Derek Jeter: Mr. November, the longest-serving Yankees captain

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The Bio

Derek Jeter is a five-time World Series champion with the Yankees. His hitting, base running, fielding, and leadership were key parts of the Yankees’ dynasty in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has more hits (3,465), doubles (544), games played (2,747), stolen bases (358), times on base (4,716), plate appearances (12,602), and at-bats than anyone else in Yankees history (11,195). A 14-time All-Star, Derek Jeter had five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, and a Roberto Clemente Award. Jeter was the Yankees captain from 2003 to 2014.

Derek Jeter was the 28th player in MLB history to get 3,000 hits, and he finished his career with the most hits for any shortstop in MLB history. His postseason exploits are baseball lore. In 2017, the Yankees took away his number 2 from his uniform. He ranks among the most heavily marketed sports personalities.

As a young boy, Derek Jeter went to Tiger Stadium in Detroit with his parents and sister on a Sunday afternoon three days before his 11th birthday in 1985. At the time, he liked the Yankees. Even though he grew up in Michigan, he spent the summers with his mother’s parents in New Jersey. From a young age, he went to games at Yankee Stadium with them. Dave Winfield was his favorite player, and he was able to get his autograph after the game. That night, he told his parents, “One day, you’ll come see me play at Tiger Stadium.” On June 7, 1996, Derek Jeter played his first game at Tiger Stadium. It was his 68th game in the major leagues. His parents were there, as they would be at many other great times in his career, including when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.

In the 1992 MLB draft, the first pick went to the Houston Astros. Hal Newhouser, a Hall of Fame pitcher who worked as a scout for the Astros, gave Derek Jeter a thorough look and pushed for the team to pick him. But the Astros didn’t listen to him because they were afraid that Jeter would want a salary bonus of at least $1 million. The Yankees, who picked sixth, also thought a lot of Jeter. Dick Groch, a Yankees scout who was sent to the Midwest to look for players, saw Derek Jeter at an all-star camp at Western Michigan University. Officials with the Yankees were worried that Jeter would go to college instead of signing a professional contract, but Groch persuaded them to pick him by saying, “Derek Jeter is only going to Cooperstown.”

After a good 1993 season, Baseball America ranked Derek Jeter as the 16th-best baseball prospect. Baseball America named him the fourth-best prospect in baseball before the 1995 season, and the Yankees expected him to start at shortstop. Tony Fernández and Pat Kelly both got hurt early in the 1995 season. So, Jeter’s first game in the MLB was on May 29, 1995. He was given uniform number 2, which Mike Gallego last wore from 1992 to 1994. As the ninth batter, he didn’t get a hit in five at-bats and struck out once. The next day, Derek Jeter got his first two hits in the big leagues and scored his first two runs. When he stepped up to the plate at Yankee Stadium for the first time on June 2, 1995, he heard the familiar words, “Batting for the Yankees, Number 2, Derek Jeter, Number 2.”

In 1995, Fernández only hit .245 and played in only 108 games because of injuries. For the 1996 season, the Yankees’ new manager, Joe Torre, turned to Derek Jeter. Baseball America ranked Jeter as the sixth-best prospect in baseball before the 1996 season. On Opening Day, he hit his first home run in the MLB. Jeter’s speed and ability to hit and run made him a good match for Tim Raines, who batted first, when he was in the ninth spot in the batting order. By the end of the year, Derek Jeter had hit way better than anyone expected, including Torre. He hit 10 home runs and drove in 104 runs. He had 78 RBIs and got all 28 first-place votes and was chosen as the AL Rookie of the Year. This is only the fifth time in the 50-year history of the award that no one else was chosen.

The Yankees made it to the playoffs in 1996, and Torre put Jeter at the top of the order because he had done so well all year. In Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series (ALCS), the Yankees were behind the Baltimore Orioles 4–3 in the eighth inning when Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to right field that was caught by a 12-year-old fan and called a home run by the umpires. Overall, Jeter hit .361 in the playoffs of 1996. He helped lead the Yankees’ offense as they beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series to win their first title since 1978.

In 1997, Derek Jeter took over as the first batter for the Yankees. He was chosen for his first All-Star Game in 1998. During the regular season, he hit .324, scored 127 runs, hit 19 home runs, and drove in 84 runs for a team that won 114 games and is widely considered to be one of the best of all time. He hit .353 in the World Series, which helped the Yankees beat the San Diego Padres. In the voting for the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, Jeter came in third. In 1999, Jeter had 219 hits, which was the most in the AL. He also had a batting average of .349 and scored 134 runs, which put him in the All-Star game for the second time.

In 2000, Jeter hit .339, which was the best on his team. He also hit 15 home runs, drove in 73 runs, scored 119 runs, and stole 22 bases. In the MLB All-Star Game in 2000, he had three hits, one of which was a single that scored two runs and gave his team the lead and the win. He was the first Yankee to win the Most Valuable Player award at the All-Star Game. During the World Series, he hit.409 with two home runs, a triple, and two doubles. He played against the New York Mets. The Yankees beat the Mets in five games to win their third straight championship. It was the fourth title for Derek Jeter since playing five full seasons in New York. He became the first MLB player to be named the MVP in both the All-Star game and the World Series.

In the 2001 World Series Game 4, Derek Jeter hit a fantastic shot to the opposite field to win the game. It is counted among the top nine postseason wins ever in Yankees history.

After eight seasons without a captain, Steinbrenner made Jeter the Yankees’ captain on June 3, 2003. During the 12th inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox, on July 1, 2004, Jeter ran from his shortstop spot and caught the ball over his shoulder. He jumped over the fence on the third-base side and two rows of seats, cutting his chin and bumping his face. In the bottom of the 13th inning, the Yankees won the game. In the This Year in Baseball Awards competition, fans at MLB.com chose this as the best play of the year. Derek Jeter got his first Gold Glove Award at the end of the 2004 season. His diving catch on July 1 was given as a reason for the award.

A lot of people thought that Derek Jeter would win the AL MVP Award for 2006. In a close vote, Justin Morneau of the Twins beat out Jeter for second place. It was his sixth time in 11 full seasons up to 2006 to finish in the top 10 of the MVP voting. He didn’t win the MVP Award, but he did win the Hank Aaron Award, which is given to the best offensive player. He also won his third Gold Glove Award in a row.

Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig’s record of 1,269 hits at Yankee Stadium on September 14, 2008, when he hit a home run off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price. On September 16, he beat Chicago White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd to break the record. In the second half of the 2009 season, Jeter reached two important hit milestones. On August 16, 2009, against the Seattle Mariners, Derek Jeter hit a double down the right-field line for his 2,675th hit as a shortstop. This broke Luis Aparicio’s record for most hits in the major leagues. Then, on September 11, 2009, Jeter passed Lou Gehrig to become the Yankees player with the most hits of all time with 2,722. Chris Tillman, a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, gave up a single in the third inning.

During the 2009 postseason, Derek Jeter hit .355, including.407 in the 2009 World Series, when he won his fifth World Series championship. Sports Illustrated named him Sportsman of the Year for 2009, and he won the Roberto Clemente Award, the Hank Aaron Award, the Gold Glove Award, and the Silver Slugger Award while coming third for AL MVP. On July 9, 2011, David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays gave Jeter his 3,000th career hit, a home run. On August 29, 2011, Jeter played his 2,402nd game with the Yankees, breaking Mickey Mantle’s record for most games played as a Yankee.

He finished the 2011 season with 162 hits. This was his 16th straight season with 150 hits, tying him with Pete Rose for the second-most consecutive 150-hit seasons. Derek Jeter finished 2012 with the most hits in MLB (216). On February 12, 2014, Jeter posted on Facebook that the 2014 season would be his last. On September 7, Jeter was honored by the Yankees with a tribute before the game. Starting with that day’s game, the Yankees honored Jeter by putting a patch on their hats and uniforms. In the final week of Jeter’s career, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig gave him the 15th Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award for being “one of the most accomplished shortstops of all time.”

On the secondary market, the average price of a ticket for Derek Jeter’s last home game, which was on September 25, reached $830. In his last game at Yankee Stadium, against Orioles pitcher Evan Meek, Jeter hit a walk-off single to win the game 6–5.

People say that Derek Jeter is one of the most reliable baseball players ever. In his career, he had an average of 162 games with 204 hits, 113 runs scored, and 21 stolen bases. Right now, he is sixth on the list of all-time hits in MLB.

Derek Jeter is known for how well he plays in the postseason. Because of this, people have called him “Captain Clutch” and “Mr. November.” He hit .309 in the postseason over the course of his career and .321 in the World Series. Except for 2008, 2013, and 2014, the Yankees made the playoffs every year that Derek Jeter played in the major leagues. He has the most plate appearances (734), at-bats (650), hits (200), singles (143), doubles (32), triples (5), runs scored (111), total bases (302), and strikeouts in the MLB postseason (135). Jeter is also fourth in home runs (20) and runs batted in (61), fifth in bases on balls (66), and sixth in stolen bases (18).

In August of 2017, Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman finished a deal to buy the Miami Marlins. The sale went through in September 2017 and Jeter became the team’s chief executive officer (CEO), and Sherman, the team’s controlling owner, gave him the job of running the day-to-day business of the team.

Derek Jeter said on February 28, 2022, that he would no longer be CEO of the Marlins or own any shares in the team.

In 1996, Derek Jeter set up a charity group called the Turn 2 Foundation. It was set up to help kids and teens avoid getting hooked on drugs and alcohol and to reward those who do well in school.

Derek Jeter played for the New York Yankees for all 20 years of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career. In 2020, his first year of eligibility, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He got 396 out of 397 possible votes (99.75%), which is the second-highest percentage in MLB history (after teammate Mariano Rivera) and the highest percentage for a position player.

ESPN aired a documentary entitled “The Captain” on July 18, 2022. It depicted the life and achievements of Derek Jeter. He ranks among the top 10 greatest Yankees hitters of all time.

Derek Jeter’s Greatest Moments

• 1994 The Sporting News & Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year, Tampa Yankees, Florida State League, Albany-Colonie Yankees, Eastern League & Columbus Clippers, International League
• 1994 MVP Florida State League Tampa Yankees
• 1996 AL Rookie of the Year Award
• 1996 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• 14-time AL All-Star (1998-2002, 2004, 2006-2012, and 2014)
• 2000 All-Star Game MVP
• 2000 World Series MVP
• 5-time AL Gold Glove Winner (2004-2006, 2009, and 2010)
• 5-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2006-2009, and 2012)
• AL At-Bats Leader in 2012
• AL Runs Scored Leader in 1998
• 2-time AL Hits Leader (1999 and 2012)
• 3-time AL Singles Leader in 1997, 1998, and 2012
• 20-Home Run Seasons in 1999, 2001, and 2004
• 100 RBI Seasons in 1999
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 13 times (1996-2002, 2004-2007, 2009, and 2010)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 8 (1998-2000, 2005-2007, 2009, and 2012)
• Won five World Series with the New York Yankees (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009)

FAQs about Derek Jeter

The Stats

Derek Jeter’s Standard Batting record

Derek Jeter’s Postseason Batting

Derek Jeter’s Career Graph

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