NEW YORK — Derek Jeter has a long list of unforgettable moments from his Hall of Fame career with the Yankees. Yet one lighthearted story from 2004 continues to resurface whenever baseball fans need a laugh.
During Fox’s pregame broadcast before Game 6 of the World Series on Friday night, the five-time World Series champion once again found himself recalling one of the most unusual tales in Yankees history — the infamous gold thong story. The moment mixed desperation, superstition, and one of the fastest home run trots Jeter ever made.
How the story came up on live television
Fox Sports commentator Kevin Burkhardt set up the moment perfectly. While chatting with Jeter and the rest of the broadcast team, he casually asked how Jeter used to break out of batting slumps during his playing days.
“You had a couple of slumps in your career, what’d you do?” Burkhardt asked.
Jeter immediately laughed, clearly realizing where the conversation was headed. With some hesitation, he decided to share the full backstory involving his former Yankees teammate Jason Giambi and his now-famous lucky charm.
The gold thong makes its first appearance
Derek Jeter said that he didn’t know Giambi very well when they first became teammates, but something strange in the clubhouse quickly caught his attention.
“I didn’t know Jason very well, but every day I walked in the locker room I saw this gold thong hanging from his locker,” Jeter said on air. “I don’t want to ask him what the gold thong is there for.”
Eventually, Giambi explained it himself. According to the Yankees slugger, it was a good-luck ritual designed to end batting slumps.
“He said that anytime you slump you wear the gold thong and you’re guaranteed to get a hit,” Jeter recalled.
Desperation leads to trying the impossible
April 2004 turned into one of Jeter’s most difficult stretches at the plate. The Yankees shortstop went hitless in 32 straight at-bats, one of the worst slumps of his career. Every day, he saw that gold thong hanging by Giambi’s locker. Finally, he decided it was time to try anything.
When Jeter finally put it on, he made sure to clarify one important detail — dignity still mattered.
“Now, listen, I had shorts on,” Jeter said with a laugh. “I put the thong on top.”
The Yankees captain wanted to make it clear that he hadn’t completely lost his pride while chasing a hit.
Instant success follows gold thong gamble
On the very first pitch he saw after putting on Giambi’s gold thong, Jeter crushed a home run off Oakland Athletics ace Barry Zito, the 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner.
The blast broke his slump and instantly turned Giambi’s bizarre superstition into Yankees legend.
“I have never in my career run around the bases that fast,” Jeter said. “I thought everyone in Yankee Stadium could see that gold thong.”
The mental image of the normally calm Yankees captain racing around the bases in panic added to the laughter and made the story one of baseball’s most memorable superstitions.
Ortiz delivers perfect punchline
As Jeter finished his story on Fox, the studio crew broke into laughter. But former Red Sox star David Ortiz, one of Jeter’s biggest rivals during his playing days, delivered the perfect comedic twist.
Ortiz reached into his jacket and pulled out a gold thong of his own, tossing it toward Jeter.
“You are in a slump right now,” Ortiz said, drawing even louder laughter from the set.
It was a classic exchange between two icons who spent years battling on opposite sides of the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry.
Giambi shared his superstition with multiple teammates
Giambi’s famous thong wasn’t just a one-time experiment. Over the years, several Yankees teammates reportedly tried it when they struggled at the plate.
“I only put it on when I’m desperate to get out of a big slump,” Giambi told Portfolio.com in 2008.
Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Robin Ventura, and Robinson Cano were among those rumored to have worn it. Giambi claimed the ritual always worked.
“All of them wore it and got hits,” Giambi said. “The thong works every time.”
He described the piece of clothing as gold lamé with tiger stripes and treated it like a good-luck charm that could snap anyone out of a cold streak.
Jeter confirmed the story years later
Jeter first publicly admitted to the gold thong story during an appearance in February 2023. It was the first time he personally confirmed what had long been a whispered legend around the Yankees’ clubhouse.
The story captured the lengths players go to break out of slumps. Baseball has always been full of odd rituals — from refusing to change socks to eating the same pregame meal — but Giambi’s thong stood apart.
It also showed Jeter’s willingness to laugh at himself. The Yankees captain, known for his composure and professionalism, had once turned to a teammate’s lucky charm to end his worst slump.
The humor behind baseball traditions
Giambi himself faced plenty of struggles late in his career. During the final year of his seven-year, $120 million contract with the Yankees, he hit just .188 while hearing boos from fans. But he kept his sense of humor about it.
“I never hear the boos because I’m too busy booing myself,” Giambi said in that same 2008 interview. “No critic is worse on me than me. I can beat myself up pretty good.”
That mix of honesty and self-deprecation helped make Giambi one of the most relatable figures in the Yankees clubhouse. His quirky gold thong became a symbol of how even the biggest stars search for ways to break free from pressure.
Jeter’s retelling of the story on live television reminded fans that even legends go through rough patches. The Yankees icon, known for his leadership and poise, once found himself desperate enough to slip a gold thong over his shorts before hitting a home run off one of baseball’s best pitchers.
Two decades later, that story still gets laughs. It also reminds baseball fans that behind every Hall of Fame highlight, there are moments of humor, superstition, and humility — even for someone like Derek Jeter, the most famous captain in Yankees history.
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