the starting Yankee’s shortstop got injured early in the season. He was called up and had a slower start than most, but quickly turned things around. He got his first hit and scored his first run during the second game of his career and then on Opening Day of the following year, he hit his first home run. He had also won the Rookie of the Year award that same year, hitting .314 and 10 home runs. Now being with the Yankees helped his postseason career but when they were struggling, he was most certainly not.  He earned the nicknames of "Captain Clutch" and "Mr. November" due to his outstanding play in the postseason, both defensively and offensively. He has won 5 World Series Rings and has a career .316 batting average just in the postseason alone. In the 2001 ALDS, against Oakland, the Yankees were winning by one run when Oakland got a player on first with their best hitter up in the ninth inning. He hit a line drive past the Yankees right fielder, which would’ve allowed the runner to score if not for Derek Jeter. The throw from right field throw was wild, sailing into foul territory by first base, but Jeter ran all the way form shortstop, caught the ball and flipped it backhand to the catcher in time to get the runner out. The play was dubbed “The Flip” and it made Jeter even more famous.

                Derek Jeter is one of those guys that only come around once a while and thankfully for us, he stayed around for a long time. During his twenty seasons, he’s had 14 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, and a Roberto Clemente Award. He also became the 28th player to reach 3,000 hits and finished his career sixth all-time in career hits and the all-time MLB leader in hits by a shortstop. His fame isn’t just from his plays on the field either; he is a morally rich person and a natural born leader. He once said, “In order to be a good leader, you have to actually get to know the person. Some people you have to be gentle with and some you can be a little rough but you won’t know that until you know that person.”  Curt Schilling, former All Star said this of Jeter, “Derek Jeter has always been above the fray. As someone who's wallowed in it, 'foot-in-mouthed' it hundreds of times, said dumb things and backed up dumber ones, it's refreshing. He's shown up, played, and turned in a first-ballot Hall of Fame career in the hardest environment in sports to do any/all of the above." There are thousands more of quotes on Jeter and they all have one common theme: “Derek Jeter is one of the most respected players of any era and will go down in history.” His whole life is summed up by this one quote, "If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose.” He never did either, making his family, fans, teammates and most importantly, himself proud of his accomplishments. We all salute the captain. Even though he is walking away from the game, he is leaving behind a legacy of greatness.