And just like that, one of the greatest Yankees of all-time ended his career at Yankee Stadium with a walk-off hit. I've been fortunate to see some great athletes in my time. Michael Jordan, Oscar De La Hoya, Mariano Rivera. Derek Jeter, however, is probably the best of the bunch. The other three had a level of absolute talent that Jeter never possessed. Jordan looked like he was playing a different sport altogether that the rest of NBA was trying to figure out as they went. De La Hoya had those hands and that capacity for smelling blood in the water that made him such a dangerous fighter. Mo had that cutter. He threw one pitch and almost no one ever hit it.
Jeter had . . . the spinning throw. It was less a god-given ability than a way to compensate for some of his defensive weaknesses. But that's just it. Jeter didn't have the best tools in the game, but he took the tools he had and crafted masterpieces with them, and that's all we'll ever remember. How many great Jeter moments did we get to watch? When he was on the verge of 3,000 hits, just recently having come off the DL, he stepped into a game against one of the best pitchers in baseball, hit a home run for number 3,000 and went 5-5. He may not have had the best tools, but he was the best of the artists. And when you have art, the tools matter a lot less.
Thank you Derek. Thank you for 20 seasons of masterpiece baseball.
6 comments:
Jeter spent a long career playing a demanding position for a win-at-all-costs team with unforgiving fans, and still emerged with an impeccable reputation. One of my favorite stories about him was just some quotes from various veteran players who said how decent and polite he was as a young player and never changed over the years, based on conversations held at second base.
His public persona was bland, but the Yankees needed bland. They had George Steinbrenner, Hal Steinbrenner, despised players like ARod, Javier Vazquez, Igawa, and Pavano, and dopers like ARod, Giambi, and, as much as it pains me to say it, Pettitte. They always had someone making way too much money and not producing (and now they have more of those guys than ever). In short, they always had someone saying or doing something irritating, and Jeter was never irritating. We took for granted that Jeter was earning his superstar contract without making anyone nervous or uncomfortable in the process. And he was consistently great, often one of the best players in baseball.
The only nagging question about Jeter was how he would handle ending his career, but he did that as gracefully as possible. He wasn't good this year, but he didn't cost the team a playoff spot or block a prospect. Pre-announcing his retirement led to the at-times annoying farewell tour, but that was preferable to endless speculation about whether he would demand a $10 million contract despite playing at replacement level.
So I join RJG in thanking Derek Jeter for playing the game for so many years with skill and grace - two words that will not be associated with the Yankees for the foreseeable future.
ARod hangs his head in shame.
Jeter will be remembered in baseball history as one of the best players because he did his best, did it with respect for the game and made us proud to be a Yankees fan. That every fan at every stadium stood up and greeted him chanting his name is a testament of his greatness. I will miss him and miss everything that he embodied so well for so many years.
RJG is going to be missed for the exact same reasons in the Yankees blogosphere. Farewell my friends!! If you ever feel like coming back, you will be welcome. Unlike player's skills, writing skills just get better with age. You entertained us and made us look at the game in a whole different way. Kudos!
Interesting Post
Such a Nice Blog
Such a Nice Blog!
Post a Comment