Derek Jeter officially played his last game as a New York Yankee in Boston and although the New York captain received much respect from the Yankees’ biggest rivals, the decision to play in Boston has not been welcomed by some of the Yankees’ biggest fans.
It’s a pretty big issue in the Yanks community — a lot of New Yorkers believe Jeter should’ve hung up his cleats after his last game at Yankees Stadium last week … and NOT played out the final games of the season at Fenway against the Red Sox.
Clearly, Jerry Seinfeld thinks Jeter chose poorly … saying, “He should NOT have played in Boston. You don’t owe anybody ANYTHING!”
Of course, Jeter got a standing ovation in Beantown … with the crowd chanting his name … but according to Jerry, the storybook ending went on a few pages too long.
The Sun has slowly begun to set on the storied career of Derek Jeter. I say that only because today will be the first of quite a few notable lasts for Jeter. This will be the final spring training game of his 20 year+ career. With each passing “last moment” that goes by, the sun will set slowly on the captain’s final season. Hopefully all the pomp and circumstance will give way to one final twilight for Jeter, one final October.
Today’s game will be against the Marlins, and the biggest thing to take away from today will not be any ceremony or speech, no number in monument park or plaque on a wall. It will be as simple as this; The captain has had a completely normal and healthy spring and will head north just recently finding his timing at the plate. Yes, He’ll be 40 in June, but I have learned that whenever those doubters get going, Jeter always shines.
Jeter’s last Opening Day will be on Tuesday the 1st and the following day, Wednesday, April 2nd, the Astros (one of the teams that passed on Jeter in the 1992 draft) will honor Jeter with a brief ceremony before the game. Something that each team is bound to do for the captain as we saw last year with Mariano Rivera’s farewell tour. Wednesday’s ceremony will be attended by Andy Pettitte and Rodger Clemens (for some reason).
Next monday, April 7th, The Yankees will host the Baltimore Orioles in Derek’s final home opener. The details of the pre-game festivities have yet to be released but since the Yankees have all year to plan something special for Jeter, I don’t believe he will be the focus of any ceremony that day. The thing to watch will be the fans. Monday’s home opener will mark the first time the fans will get to say goodbye to the captain in the Bronx.
My heroes, my dreams and my future lay at Yankee Stadium. And they can’t take that away from me.
Fortune Magazine put together a list of today’s 50 greatest leaders and in a list consisting of people from all walks of life including, Pope Francis I (number 1), Apple CEO Tim Cook (number 33), and the Dalai Lama (number 9). Fortune Magazine tabbed our Yankee captain as number 11 on the list.
As he begins his 20th and final season in pinstripes, Jeter remains that type of role-model player that even a Red Sox fan must grudgingly respect. it’s not the five World Series rings he’s won or his team record for career hits. in a steroid-tainted, reality-TV era, Jeter, the son of two Army veterans, continues to stand out because of his old-school approach: Never offer excuses or give less than maximum effort.
It is enough of an honor that Fortune Magazine decided to name Jeter to this list, but Fortune felt Jeter was the only athlete deserving enough to make this list. Jeter has always been viewed as an above average player, but as far as his skill level goes, he has never been the undeniable best. That’s not what made him great. The thing that made Jeter great is a word that is so often associated with him: The intangibles.
Jeter was able to come into a starting role on the 1996 Yankees in his rookie season and by half way through that year, he was leading the team straight up to their first World Series title since 1978. Jeter did not relinquish that leadership role and in June of 2003, Jeter was named the 14th captain of the Yankees and has held that title for 11 years making him the longest tenured yankee captain.
It’s a great honor for Jeter to be named to Fortune’s 50 greatest leaders list, but it is also very much deserved.
It’s pretty obvious that the Yankees will retire Derek Jeter’s number this season. After what we saw last year with Mariano Rivera, we can figure that Jeter is in store for a day just like Mo got.
As soon as the captain announced his retirement, tickets for obvious milestone games, skyrocketed in price. Opening Day saw an increase. The last home game went through the roof. Even the last game of the season at Fenway Park got up around $250 for standing room tickets.
However, the most important day is one that is not set in stone yet. Derek Jeter Day will be the day the yankees immortalize Jeter’s number in monument park and thanks to last year’s Mariano Rivera Day, we can make a pretty good educated guess.
Judging by how the Yankees like to do things, I am putting my money on Sunday, September 21st against the Blue Jays. That day has seen a hike in ticket sales as well due to the fact that people like me figure that to be the day but tickets are still pretty affordable. There are many sites with tickets still available but my go to site is www.VIVIDSEATS.com. Click on that link to go right to the game on September 21st.
As I’m sure you have heard, this will be Derek Jeter’s last season in professional baseball. If for some reason you haven’t heard, Derek Jeter announced his retirement via a Facebook post last month.
Jeter has said he will do something this year that he has admitted to being bad at in the past. He will enjoy every last moment of this season. As he does that, my plan is to try to share all those moments with you. My goal is to let you enjoy every last minute of this final season as much as Derek does. My other goal is to hopefully convey just how impressive Derek Jeter has been throughout his career to those of you who think he may be a bit overrated.
So I hope you enjoy the future installments of “The Final Season.”
It was the night of March 31st 2013. Many of us Yankee fans were getting ready for Opening Day the next day. It was late, already dark for several hours. When out of the cold windy night I heard an unfamiliar sound. Between the gusts of wind on this particularly chilly March night, I heard the sound of chains rattling. The sound continued for some time, seemingly getting closer with each rattle. I began to feel my nerves jumping with each thrash of metal that now sounded like it was outside my bedroom door. I locked the door hoping whomever was out there would be stopped, but I was mistaken. The door swung open with brut force and the chains were thrown at my feet.
Connected to these many links was a familiar man. Though it couldn’t be him, it was, staring me directly in my eyes. I said, “what are you doing here?” Nervous yet excited to hear his answer, hear him speak. He told me of a crime committed against the game of baseball. He said it was a injustice to the game. I asked him who was to blame expecting any answer other than the one I received. “Yankee fans.” He replied in a stern voice. I told him he must be mistaken. That we Yankee fans are among the best in baseball. He emplored me to listen to his reasoning but I interrupted.
“You see sir, this city is the greatest city in the world and so is this team. Winning is our legacy and October is our birthright. We live and die by the World Series.” I believe I spoke passionately, enough to sway him and make him see that we Yankee faithful could not be guilty of a crime. To my surprise, I only angered him. “You do not see the error of your ways!” He said, but continued “there is still time for you to learn what I never did, during the coming months you will be visited my three ghosts. The Ghost of Seasons Past, Present and Yet To Come.” And with that, he was gone. I woke up the next morning believing I had some strange dream the night before. The season started that day.
Before long I was visited by the first ghost. The Ghost of Seasons Past:
He emplored me to pay close attention to Mariano Rivera. Mo had already announced that this would be his last year but after spending almost a full season on the DL with a torn ACL, you wondered how affective he would be this year. The ghost showed me that it was wrong to wonder. Mariano would not blow his first save until late May and would be just as dominant as ever. In his final act, he would take us back to 1996 and show us just how truly special his career is. Watching him has been like watching a man frozen in time and the ghost expressed to me how much I need to cherish the past and be grateful that some things haven’t changed. But then the ghost left and late May is where it all went south for this team.
Everyone was hurt and the guys that weren’t hurt, couldn’t hit to save their lives. No righty power was present. The team would constantly lose low scoring games. The Ghost of Seasons Past was right but this team wasn’t the same anymore. No way they can win a World Series. And as if things couldn’t look any bleaker during the Yankees hitting woes, the Ghost of Seasons Present showed up.
The Ghost of Seasons Present:
The ghost showed me players that the Yankees had failed to re-sign this past offseason. He showed me Nick Swisher that by the All Star break, was having his usual offensive year that could have strongly benefited this Yankee team, but he was doing it in Cleveland.
The ghost then showed me Russell Martin who’s offense had not only improved but who also had become a clutch hitter for the Pirates. A leader for the Pirates as well, being not only a presence at the plate but also behind it. Martin was helping them become one of the best teams in baseball. Meanwhile our catcher was hurt and linked to a steroid scandal and we were stuck with a lack luster tandem of Chris Stewart and Austin Romine.
The ghost finally showed me a player that wrote himself into Yankee playoff history. A player that tied an October game in the bottom of the ninth with one swing and later won it with another. He showed me Raul Ibanez. Ibanez at 41 was having a prime season. One of the league leaders in home runs through the All Star break, missing out on him hurt badly. Especially with the injuries to Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez, the team’s home run threats.
Realizing this could just be a lost season. A season decimated by injuries, the anger faded but the disappointment was still strong as the Ghost of Seasons Present left and the final ghost arrived.
The Ghost of Seasons Yet To Come:
This was the ghost I feared the most. This was the ghost that showed me what the Yankees would be like without its beloved captain. Derek Jeter broke his ankle last October only to re-break it in march. He then came back after the All Star break only to injur his quad in the first game. He came back about 2 weeks later only to injur his calf. He’s provided a small spark each time he’s come back but the ghost was showing me just how little time could be left in the story book career that I and many like me have been blessed to whiteness since day one. The ghost made me realize how much I need to stop obsessing about certain things and just enjoy watching the team I love play the game I love. The players won’t always be the same but the game always will. I have to cherish it no matter what. Find the joy in it even when they’re down because that is the whole point of baseball. It’s a game meant to entertain.
The final ghost left me and I awoke the morning of August 31st. I hadn’t missed it. The season wasn’t over! And miraculously, the bruised and battered Yankees are only 4.5 games out of the Wild Card. Jeter is back again and with the return of guys like Rodriguez and Granderson and the addition of Mark Reynolds, things are looking up. Austin Romine has really come around and shown this team he belongs here and with a gift from the Ghost of Seasons Past, Alfonso Soriano, the Yankees are a threat from both sides of the plate, capable of making any pitcher pay.
They may not make it to October, but they are fighting. They are grinding it out. We Yankee fans are a proud bunch but if October doesn’t end with a parade it’s “bah humbug!” We need to realize that October is not a right, it’s a privilege. And maybe a visit from these 3 ghosts will make us smile a little easier, cheer a little louder and beam a little brighter when our team grinds it out hard enough to have the honor of October baseball. This year, or seasons yet to come.
I think that’s what The Boss’ ghost was trying to teach me, trying to teach us all.
Derek Jeter is in the final stretch of his long rehabilitation that has kept him out of games in the Bronx since he broke his ankle back in October. Saturday marked the first action Jeter has seen in a live game since spring training when he re-broke his ankle. It’s been a long and emotionally painstaking road for the notoriously impatient Yankee captain and he is in a hurry to get back where he belongs. However, fans in Scranton, Pennsylvania wouldn’t mind if Jeter took a little longer to get back in his familiar pinstripes.
Since Saturday, Jeter has been playing for the Scranton Railriders, a Class AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees. He has put on quite the clinic, doing his best to prove to the suits in the Bronx that he is ready to help his team. The passed 3 games at the newly renovated PNC Park have all been sell out crowds of 10,000 and Jeter even admitted to being a little nervous before Saturdays game. So far, Jeter’s progress has been well documented. A few scouts even marveled at how honed in Jeter seems even after missing so much time. However, Jeter’s impact on the field may not compare to the impact he is having on this small town community in Pennsylvania.
Derek is staying at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center and I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult for a person of his means to stay shut in his hotel suite while he is not at PNC Park but the star shortstop has done just the opposite. He has gone out to many local business to show his face and his support. And with social media being so readily available, it doesn’t take long for business to pick up at whatever local eatery Jeter is at.
Jeter has been to Osaka on Adams Avenue for dinner, the Backyard Alehouse on Linden Street for drinks. He’s been to the Downtown Deli on Spruce Street in Scranton for lunch. He’s also enjoyed a couple of steak houses such as Carl Von Luger Steak and Seafood and State Street Grill in Clarks Summit. As you may know, Jeter loves his Starbucks so he has even paid a visit to the Steamtown Mall coffee-house for a triple grande non-fat cappuccino. Staff at each local business described Jeter as friendly and approachable. Many calling him just a normal guy. It didn’t take long for word to spread each time and Jeter graciously took photos and signed autographs for fans who were nice enough to keep their distance until Jeter was finished with his meal.
Mark Grambo, 23, had dinner with his mom and sister at the State Street Grill. He described Mr. Jeter as a normal guy, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and eating a salad.
“As a baseball fan, it doesn’t get any better than Derek Jeter,” said Mr. Grambo, noting that he’s an Atlanta Braves fan. “It doesn’t matter who you like, it was awesome. He’s the face of the game, a non-steroid using hero.” Grambo also said that within 20 minutes, the restaurant was packed.
Plenty of Yankee fans wait with bated breath for the captain to return but while he is in Scranton he seems to be doing all he can to generate revenue for local business owners. It seems the community around Scranton, PA will be sad to see Jeter go.
Allow them to reintroduce themselves as ROC Nation. Robinson Cano has stunned the baseball world by firing Scott Boras in the middle of extension talks with the Yankees. Boras is the biggest agent in baseball so for Cano to fire him during negotiations is bizarre. As if this wasn’t a strange enough development, soon after ESPNs Buster Olney reported the split, word circulated that Cano had found new representation. Cano signed a deal with hip hop mogul Jay Z.
At first I thought reports had to be wrong but apparently Jay Z has started a new endeavor. He has partnered with CAA talent agency to start his own sports management agency by the name of ROC Nation. Jay Z’s first client is Robinson Cano. When reached for a statement, Boras told members of the New York media that he hadn’t heard from Cano about a split but a tweet from Cano told a different story.
Rumors have been swirling and sources have been speaking. The word is that former Boras clients, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixiera had been in Cano’s ear about firing Boras. They allegedly told him that parting ways with Boras could only help his image with the fan base. Rodriguez and Teixiera both have fired Boras in the past, but only after major contract negotiations. Cano is the first major name to ever bounce the super agent before a big pay day.
Another rumor swirling is why Boras was not alerted of this blockbuster deal. The rumor is that the Yankees offered Boras a 6 year deal worth $27.5 million a year and Boras told the Yanks “no way” without consulting with Cano. If that is true, it makes sense why Boras would be the last to know about his termination.
As for Cano’s decision to sign with Jay Z, a lot of thought has gone into that. Sources say the Cano wants to be a name brand both on and off the field. Sweeny Murti from WFan said he was told Cano wants to be like Jeter and sees that only being possible in New York. Cano sees Jay Z as the best way of accomplishing all this. All in all, this move seems to be the first win of the season for the Yankees. The likelihood of Cano staying in pinstripes is much greater now that Boras is out and Hova is in.
Derek Jeter has officially reported to spring training and sat down to address the media mainly about how his ankle is feeling. If you don’t recall, last year during the ALCS, Jeter broke his ankle and had to be carried off the field. He had been playing on what was thought to be a bone bruise but later turned out to be a stress fracture. Jeter revealed to the media that he had screws inserted into his ankle and that they would be there forever. When asked how the off season went, Jeter told the press that it was terrible having to rehab from this injury. Jeter admitted to having to learn how to walk again and even using a motor scooter to get around his 30,000 square foot home.
However, when Jeter was asked if he would be good to go on opening day, his answer was simple. “Why not?” Jeter sees no reason why he wouldn’t be fine to start the season on April 1st. He claims that his ankle is completely healed and that his only hurdle is getting the rest of his 38 year old body into game shape. Jeter was recently cleared by team doctors to resume all baseball activity but said he would not play in a spring training game until March.
I’ve noticed that many baseball “fans” believe that Jeter is too old to come back from this injury and too old to produce on a high level. These people compare him to other short stops and other players of his age. What people don’t understand is that there isn’t a single player in the league like Derek Jeter. If anyone can come back from this injury it is him. To those who say that he is too old to produce, let’s not forget he led the league in hits last season. Jeter believes he can have another year like last year and the Yankees are relying on him to do so. One thing I’ve learned about Derek Jeter since he came up with the club in 1995; he rarely disappoints.
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