The end of the Jeter era
New York Yankee Derek Jeter waves to the crowd at Yankee stadium.
This baseball season will be the end of the Jeter era for the New York Yankees. Team shortstop and captain Derek Jeter will retire from the team at the end of the 2014 season, according to biography.com.
After growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Jeter achieved his goal of playing for the Yankees in 1992. According to the The New York Times, although he joined the Yankees when they were on a losing streak, he served as a constant source of stability and strength for the team. He was instrumental in helping the team win five World Series titles.
“Derek Jeter is such a good role model for all players and for me as an athlete to reach for my goals,” Convent of the Sacred Heart sophomore Lizzie Kupersmith said.
Jeter was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1996, a year that the Yankees won the World Series. He has slammed out 3,316 hits during his 19 seasons of professional baseball. This impressive number of hits ranks ninth on baseball’s top ten career list of hits, according to baseball-reference.com.
During the 2013 season, when multiple injuries limited Jeter to only 17 games, the Yankees’ ratings and attendance dropped significantly. According to The New York Times, Dick Groch, responsible for adding Jeter to the team in 1992, has noticed Jeter’s popularity among the franchise’s fans.
“I’ve gone to Yankees games and I’ve asked kids outside the park, ‘Who are you going to go see?’ “Mr. Groch said. “Nine out of 10 kids say, ‘Derek Jeter.'”
Nearing his final season’s end, Jeter reminisces upon the memories he has had as a Yankee. According to usatoday.com, Jeter wrote on his Facebook page “I will remember it all: the cheers, the boos, every win, all the plane trips, the bus rides, the clubhouses, the walks through the tunnel and every drive to and from the Bronx.”
Derek Jeter’s final game will be September 28, 2014 at Fenway Park in Boston. His last game in Yankee Stadium is tonight against the Baltimore Orioles.
“I am so sad Derek Jeter is leaving. My brother and I have loved watching his career unfold,” junior Lilly Morriss said.
Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, states he is proud of Jeter’s accomplishments and truly believes that he has made a difference in New Yorkers’ lives.
“In the 21-plus years in which I have served as Commissioner, Major League Baseball has had no finer ambassador than Derek Jeter,” Mr. Selig said according to usatoday.com. “Since his championship rookie season of 1996, Derek has represented all the best of the National Pastime on and off the field.”
– Maddie Caponiti, Arts and Entertainment Co-Editor
