He's Clutch, He's Class, He's the Captain

Do you think that when the New York Yankees’ clubhouse manager gave out the #2 jersey to a young shortstop during the 1995 season, he knew what he was doing? Later that year, that clubhouse manager gave the #6 jersey to newly named manager Joe Torre. Call it fate, call it intuition, call it whatever you want but remember this: Other than #2 and #6, all the single digits are retired by the New York Yankees, including numbers 3, 4, 5 and 7, worn respectively by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. I imagine that every time Derek Jeter puts on those pinstripes along with his #2 jersey, those players with those jersey numbers enter his mind, perhaps since his debut with the big club. He homered on Opening Day 1996, won American League Rookie of the Year and helped the Yankees to their first World Series Championship since 1978. Derek Sanderson Jeter had arrived and over the next decade and a half, he played the game the way it should be played. He, along with Mr. Torre, as Jeter would refer to him, began to change the image of Yankees. Most athletes in any sport would be happy with a rookie season like that, but it was apparent very early on that Derek Jeter was only getting started.

Jeter just reached a baseball plateau very few get to. He became the 28^th player in history to get 3000 hits in a career, and is also the 4^th youngest in history to do so. That mark typically ensures an automatic berth in Cooperstown, Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. This should hold true for Jeter. However, even though Derek has played in virtually every October since 1996, there are plenty out there who would be quick to say that Derek Jeter is good, not great, and perhaps even overrated. I still shake my head when I think of the people who try to tell me that. Let’s first try to set a map or guideline as to what a team expects from a great player or what a team needs from a shortstop.

A shortstop should first and foremost provide stability at his position, playing solid defense and be the coach on the field. Jeter has won five Gold Gloves at shortstop and has never looked out of position in any situation.

While a shortstop should think defense first, most quality offensive shortstops hit near the top of the order and produce runs any way possible. Not only has Jeter reached 3000 hits, which is the most by a shortstop in history, he also has a lifetime average of .312 and is currently 24^th all-time in runs scored. By the end of next season, Jeter could easily be in the top 15 in both runs and hits all-time.

A shortstop should be the team’s leader and represent the franchise in a positive way. Jeter was named team captain in 2003. He has also been named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 2009 and won the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team, as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media.

What else has Derek Jeter accomplished in his prolific career? Five World Series rings, four Silver Slugger awards (given to the best hitter at each position), nine times hitting over .300, seven times accumulating at least 200 hits in a season, and more hits and runs scored in postseason history. While he had the help and good fortune of playing on good teams, teams who always had the resources to get the best players money could buy, this organization has at times been very unstable. From the failure to hit in the clutch egomaniac Alex Rodriguez, to the steroid ridden roster of ARod, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, and others, the meddling and controversial owner George Steinbrenner followed by his sons Hal and Hank, Jeter has been one of the few constants in the Yankee organization to show up day after day and help the team win. He has also done things never before seen in Major League Baseball history. Jeter is the 1^st and only player in history to win MVP of the All-Star game and World Series in the same season. He was the 1^st player to homer in the month of November, winning Game four of the 2001 World Series. And who could ever forget his flip to nail Jeremy Giambi at home plate, keeping his Yanks alive while down 2-0 in a best of five series? Let’s not forget that he has more hits than anyone ever in a Yankee uniform. THE NEW YORK YANKEES. He has more than all of them. Also, other than Albert Pujols or Ken Griffey Jr, what other everyday player over the last 10-15 seasons has been this successful and this great and not linked to steroids? It’s easy for people to say that he’s finished, his best years are behind him, he can’t play shortstop anymore, and he doesn’t deserve his contract. What more can he do? What do people want from him? Do you want him to be so pumped with HGH that he becomes superhuman and cartoonish like the Barry Bonds’, Mark McGwire’s and Sammy Sosa’s of the world? Or do you want a star that has a natural ascension and dissension throughout his career?

Derek Jeter is one of baseball’s all-time greatest players and he is among the sports world’s all-time greatest athletes. He has a Joe Montana-like quality, cool and calm under pressure, rising above the so-called intensity and desiring that big moment. Jeter also has some Wayne Gretzky in him, a gentleman who represents his sport with grace and class. And for the balance, Jeter has a bit of Kobe Bryant in him as well, a killer who you don’t want to see at the plate with the game on the line, because he will find a way, even if he has to step on you, to help his team win. Interestingly enough, those three athletes also share another thing with Jeter, multiple rings.

Did Derek Jeter hit as many homeruns as Ernie Banks? No. Did Derek Jeter have the durability of Cal Ripken? No. Did Derek Jeter play a defensive shortstop like Ozzie Smith? No. But never has there been another shortstop that could do it all consistently and with such poise as Derek Jeter. Never has there been a baseball player who quite balanced success on and off the field in the media driven city of the Big Apple with virtually no negative publicity. Never has there been a ball player who put his team and winning before himself more than Jeter. Never has there been a player who prefers to celebrate with his parents before his teammates after another World Series ring. Never before has there been a Derek Jeter. And there never will be again.