During his time with the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter didn’t have to struggle with too many slumps. However, when the legendary Yankees shortstop was in one of the worst phases of his career, he was desperate to get out of it. The Yankees legend, in his desperation, tried something that was itself extraordinary and used a golden thong to bring his luck back.
During True Confessions on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” Derek Jeter revealed this interesting secret.
“I once wore a thong in public in front of thousands of people,” Derek Jeter said.
Fallon and singer Rita Ora then asked him questions to find out if it was true. Derek Jeter finally admitted that he was wearing a thong while he was in the batter’s box. The Captain said that one of his teammates had a good result and he came out of his hitting slump after having a gold thong. However, Jeter was unconvinced at first and thought it was nonsense.
“Let me explain really quickly,” Derek Jeter said. “I had a new teammate I played with in 2002, and he always had a gold thong hanging from his locker. He told me anytime you struggle, wear the gold thong, and you’re guaranteed to get a hit. I thought the guy was crazy.”
Giambi was the first to reveal Derek Jeter’s thong use
In 2008, slugger Jason Giambi admitted to using a thong and told that he wore it under his uniform pants when he had to pass through a bad phase in his career. Giambi did it for the Yankees and continued to do so while playing for Cleveland and Colorado.
Giambi also claimed that Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Robin Ventura, and Robinson Cano had followed him and the thing enabled them to end their slumps.
When Derek Jeter had to struggle at the bat in 2004, he changed his mind and was ready to do anything to break out of this worst phase. Jeter decided to give the thong a chance and he did it by “wearing it over his regular underwear” during a game. He felt that his career rebounded after that. On April 29, 2004, Derek Jeter broke out of his slump by hitting a home run in the first inning against the Athletics. The score was 7-5, and the Yankees won.
In 2004, Derek Jeter went 0-for-32 and this forced him to give the thong a try.
“In 2004, I went through the worst offensive stretch in my career,” Derek Jeter said. “Every day I would walk in, and he would point at the thong. Finally, I wore the thong. Now, it wasn’t thong to skin. I had shorts on underneath, so I put the thong on over the shorts. First pitch, home run.”
Derek Jeter’s 23 home runs that year were the second most he had ever hit in his 20-year career. It was clear that the thong helped him a lot. Jeter didn’t say if he had to use the thong again after that day.
Giambi claimed that the thong helped players while speaking on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” in 2015. When asked if Derek Jeter ever had it, he told:
“The golden thong is legendary. It’s never not gotten a hit. Well, it was just, you know, it was his first slump. I don’t think the guy’s ever slumped in his career. He’s unbelievable. You know, the gold thong, he had to get out of it.”
“I never gave it to anybody. I would sometimes put it in their locker. I would sometimes start mentioning I’m going to give a gold thong if you don’t get out of this slump. Sometimes I would break it out because they didn’t want to wear the gold thong. And most of the time it just ended up in their locker. And anybody who’s worn it has gotten a hit. I just know first pitch, home run and the slump was over.”
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